RID-MAX in the News!
The Rid-Max Fly
Trap has been in the news often as more and more people find out just how great
the product is and how it can help their communities become safer by lessening
the danger and annoyance of flies.
Flies,
more than a Nuisance
A Fly-free Yucaipa?
Fly Traps Work!
American Dog Breeders
Association Gazette
Spring 2006 Issue
Over the years, I have become somewhat obsessive in my fight to the death
with different insect pests. I have never won, but have indeed killed
many, many bugs. I am a stickler about chemical control, since I am certain
they are unhealthy for me, my dogs, and the environment. I also have a
feeling that Raid somehow gives me an unfair advantage in my quest to
eliminate some of these critters.
Flies, while not considered much more than a nuisance by most, are very
capable of being problematic, to say the least. I am convinced that flies,
especially the blood ore biting flies, not only transmit a variety of
diseases, but can also take enough blood from your dog's ears to cause them
to become anemic to the point of death.
Some years back, Randy, Fox, Bert
Clouse, and several others were visiting and flies became the focus for some
of the screw worm horror stories. These flies that were eradicated by Texas
A&M through the release of sterile males by the thousands. These flies,
like many today, will lay eggs in the wound of a host, and the maggot will
clean out all the dead flesh. These are sometimes used in the medical
community today, as an aid for healing certain wounds in humans. The screw
worm on the other hand doesn't stop when the dead flesh is gone, but
literally eats the animal alive. Either Randy or Bert told of a dog who had
injured an eye and got maggots in it, then in spite of medicine to kill
them, and heal the eye socket, they got in the other eye and the dog had
to be put down. The vet said that these were not screw worms, but some other
species. I remember as a teenager, doctoring all kids of live stock with
medicine to kill maggots in wounds, so I have a serious dislike for flies.
Tavarus brought me two adults from California where the flies from chicken
operation down the road from where he lived had eaten their ears paper
thin. They were in good shape, other than the ears, which took about a year
to hair back.
I have fought the flies with
about everything. The old swipe for ears did well for a while, but
the petrol smell was a little much for some of the dogs, who would
immediately roll in the dirt to get it off as soon as I put it on them.
Then the flies would migrate from the ears to the back, and I think some
actually became resistant to it and bit the ears anyway.
The other thing I have used are the sticky tapes, Maldrin fly bait, Bit
Stinky, Vapona strips, and homemade traps made from two liter coke bottles
or gallon jugs. Bronco fly spray will do a pretty good job keeping them off
and kill fleas too but has to be repeated more than I like to do
it. Everything I've used is pretty much a band aid for the problem so I
have gone to almost all natural control rather than elimination.
The best thing I have found to keep their numbers down are fly predators
or parasites, which are a natural control. These are considered to be among
the best of beneficial insects. There are several varieties, which are
actually members of the wasp family, only very small, about the size of
gnats, and they do not sting. Under a microscope, there is one variety that
looks like the hornet from Hell. The way they work is the female wasp lays
her eggs on the eggs of a fly. When they both hatch, the wasp eats the
maggot. The down side is early Spring, when the fly predator's population
lag behind the enormous fly population, so I am constantly in search for
another control method during this time to help fill the gap.
I was judging a show up north and looking over the vendors ware,
when I spotted a lady selling a high tech fly trap I had never seen before.
While I was looking it over, up walks Frank Rocca, and says, "Take one and
see how it works for you." Frank's wife was the one selling them, and
involved with the company that makes them.
I brought it home and put it together, which was a little bit of a chore,
as we Texans think its unmanly to read directions. I did study the pictures,
made a few modifications as I went then set it up
on a poop bucket where the flies seem to congregate. In a weeks time, it
was full of flies. I was impressed, to say the least, as have been many
visitors on my place who couldn't believe their eyes. I rarely plug
anything that is not head and shoulders about the competition, and this trap
has no equal that I have ever seen.
I think we would all do well to put the fly on our hit list for our
dog's sake. Just whatever works for you.....Do It!
Gary J. Hammonds
Spring 2006
"Rid-Max
Fly Trap ... none better. The full trap filled to the max in less
than two weeks out and the newer one has been out less than a week. Several
people have asked me what is the best bait. For me, it is fresh dog poop
from my kennel operation in the 5 gallon bucket. I have also used wet range
cubes and a small amount of raw meat. Other people have said a mix of water
with syrup works well and dead animals like a dead chicken or squirrel
(which will draw a ton of flies but will start to smell pretty bad). The
main thing is to use what the flies in your area are attracted to. " -- Gary
Hammonds, Mansfield TX.
A Fly-free Yucaipa?
NEWS-MIRROR
Yucaipa edition
June 4, 1998
Bill Irvine
Staff Reporter
An inventive Corona couple have convinced the city and the school district to
give their unusual pesticide-free fly-catching devices a try.
Large and small examples were set up and baited at Yucaipa Junior High School on
June 1. The city's John McMains and the school district's John Malone will
return in a few days to see if the devices live up to their billing.
McMains was encouraged enough by the prospects to predict that the area's fly
problem could be controlled if enough institutions, egg ranches and individuals
make use of the traps.
Indeed, McMains said County Vector Control is building large-size versions for
use by egg ranches. The idea revolves around a simple circular cage with a
container to hold an attractant. A key element: the attractant is not a
pesticide and is harmless to humans.
Linda and Mike Pascarella, who are developing the system, have used sexual
attractants called pheromones with success, but now have a solution concocted of
organic matter and brewer's yeast which smells even better to a Fannia Fly.
"It looks like chocolate milk, and you could even drink it, although it doesn't
taste too good," said Linda.
The flies are attracted inside the trap, but they can't get out. The reflective
surface causes them to dry out. Totally desiccated, they are light and odorless.
They take up little room in the trash, and are biodegradable. They can even be
sold to companies who offer them as snacks for reptiles and amphibians.
The Pascarellas offer their trap in two sizes. The "Rid-Max" is smaller, for home
use, and has a capacity of 20,000 to 50,000 flies.
The devices are USDA tested and certified and, Linda says, someone at the USDA
even tested the Rid-Max and determined that it can catch 6,347 flies a day.
Versions are already in use at seven McDonald's restaurants and several
supermarkets, including some in Banning.
The Pascarellas say the devices are particularly effective against egg-laying
flies, which has a profound effect on the reproductive cycle. "Within two or
three weeks, the population is decimated", said Mike.
They report especially good results when the traps are placed on the ground, in
partial sun, but they can also be hung from eaves or posts.
At the Junior High School, on Sixth Street, both sizes of traps were placed in a
fenced-off area in-between portable classrooms, near the adjacent egg ranch.
School workers said the classrooms are frequently filled with flies.
The Pascarellas, who do business as "Fly Busters," also have other
environmentally safe products, and have just begun placing their devices in
Yucaipa-Calimesa stores, but expect more interest if their Junior High test is
successful.
So far, Newell's Nursery in Yucaipa and Horse Sense in Cherry Valley carry the
devices, along with many stores in Norco, Ontario, and Rancho Cucamonga.
For the latest on locations, the Pascarellas can be reached at (909) 372-9850.
We'll report next week on the results of the test.
Meanwhile, Joe Krygier, and environmental health specialist at County Vector
Control is pursuing the same idea on a larger scale, using 33- and 55-gallon
drums.
The county has had a few made up and is providing them to poultry ranchers with
the recommendation that if the idea seems to work, the ranchers can use the trap
as a prototype for making more.
Krygier is looking for a source for inexpensive barrels. On the ranches, he said
a mixture using waste eggs and water seems to work well as an attractant. He's
also experimenting with a combination of eggs, beer, yeast and molasses. "It's
not the whole solution,"said Krygier, "but it should at least assist in
controlling the flies."
Fly traps work!
PHOTO: "The catch: Linda Pascarella displays a few days' catch of flies in the
traps she set at Yucaipa Junior High School. Despite weather that was very cool
and breezy, both traps had hundreds of flies in them.
Photo credit: Bill Irvine/News-Mirror
News-Mirror
Yucaipa edition
Thursday, June 11, 1998
Bill Irvine
Staff Reporter
A first test of a new kind of fly trap (News-Mirror, June 4), delivered
encouraging results.
On June 1, a Corona couple who are developing the product placed a large one and
a small one on the grounds of Yucaipa Junior High School, under the watchful
eyes of the city's John McMains and the school district's John Malone.
On June 3, they returned (minus Malone, who had a conflict) to inspect the
results.
Each of the traps had hundreds of flies-- some buzzing around, some already
expired.
According to Linda Pascarella who, with her husband Mike, calls herself a "Fly
Buster," a high percentage of the little beasts were the Fannia Flies which
afflict Yucaipa and its egg ranches.
That, according to McMains, has been the problem up until now. Fannia Flies
rarely land, and they seldom get caught in traps.
But the Pascarellas used a new powder containing organic material and Brewer's
yeast. Mixed to a paste with water, it attracts the flies in droves, but is
harmless, and not particularly smelly to humans.
It's also safe. The Pascarellas claim a human could even drink it without harm.
Although the weather during the test period was cooler than Fannias prefer, and
also breezy, the traps still managed to catch hundreds of the flies.
Most of the flies die naturally and become desiccated--and can even be sold as
frog food. Any that are alive when it's time to empty the trap can be killed
with a harmless soap solution.
Another test trap, placed at a Barbara Lane residence, also got rave reviews
from the homeowner.
Meanwhile, County Vector Control is busily constructing larger scale versions of
the traps for use at chicken ranches. They're supplying one to a ranch, hoping
the ranchers will make more.
The county is experimenting with other attractants, some as simple as waste eggs
and water.
The Pascarellas have also used a pheromone attractant which is also harmless and
widely available--although it may not be quite as selective to Fannias.
The "Rid-Max" trap is already available in Yucaipa at Newell's Nursery, at
$14.95. Newell's also has the pheromone attractant.
The Pascarellas are working to package the powdered attractant and offer it
along with the traps.
After inspecting the results at the Junior High School, McMains said he was on
his way to Newell's to purchase a trap for himself.
