Q. My husband and I spend four months away from the Valley during the summer. When we returned in late September we could not believe the number of flies in our yard.....and because we are used to leaving our doors open....in our house. We have always bragged to those less fortunate than we are and live elsewhere in the country, mainly in the East, how we have virtually no flying insects in Las Vegas. I've had to eat my words this fall....along with some flies. I have not been able to even sit outside and read without being bombarded in the face with these nasty insects. We live in Sun City Anthem....the far southern end of the valley. Is there something blooming/growing in my yard that flies really like? Has anyone else noticed this proliferation?
A. Yours is the first report I have seen about an increase in flies this year. I do not know the products that are used for flight control, which is not an area of expertise for me. I would suggest however that somewhere, someone may be using a source of compost or manure products that are attracting flies.
The best advice I can give in the safest is to find out what is attracting them and where and address the problem there. If you do not do it this way and simply spray to control flies or use some sort of sticky trap you will not solve the problem but just work on the symptoms of a problem. I hope this helps.
PS. Since this was printed in the newspaper several people wrote to me and said they had the same problem. I lived in the valley at the time and I didn't really notice it. Anyone else have any suggestions?
PS. Since this was printed in the newspaper several people wrote to me and said they had the same problem. I lived in the valley at the time and I didn't really notice it. Anyone else have any suggestions?
Flies. We also had a problem with flies all of a sudden. So bad that the flies were leaving black spots on the outside furniture etc. We found out that the (second owners) next door neighbors dog, a 17 year old Bassett Hound was infected with maggotts in his ears. They left him in the backyard while they were away for two weeks. I think a family friend was feeding him. But, flies were laying their eggs in its ears. Perfect breeding ground. The neighbors finally put the poor dog down. They had to power wash all their patio furniture from the fly poop. (I should have requested they do mine also) so check out your surrounding area, you may be surprised. I know I was!
ReplyDeleteAlso, we suddenly started to have uncontrollable pigeons in our back yard!! I started watching them to see why they suddenly started pooping all over my pool deck area. Then one day I was talking to the neighbor (first owner) and he told me that he had started using a new dog feeder where he would put the whole bag of food in the feeder and the dog would come and help himself. I started watching again. The pigeons were positioning themselves to sit on my house, looking over into the neighbors yard. Fly over and eat the dogs food, then fly back over to my side and eleminate!! Mystery solved. I told my neighbor about the problem and she said she could not wait for the dog to die. (Another old dog)he also not too much later died. NO MORE PIEGON PROBLEM! So now when I pass homes with a large population of piegons sitting on the roof, I wonder are they helping themselves to pet food?
Love Dogs
But dont own one
We live in far NW part of the valley and in the last week out yard is infested with flies!! Not sure where they are coming from ad we have no dogs and oyt backyard has been landscaped for a few years now. Please help not surehow to get rid of them!! Its out of control!!
ReplyDeleteWas there a recent rainy spell? This oftentimes causes an outbreak of all kinds of pest problems. I would guess that it will subside IF it was caused by wet weather. As soon as it returns to our normal desert weather of low humidity and very hot weather the fly numbers will drop. Unless there is garbage or piles of something attracting them. Try going to the dairy farms in Amargosa some time. They fly problems there is horrible near the dairies.
ReplyDeleteI live in the northeast side of the valley. Up until recently, my back yard has been overtaken by flies. Do you think living near the wash has something to do with the fly infestation? Are the attracted to water?
ReplyDeleteTHESE FLIES ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY....I live in Spring Valley very close to the wash also. Ive tried everything. I had grass in the backyard for the dog but watering would just attract more. So I removed the grass and have decided to lay bricks. As I prep the dirt to make sure its level to lay the sand more and more flies have appeared. Also lots of snails.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor's keep their yard very clean.
Any suggestions
Flies are a big problem anytime and rains. After a rain they reproduce like crazy and the new flies begin looking for food and reproduction. Food is first. They like animal food that's been left outside. If your neighbors are keeping their animals outside and feeding them there, this will attract flies. If these animals are pooping outside, animal poop has a lot of food for flies. This attracts them too. Work with your neighbors on that.
DeleteSnails are a different story. You might want to look on my blog and put in the search engine "snail" or "slug". Slugs are snails without the shell and are controlled in the same way.
DeleteTake a look here http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/search?q=Snail
I've been here in SE Las Vegas since 2015, and I never noticed any flies here. In 2016, started seeing a few, but this year they are all over the place in this area, even in the stores. Crazy
ReplyDeleteI live in the SE too and never had a problem either until a few years ago and now every spring I see an infestation for up to around 2 weeks. Don't know where they come from or how they get in but I have a zapper in the house and since yesterday it has killed about a 100. Without the zapper, I don't know what I would do. I've always seen flies in the spring but it's insane how many there are now.
ReplyDeletePart of it has to be related to the spring rains but flies typically become problems when there is an animal problem. Normally their populations drop when it dries out unless there is also a human problem along with that animal problem.
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