Carl Scheider

"I have to thank you for your research on Deer Flies, and the 'trap' approach. We have a place in Hayward WI, Northern part of the state. In the next few weeks or so life outdoors there becomes unbearable. The deer flies attack with a vengeance. I would get wounds on my head, face, hands, arms, you name it. And they would swell up enormously. I hated to go outside!

"First I tried using a mosquito net over my hat. They kept my face intact, but then the buggers would descend to my arms and hands and even bite through my shirt! They drove me nuts.

"Then I stumbled on your research web site -- salvation.

"At first I tried the blue flower pot approach with the tanglefoot -- worked like a charm, but the neighbors had some serious concerns.

"The I tried the blue plastic cup on the hat approach -- somewhat better, but still lots of stares. Finally, I hit on some really cheap baseball hats made of rayon. I got some in blue, some in red, for $1 each. I painted them up with the glue, and they work like a charm! I've been giving them to my neighbors. I can walk back into the woods with one of these hats on, and I never get bit -- I rarely even get buzzed. Those little buggers land on that hat, and they are goners!

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I would suggest you post this on the web site -- this approach is much more elegant than the flower pot!"

- Carl

"I thought you would like to know that I tried your method for deer fly trapping and I have found that it works miraculously. I can't tell you how happy I am to have a way to get rid of these pests.

"Today was the first day I was ambushed by a deer fly, so I went to the garage and prepared the trap with tanglefoot. Within five minutes, I caught three flies by simply walking with the trap up and down my driveway. I was then able to keep working outside, fly free. I have made an adapter for my car and tractor and plan to troll the road and my property this weekend.

"You should receive a Nobel prize for this development. I am forever grateful for your efforts and willingness to share the technique with the general public.

"I live in central Ohio along a tree-lined road that follows a creek. Last year the flies were relentless. I had a good laugh when I noticed that the ball cap I wore all last year matched the color of the fly trap. I probably made things worse by wearing it.

"I made one improvement by installing a wooden base with a hole pattern. The center hole is for clearance so that the trap can 'bobble.' The three surrounding holes allow you to handle the trap with your fingers to keep the tanglefoot from contacting your skin.

"I used Rustoleum number 7724 'sail blue' as the color. It was the brightest blue I could find.

"Thanks again for your method. I'll send any new data that may be relevant. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

"Thank you, thank you for your Web site detailing the deer fly trap. My family and I were being driven to distraction by the bloodthirsty little beasts. Each member of the family now has his or her own blue sticky pot on a stick, and we can once again enjoy summer in New Hampshire. We find that carrying a trap on a pole while walking in the woods completely eliminates deer fly attacks, and we have greatly reduced the deer fly nuisance experienced by life-guarding parents while children swim in our farm's pond. We are working on an arrangement to hold a spring-mounted cup out of ear-tip range on a horse's bridle, but meanwhile my riding helmet sports a fashionable blue cup. The tractor has its rack of traps, and mowing now removes flies as well as vegetation. Our friends and neighbors are beginning to worry about our sanity, but we are happy in our fly-free madness."

"I want to tell you that I think you are a genius. Let me tell you why. I recently moved to Chesapeake, VA and have a wooded lot in my back yard. I soon found out that there were nasty deer flies inhabiting the woods and they were driving me crazy. So I went to the WWW in search of information on the deer fly and how to combat them. I came upon your site and found the information I needed. I have made a few blue ball caps with cups and a few blue pot holders and the flies dive right onto the tanglewood glue. It's remarkable. I've shown my "traps" to a few people and they were impressed on my "hunting". I have been "trolling" in the early morning and in the evening and I can actually tell a decline in the local deer fly population. If you're thinking of going into business to market a ball cap I'd be interested in that venture. Thanks again for the research and posting the information."

"I read your paper last year about trolling for deer flies and it gave me the idea to make something for my driving pony. I have attached a picture of it before I smeared the tangle foot on it. I have more pictures of it at home (in use) that I could send to you if you are interested. It worked like magic. I was able to drive my pony through the woods in the summer for the first time. I also used a fly net. I have a picture where it is completely covered with deer flies."

"I would have send you pictures last year but couldn't find where I read about it. Someone just posted the link on the carriage driving list. Thanks for your great idea."

"I am writing this from Vermont where I read in the newspaper the other day about you and your work involving the trolling deerfly trap. The article mentioned you and talked about a baseball cap, an inverted blue colored cup and coating the cup with a tacky material. Can you help me out? what do you recommend for tacky material coating? thank you so muchly. BTW - the deerflies up here have been/are brutal this year!"

"Thank you for a most informative article on deer flies. I have a terrible problem on a piece of property that I just cleared to make into a horse pasture. While the trip though the existing woods is almost unbearable for the horses, the open pasture also has its fair share of the pests. I was looking for a company carrying a biological control when I came to your site. I will try your trap and see how it works. Thank you for the great number of details that I have been unable to find until now. I have worked in hypersensitivity research at the Medical college of .....in the past. Sometimes what we did seemed trivial and unnecessary. However, there is at least one person out there that appreciates your research into this irritating (and sometimes disease carrying) fly. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"I have long believed these things were alien intelligences flying special delta winged alien craft with the sole purpose of harassing good earth folk. It has always amazed me how, when you stop what you're doing to defend yourself -- they disappear. Until the instant you go back to work. One time I actually batted one out of the air. He landed on my driveway, shock himself off and came right back at me! Seriously, thank you for getting your information publicized. I would love to see reprints or preprints of any empirical work you have done."

"I wish to thank you for the article published (12/02/98) on the UF Web site about trolling for deer flies. I followed directions and rigged the fly trap on the hood of my mower and was amazed to see deer flies buzzing around (and getting stuck upon) the inverted, bobbing pot. Even more impressive was watching instead of slapping. Only a half-dozen or so were trapped, but I was only out in the field for about ten minutes. This will be especially useful when we open our biking trail (officially) to the public in a year or so. I intend to experiment before then by mounting a flowerpot trap on my mountain bike in order to troll the trail. I know from sad experience how badly the area is infested. Bad enough for bikers, but misery for hikers on foot! Thanks again for some very useful and effective information. I'm sending the info to other park board members as an FYI. As I told my son in Gainesville, it works!"

Dear Dr. Mizell,

Your trap is amazing. Where I live in CT, over the last three years, I've gone from zero deer flies to hundreds and hundreds. They attack our cars as we pull into my driveway. Up until now, we had to sit in the car as they'd ping off the glass, then wait about a minute before they'd finally go away so we could exit the car and enter our house.

I looked at all kinds of commercial traps costing several hundred dollars yet every review said they work "okay" at best. Then, I found your site.

I shelled out 10 bucks for mail order tangle foot, applied it to my kids bright blue beach sand pail that I found, although embarrassingly so, fits perfectly on my head and... Viola! Instant bobble trap. What's great about it is it has lots of surface area, 5 times the amount of a solo cup. Car trolling's not practical in general for my situation.

So, with my wife taking pictures of what was sure to be my latest do it yourself folly, I put on my "blue hat," and walked 10 feet into our wood line and walked out again.

I can't tell you my frustration. I came back to my family and sadly reported I didn't see one fly! I ALWAYS have them pinging off the back of my head, I just couldn't understand it. My wife says, "Honey will you take off that ridiculous hat and take a look." I did. To my absolute amazement. Forty deer flies were on there plastered on the dead back and very top of the hat. I didn't even know they had attacked! Now, with a smile plastered on my face, back in I went. In less than 10 minutes I counted 150 on the pail. Boy, do you know your stuff Doctor Mizell.

So now each evening, and morning, I walk the wood line for 5 minutes, and I get 10 one time, 30 another. It's now to the point where only one or two come after the car, not hundreds. Doctor, my entire family thanks you for your excellent research, you made a real difference in the quality of our lives. Well done and thank you!

- Ray Schellhas

"Just wanted to tell you that, following success with your method of trapping deer flies, I tried it on black flies (Simulium) here in Maine. The first day my blue hatband coated with tanglefoot captured over 100, just while I worked on my property. While I still get some bites, I feel satisfied in reducing the ambient population and 'striking back'." - A.B.