Bob Riefer
06-08-2011, 9:24 AM
We're under attack in my back yard. There's always a few weeks of gnats in our area each summer, but nothing like what I'm seeing right now. I can't even be in the yard, I have to retreat to the screened in porch because they bombard your face constantly.
The type of fly we're seeing right now looks more like a house fly than a gnat. I picture a gnat to be a barely-there little black bug that lazily crashes into you. These flies are more brown/black, slightly bigger than a gnat, and they fly with purpose into your face. You can feel them hit you like small hail pellets.
Hypothesis I've formed so far:
- We just had about 1/3 of an acre totally excavated and graded, so there's fresh grass sprouting, and still spotty areas where it's just dirt, where grass hasn't grown yet. We've been watering that area daily. Perhaps the flies are breeding in the watered area (i.e. maybe it's time to stop watering?)
- during that major excavation, I had many wheel barrows full of stones/roots etc. that I dumped into our "compost pit" in the back corner of the property. There old rotting wood, grass clippings, last year's halloween pumpkin, stuff like that back there. But, really, that pit has always been sort of like that for years now. I sprayed the heck out of the pile just in case that's where the nest is.
- The next door neighbor's entire house/yard is being re-done so it looks like a new construction site. Do flies like dirt lots?
- There is no standing water or moist spots (other than where we're watering the grass), and no other changes to our land.
What could be the cause, and what do you suggest for remedy?
HELP! (and THANKS!)
The type of fly we're seeing right now looks more like a house fly than a gnat. I picture a gnat to be a barely-there little black bug that lazily crashes into you. These flies are more brown/black, slightly bigger than a gnat, and they fly with purpose into your face. You can feel them hit you like small hail pellets.
Hypothesis I've formed so far:
- We just had about 1/3 of an acre totally excavated and graded, so there's fresh grass sprouting, and still spotty areas where it's just dirt, where grass hasn't grown yet. We've been watering that area daily. Perhaps the flies are breeding in the watered area (i.e. maybe it's time to stop watering?)
- during that major excavation, I had many wheel barrows full of stones/roots etc. that I dumped into our "compost pit" in the back corner of the property. There old rotting wood, grass clippings, last year's halloween pumpkin, stuff like that back there. But, really, that pit has always been sort of like that for years now. I sprayed the heck out of the pile just in case that's where the nest is.
- The next door neighbor's entire house/yard is being re-done so it looks like a new construction site. Do flies like dirt lots?
- There is no standing water or moist spots (other than where we're watering the grass), and no other changes to our land.
What could be the cause, and what do you suggest for remedy?
HELP! (and THANKS!)