Death to Flies!

I really think one key to happiness is to recognize and even celebrate the best of any situation.  For a few years I've been trying to come up with more reasons to appreciate winter because it is increasingly my least favorite time of year.  I dislike it because of the cold, the lack of leaves on trees and color in the landscape, the short days, and the inconveniences of dealing with snow.  So far, I've come to appreciate it because snow is beautiful when it's fresh and spring (my favorite time of year) could neither happen nor be as amazing without winter.  The cold and the moisture cleanse everything so that life can begin anew (and additional cliched expressions).  However, I have one more discovery to add to the list: cold means death to flies and mosquitoes, and my word do we have flies and mosquitoes!

I'm sure there are millions of dollars spent every year on insect pest control in the United States.  Equestrian enthusiasts especially know about controlling flies -- there are masks for horses, sprays for horses, even neck and foot bands to keep flies off of horses.  People interact closely with horses, and we are very aware of the effects of flies on them.  Horses are sacred in our society, and we shudder at the thought of eating horse meat.

Cattle, on the other hand, spend most of their lives at a distance from people.  We don't ride them (with the exception of a 4-H kid I know and, or course, bull riders), and we leave them to fend for themselves much more than we do horses.  I know there are those who therefore think I'm silly for refusing to accept the inevitable fact that Daisy presents a feast for biting flies, but I couldn't stand it anymore.  There is some sort of biting, blood-sucking bug that particularly likes her ears, and the biting flies (mostly what are called horn flies) feast on all of the most exposed, tender parts of her hide including her belly, on the soft skin in the areas akin to our groins and arm pits, and on her teats.

I finally bought a bottle of fly spray for horses yesterday.  It's fairly potent stuff, but I was assured that anything safe for horses is safe for cattle.  The bottle warns not to apply any more than 2 oz. per application, so I sprayed the worst areas and then tried to spread it through her fur/coat with a brush.  We'll see how long it lasts, but the stuff appears to be working!

This year, I will have a reason to celebrate the first hard frost we get.  In the meantime, I wonder . . . could the chickens be trained to sit on Daisy's back and munch on the flies for her?  Similar to those birds who sit on the backs of rhinos?