Flys and Grasshoppers!! OH My GOD

[Piatt Farms]

Seriously, I'm not sure what global phenomenon is going on that has caused the increase in flies and grasshoppers in Oklahoma but it is driving me batty!
I've never had a problem with flies until this year...now I see why people use fly masks. They are relentless, even with the bottles of fly spray, fly traps and fogging I've used. I feel so bad for the horses.
Grasshoppers- I can't walk outside without getting pelted by grasshoppers! It reminds me of the parting of the red sea's, except it's grasshoppers. And forget driving with the window down (of course it's 110 out, so I'm not doing that much right now) because they just hop on in as I'm driving, landing on my hands, steering wheel, my hair. Lovely.

Anyone have a good way to get rid of these guys? DH tried spraying the grass but no avail. All of my bushes are bare so now I'm just trying to keep them off my alfalfa bales and out of the horse food.

AGH! I feel like I'm being taken over!

[Arcadien]

LOL, I sympathize, although I'm having a pretty good fly year and no grasshoppers. I can relate though, as after nearly 20 years of being on the same farmette, I've seen some amazing boom crops of certain insects, and the tiny bit of my brain that would have been a biologist wonders what exact combination of weather/timing/moon or whatever causes these things.

The worst in my area are when the Gypsy moths take over - it a cyclical infestation here in southern NJ, comes some every 3 decades. I remember the insanity of caterpillars covering my house as a child, so I wasn't as helplessly horrified as some neighbors when they tried to invade our bit of the world again.

The funny thing is, no matter how many human defenses & counterattacks we come up with, it seems to be mother nature who is really in control. I.e., the moths had all but killed all my trees after 2 summers of infestation. I was going insane, spraying them for hours at night, wrapping hundreds of tree trunks in sticky tape, but it all seemed not to make a dent. Then there was a heat wave, 3 days of over 100 degree temps, at the exact moment when the moths were vulnerable - they literally imploded and the infestation was wiped out in those few days.

So, I guess I'm saying, all you can do is find ways to bear with your flies and grasshoppers but trust that Mother Nature has a plan and it won't last forever! :D

Not all insect/crittur "surges" are so bad - this summer I have been flabbergasted by the huge crop of giant monarch butterflies and dragonflies. I've honestly never seen so many & such huge & gorgeous monarchs, and even the dragonflies, though so big they are a bit scary, have these giant gosammer blue green wings I can't help but admire! We've also got a bumper crop of fireflies, which I seem to recall is a good sign for some reason...

Got to love the interesting experiences of living on a farm! :cool:

[Ridinwyoming]

Piatt Farms you're not alone at least with the grasshoppers. Here in Wyoming I tried to go for a trail ride the other day and my poor mare kept on spooking at the grasshoppers jumping up as we were walking along and she is pretty bomb proof. And my poor dogs if I take them for a walk in the pasture they get numerous unwanted passengers. My rose and lilac bushes are bare.:eek: