No-Sweat Fly Prevention Tips For Huntsville Homeowners
May 14, 2021
When you think “biting insects” here in Huntsville, ticks are probably the first thing that comes to mind, but we’ve got plenty of biting flies in our area to give them a run for their money. There are several species of flies that invade homes and properties in Alabama, and a few of them can inflict a lot more damage than just an itchy welt. Below, we’ll talk about some of the most common flies in our area, the diseases they can transmit, and what to do about them.
Common Area Flies
There are several species of fly in the Huntsville area, and two of the most common types you’re going to find on your property are houseflies and horseflies. Houseflies are small, don’t normally bite, and breed in huge numbers, typically staying within one or two miles of the place they were born. You’re most likely to find houseflies in – you guessed it – your house, since they’re attracted to a lot of the things found in or very close to your homes, such as most types of exposed food, pet food and pet waste, garbage, and even certain house plants.
Meanwhile, you might find much larger horseflies buzzing around if you live in rural or suburban areas near lakes, rivers, or farms. If you have animals, especially livestock – they’re most likely to attract horseflies, though these pests love to feed on humans too. Their bite can be very painful and leave a huge welt.
Flies are way more than annoying – they pack a double whammy of disease spreading behavior. They transmit infections like both mosquitoes and cockroaches combined by biting you and spreading germs with their filthy feet. Houseflies are known or suspected to carry 100 different disease-causing germs because they spend their free time crawling on and eating feces, garbage, and corpses. Once they land on one of these disgusting items, they pick up whatever pathogens reside there and carry them right into your house.
Biting flies transmit disease not only by picking up pathogenic hitchhikers but also through their actual bites. The most famous fly-borne disease is probably African sleeping sickness spread by the infamous tsetse fly. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that here. Horseflies pose the biggest threat to your pets since they’re known to transmit swamp fever, a fatal equine illness. Though humans can’t get this disease, we can have reactions to horsefly bites and up to and including infections in the bite and (rarely) anaphylaxis.
Prevention Tips
There are several things you can do to keep flies at bay on your Huntsville property. Your first line of defense is going to be preventing them from accessing your home. Sealing door sweeps with weather stripping and making sure all windows and sliding doors are covered with intact, properly fitted screens are two surefire ways to physically bar flies from entering your house.
- You can also cut down on things that attract flies to discourage them from buzzing around your property by:
- Disposing of all garbage as soon as possible, and making sure indoor and outdoor trash cans are tightly covered at all times.
- Making sure you do not leave food sitting out uncovered.
- Cleaning up after your pets right away.
Even if these measures don’t keep flies off your property, your next step should be to call the pros. Here at Custom Pest Control, our 25 plus years of experience means we know every way to keep the flies at bay. We allow you to tailor your service to fit your needs and budget. Give us a call today at (256) 377-6301 or visit our contact page to schedule your consultation.