Pests Exist

Sad but true and right now it's the flies. I shouldn't have flies at all. I keep the horsepoop picked up and piled. I subscribe to the fly predators delivery. I have traps. I have fly-bait stations. The bait stations are Blue Streak sprinkled on wet horsepoop and other fly attractors in a plastic tub with holes along the side. Their success is entirely dependent on the quality of the fly attractor. I normally mix up yeast and sugar in water and keep it wet. Rotting potatoes are quite good. Yesterday I tried mixing marachino cherry juice, Parmesan cheese, and yeast, but it was disappointing. Today I went back to just liquified horse poop with better results.

The fly traps also need high quality attractor, but they have the additional requirement of being situated so that the flies enter the trap rather than fly back out the side. I have one working well, but the others just don't quite have the perfect arrangement. It is good to move them around and try new bait if they aren't working.

What I think would help the situation most is the skid-steer (little bobcat like equipment). I need to re-pile my compost and cover it with dirt and tarps. The skidsteer has been out of commission for a couple of weeks but should run again on Sunday. Meanwhile, I am hating flies.
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Okay, this posting used to include an item about someone who has been giving me a hard time about training methods. I decided to delete it when she got her feelings hurt because I called her a pest. You can read the exchange for yourself over at Eclectic Horseman. It's not the first time that I have been slammed all over the place for not training in the accepted methodology. You would think they could just leave me alone.