Winjama: South Englishtown Gazette

We've had a pest here since we came to Belize. No, it's not mosquitoes, although they can be troublesome at times, but overall, 'squitos are a minor irritant - unless you're trekking off into the bush, where you could get eaten alive. Here at Casa Winjama, unless you're hanging out around our front gate, you really don't suffer much from them.

No, what I'm talking about are doctor flies. Unlicensed quacks they may be, they try to operate on you at every opportunity. Their bite is not usually painful when applied, but the swelling and itching afterwards can be damn near excruciating.

The way they approach is insidious. Usually, they fly through the area where you might be sitting or whatever, then they pause to survey their prey (you). The next step usually is for them to fly over and bump you and quickly alight somewhere nearby to see if you reacted to the bumping. If not, then you can be sure they'll zoom in for a quick bite and a blood meal. Usually, other than the initial bump, you never feel them when they actually land to begin feeding on you. It doesn't take them long either. Just a few seconds and their deed is done.

By and large, it's new arrivals to Belize who react physically, the most to doctor fly bites, the swelling can be quite intense. We had been here for a week or two when I got a bite on my right forearm in the afternoon. By that evening, we had to head up to the hospital, as my forearm had swollen such that I thought the skin was going to burst.

Antibiotics and antihistamines later, and with an injection in the butt cheek, the swelling began to go down. It seems that as you stay here and receive a few more bites, you develop an immunity of sorts - at least for the swelling.

The itching bit never seems to become less. You just become more likely to apply Preparation H to the bite. Yes, that's right, Preparation H, the hemorrhoid ointment or cream. It really does work. Everyone has at least one tube around the house. Many times, you'll be out somewhere and get a bite, and somebody in your group will whip out a tube of Preparation H that they conveniently had stashed in their purse or bag.

So, cutting to the chase, we're bothered by these little pests. They don't seem to be affected in the least by the malathion spray, that is broadcast now and then to combat mosquitoes. They do seem to be somewhat cyclical. That is, they'll be around for a week or so, then no sightings for the next week or two, then they're back again.

No one seems to know if they have any natural predators, at least none of us knows if they do. We do know that ants really prize them when they're dead. After we swat them twice (you have to make sure they are dead. They're ability to shake off a good swat is phenomenal. When their carcass lands on the ground, in no time a all they are surrounded by ants who really work diligently to haul them back to the nest. It's kind of fun to watch them work at it.

OK, so we're bothered by them, but until recently, there seemed to be no way to combat the little pests. That is, until I happened to read a posting by Wilma Lingle on the South Englishtown Gazette (http://southenglishtown.blogspot.com/), about a solution she and Dennis had found.

By the way, the South Englishtown Gazette is an excellent read in it's own right. I highly recommend as a very worthwhile read.

Enough with the plug. Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Talk about having doctor flies. We have no right to complain about our doctor flies. They have doctor flies down in the Toledo area on the Monkey River. Holy cow!

Well, if you look at the photo of Dennis holding up one ball with around 1,600 doctor flies on it, that should convince you that they're on to something.

Dennis Okane-Proving They work. (Photo by Wilma Lingle)

Thanks to Wilma for letting me use the above photo.

Where we might talk about killing four or five of them in a day, Wilma and Dennis talk about killing four or five thousand in a day. My God. How can they do anything out of doors down there? One wonders.

Well, they have found a solution. Getting blue balls. No, it's not what immediately comes to mind (although I did look it up and found, somewhat belatedly in life, that 'blue balls' is an actual medical condition - look it up on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_balls). What it is, in this case, is obtaining blue beach balls and hanging them around the place.

Big Blue Ball Hanging in the Patio Palapa

It seems that doctor flies are attracted to the color blue. If you get the blue beach balls, you can coat them with the same type of sticky adhesive used in bug traps, and I would assume, fly paper traps, hang the beach balls in likely areas, and stand by while the doctor flies become attracted to the blue balls and get themselves mired in the adhesive. Somewhat like Brer Rabbit and the tar baby story.

Wilma and Dennis have been in contact with a university professor, who was investigating doctor flies, also called yellow flies in Florida. He was the one who discovered they like the color blue and came up with the beach ball method.

Wilma and Dennis ordered several 24" beach balls, and gallons of the adhesive (they buy it 4 gallons at a time), and commenced their attack. Wilma made a posting on the South Englishtown Gazette, which caught my eye as possibly the only defense against these critters.

Last month we ordered our own supply of beach balls (we ordered the 16" size blue balls), from Beach Balls.com (http://www.beachballs.com/16-inch-solid-blue-p7-beach-balls-inflated-diameter-12in-31cm.asp) and a couple spray cans of the adhesive from Bio Control Network (http://www.biconet.com/traps/TangleTrap.html). We were still somewhat skeptical about the efficacy of the treatment.

Blue Beach Balls - We Bought Six of 'Em

But then again, refer back to the photo of Dennis with 1,600 of the buggers, just to restore your faith in the process.

I inflated several of the balls we ordered, and hung them in, hopefully, strategic areas - our patio palapa, by the pool, the entrance to the pool house, our front breezeway, and the front porch.

Another Big Blue Ball Hanging From Awning Frame

A Big Blue Ball Hanging Adjacent to Pool House Big Doors

After hanging each one, I then sprayed the ball liberally with the adhesive. Remember to stand up-wind while doing the spraying. Overspray drifts quite a bit, and I got some in my beard and mustache, and on the floor of the front porch.

Bug-Trap Glue - Just the Thing For Blue Balls

Overall, it was a pretty easy process. Now, all we have to do is sit back and wait for the little buggers to discover these fancy blue balls.

A Big Blue Ball Hanging in Front Breezeway

Unfortunately, as of sundown yesterday, we hadn't been able to attract a single doctor fly. We're hopeful that will change soon. Although our numbers, even under ideal circumstances, will be significantly less than those of Wilma and Dennis.

Big Blue Ball Hanging inside Front Porch

A great day for us might be a total of eight to ten combined from all our balls. Hell, I'd be happy with five, even with one.

We've got one more ball to hang. It'll probably go on the back porch. Gonna have to go out soon and check our trap-line. Geez, it sounds like we live in the wilds of Alaska or something.

Late Breaking News...

Dateline, 08 June, 2015 Corozal - First two doctor flies captured with exotic 'Blue Balls' method of entrapment. "Expense justified," says Director of Maintenance.

Our First Two Doctor Flies - Stuck But Good!

And Finally, Some Late, Late Breaking News...

Dennis added by email that he forgot to let me know of their remedy for Dr. Fly bites. With the numbers they're talking about, they should know the best treatment.

When the Dr. Fly bites, "we spray on Stop Pain which contains 8% menthol. It works pretty quickly to stop the itch of the bites. Later on Wilma noticed that if she then used hydrocortisone ointment on the bite, it seemed to reactivate the Stop Pain." He said if Stop Pain isn't available locally, you can get it on Amazon.com, and have it shipped down.

Dennis said the best name for the Yellow/Red/Dr. fly he ever heard was from David Santilli, who lives down further south in Punta Negra: "Spawn of Satan"!

Sunday Morning Grab Bag - Just the usual accumulation (I can't even call it a collection) of detritus and debris that's moved and taken up residence from the last time I did one of these. It's always amazing how stuff just gets in there (my PC) and waits for something to happen, either relevant to the shot, in the case of photos, or some other magic chemistry in the case of text. Anyway, here's the latest selection of stuff that's been accumulating.

Another day another bunch of words spit out from the typewriter (well, the PC actually. I do use typewriter sounds most of the time to come close. It's a nostalgia thing). Sometimes it just seems to go so easily.

Well, we'll find out soon enough. I've got to finish outlining the story, and do some more work on characcters. That's mostly a process of discovery, wherever it lead me is where I go, sort of thing.

If this rain keeps up I'm going to have to be re-trained in use of the pool. Not that I'm complaining or anything. I know things could be worse. Just look down to Monkey River here in Belize. Check out Wilma's website the South Englishtown Gazette (http://southenglishtown.blogspot.com/). I tried posting the URL yesterday on our blog, but for some unknown reason, it didn't take. I got up there today. They've had like seven feet of rain in their village. That makes our one foot or so seem kinda paltry by comparison. Of course, then you can look over at the Philippines. Wow! A million or more homeless, maybe ten thousand or more dead? And, I used to do disasters for a living. Glad it's not my watch. Where would you even begin?

So, back to our patch here. From about 2:30 AM till now at 10:20 AM, it's done nothing but rain. It's either drizzling or coming down in buckets. Of course my weather station has picked now to go off-line. Well, one thing's for sure, I'm not climbing up on the roof of the pool house in this stuff to check it out. There's only so much that could have gone wrong with it. What I'm willing to bet on is that the rechargeable batteries in it haven't been able to be recharged by the solar cell charger on the unit. No freakin' sun to do the deed.

I've looked at the receiving unit on my desk and it looks like it's pulling in the data, so maybe the batteries out there aren't the problem. Maybe my USB hub that the receiver plugs into is on the fritz. I have been having problems with it lately. It might be time to think about a replacement hub. It is about five or six years old. Down here, I think that makes it about nine or ten in electronics parts years. Humidity and heat tend to kill anything in short order that runs electrons through itself.

You know what? I just realized this is Sunday. I've got the laundry in the washing machine, breakfast is done, dishes done and put away... I'm at loose ends. It's time for another Sunday Morning Grab Bag. By the time I kick this out the door, it'll be a Sunday Afternoon Grab Bag. That's why I don't wear a watch, isn't it?

Having said that, I feel much better about this posting. It felt disjointed from the beginning, so that's perfect for a grab bag.

I wonder what I've got for photos to put up? I just took a couple of minutes to peruse some that I've accumulated on the new PC. A lot of old ones that weren't categorized or otherwise filed, got lost in the shuffle of moving to a new machine. That's what happens sometimes.

This one just below was taken on walkies with the girls, as we do most mornings when it's not raining and the road is dry enough to get through. I like the photo, but it just doesn't do justice to the real McCoy. It was real and it was spectacular, to steal a phrase from Seinfeld.

Sunrise on Corozal Bay

At the intersection we used to call Cannon Corners, now it's just the intersection by Prosser's, there's a family right beside the little creek there who raise geese. The geese have had several hatchings in the time they've been there. Here's the latest. Mama (or Mother Goose?) has brought the little ones down to the creek's edge and getting them to swim.

Taking the Kids For A Swim

Shooting the pelicans is always one of my favorites. Maybe because even in flight, they move so slow. Anyway, I thought this one was just right. Not bad for just a point and shoot kinda photographer.


Fisherman's Landing

Here's something I think should be done more in the US. Remembrance Day, Veteran's Day, whatever you want to call it, wearing a poppy is a simple reminder of the sacrifice of many for what we hold dear. It's seldom seen in the States, or Belize, for that matter.

I Wish This Was More Respected in the States

And here's something that shouldn't be seen here or anywhere. Last I thought I knew, the law required effluvia emanating from a septic tank to be sent to a drain field. This restaurant has apparently taken the short route by just sending it to the adjacent storm drainage ditch, which incidentally empties into Corozal Bay right beside the swimming area of the restaurant's day resort. Yummy!