Spiders and Flies Oh My!

Never in all my life have I had to do battle like I am now to combat flies. The spiders think they have won the lottery and some of them are so big they need their own postal code! Thankfully they are in the barn and not the house so the situation is manageable.

Tonight we spot treated with a Permethrin spray so hopefully that will stop the population explosion we are currently experiencing. I realize the tale of Charlotte's Web is all endearing and crap but in real life this ain't the idyllic fairy tale you might think.

We have dosed the floors and stalls with diatomaceous earth which is a naturally occurring fluffy powder made of the sediment of old fossils (diatoms) that are the microscopic equivalent of razor sharp glass shards. This powder sheds the exoskeletons of bugs but amazingly livestock and even we humans can eat it without any issue. Many people mix it with water and consume it to do battle with intestinal parasites and very often it is added to livestock feed as an anti-caking agent, natural pesticide and intestinal dewormer. It really is magical stuff but you always want to be careful not to breathe it in as the lungs are not a big fan.

As much as I hate to use chemicals around here, sometimes they are required. The 3 amigos (donkey, mini horse and steer) are being eaten alive out in the pasture this week so they needed fly spray as well.

Hopefully this will be it for treatment and we can all get back to normal around here quickly!

I will spare you a picture in this post :)