HORSE FLIES ARE A-HOLES.

[hazeyjane]

That's it.

I tried to kill one last week and failed... then it flew into a spider's web and I watched with glee as the little bastard tried to wrestle with the spider. Spider won, to my delight!

Skin So Soft does not work in my experience - not against horseflies anyway. I think it might discourage small midges though as it would make your skin sticky/slippy.

Jungle Formula or anything with maximum amounts of DEET does work - just don't get it in your eyes or on your lips/in your mouth.

I got cellulitis from a horsefly bite once. You know about it if they bite you, they draw blood and you feel it the second they bite you.

I worked at a stables for 15 years and I would rather be bitten by a horse than by a horse fly !
Their bites hurt like buggary , if you dont feel the idiot landing on you with a thud ( for flies they seem to be incredibly clumsy / bad at flying ) then the bite will get your attention sharpish , after they have drank about a arm full ( thank you Tony Hancock ) of blood they tend to flap off and doze .
DO NOT knock them off once they have got there teeth into you , as they can leave the jaws in your skin. this can cause infections . let them have their fill and they will bugger off with no further damage to you .

Sometimes when I have been got at it no more than a penny size lump , other times its been half of my arm / leg that has swollen up .
And GOD it itches burns / stings.
Bad bites can make the area very hot and heavy feeling , if you get this go to docs for antibiotics.
But bugger all stops it from itching for about two weeks ( although Ice sometimes helps for a short while )

The only advantages is they slow stupid and have a loud distinctive drone/ buzz when flying , once you have heard it you will not mistake it for a blue bottle /wasp / bee .

UTTER BASTARDS !

YANBU OP. Am another they love. Once got bitten on my hand in the very delicate and soft skin between my index and middle fingers. Swelled up very badly and struggled to use hand properly for a fair few days afterwards. Evil little fuckers that deserve to die!

Oh you're defo defo defo NBU!!!!! My DD got a bite on her ankle and the swelling went up to her knee. When I get razored I get the blisters then bruising plus it knocks me on my arse for a few days. I've been attacked on my arse through jeans in the time it took to take food outside. I now spray any spray which citronella (there are loads around in pound type shops at 2 for a quid) everywhere including clothes. Avon sss original is good too.

For the itching put a hairdryer on the bites. Then aloe vera, if you have the plant all the better.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/simple-trick-helps-cure-insect-13549796

There is also a small mozzie whining around the room, but I am mainly blaming this thread for the wild psychsomatic itching I’m experiencing just now.

I’m going to go and get some ammonia as DH falls victim to them easily.

I read somewhere that blood group may also explain why some folk get bitten to fuck regardless (or is that bollocks?)

I've got six bites at the moment and am desperately trying not to scratch them. At least I haven't had a reaction as bad as one of my horses did 2 years ago - this was bigger than my hand.

:(

avon skin so soft works for me! also works on the horses

Evil little bastards. I had a bite on my foot which then ballooned, took 4 days to go down.
Usually i get a hard purple lump that itches for ages.
I found Afterbite helps, though less on horsefly bites than other insect bites

Horse flies are cunts. Poor little pony had blood all over his legs this morning from the bastard cunting things.

I don't think I have ever been bitten though. After 30 years of horse ownership. Must have the wrong blood.

Either that or the copious amounts of gin and tonics keeps them at bay. Am sure I have read somewhere they don't like g and t.

YANBU. Not been bitten myself, but my mother had a permanent lump left on her leg from a bite in her teens. And my father, a big strong bloke, was levelled for over a week by a bite. Bastards!

Frouby - isn’t that the quinine? I’m sure I have a vague recollection that was why lots of ex-pats drank it in the tropics...

Whenever I go out on the water (kayak) I risk over-heating because I have to cover up to reduce the number of fly bites. And I still have streams of blood running down my limbs where I've been bitten through clothes.

And I'm another one who ends up with infected bites, swelling, huge welts, and week-long malaise after horse-fly nips.

Their sheer persistence and fearless attitudes freaks me out the most. I’ve tried to outrun a few in my time and given up.
What fly can bite through jeans for fucks sake? Evil.

These things sound horrible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before though. I just googled to see a pic of one but they look so similar to bees and wasps I’m not sure I could tell the difference?

Do they only come out in the evenings like mosquitoes?

Got bitten on the back of my calf.
Bite cream not helping and the swelling/redness was getting bigger (the size of my hand).
Last night I put a flannel with cold water on it when I was in bed, the relief was heavenly.

Today, less swelling and the redness is down considerably.

Its only the females that bite. I looked it up. Git faced gits, drink gin instead like the rest of us.

Rottweilers- the mosquitoes in the Caribbean rainy season are just as vile. My feet and ankles were bitten to lumpy messes through jeans, socks and trainers in Grenada in July!

Total buggers! I got bitten by one and ended up with cellulitis taking 24 tablets a day luckily the infection started clearing just at the point they were looking at admitting me to hospital for IV antibiotics.

Here's mine. The bastard.

Embarrassingly, I had no idea horse flies actually bite until seeing all the coverage in the news this year. Did other people already know this, or did you become aware only recently? I feel exceptionally ignorant. I always saw them as harmless imitators of their infinitely more evil cousins.

For those fellow horse-fly-bite sufferers, I killed one of the bastards just as it started to take chunks out of me on Friday evening! The satisfaction I got slapping it off my leg and seeing it squished on the ground cannot be superseded!

@LittleLionMansMummy,

I've known about horsefly bites for years. The reaction is very different from a sting due to how the bastards do bite as opposed to puncturing the skin. I had a bad reaction in 2013 to a bite on my arm that turned into cellulitus and I was quite poorly. In the end I had to be admitted to hospital and IV drip.

So, am on anti-biotics now because of my history.

It's so important particularly for children whom may be bitten as the itch can puncture the blister.

Horsefly bites should only be treated with warm water and/or antihistamines for home treatments. First sign of spreading, should be antibiotics. The blister should not be popped.

I went to the pharmacist whom confirmed the bite was horsefly. Then he told me to call GP and because of my history, straight on antibiotics.

Horrible fuckers.