Sometimes it seems like the human brain is in fact two different organs housed in the same shelter, and the two are the original Odd Couple. You know how it is when you are watching a horror movie, and the rational part of your brain is fully aware that you are safe and sound in your own home and that the movie is make believe? But the other part of your brain is jumpy as a twitchy horse, startling at any small bump in the night and sending “fight or flight” impulses to your body all night long?
The same dichotomy occurs when you are outside in a Maine July, anywhere near a body of water … your rational brain knows there is no one there, but that emotional character is urging you strongly to turn around and face your attacker. You half-expect to find a spoiled brat with a slingshot and a pocket full of pebbles pelting the back of your head. But no, it is “only” the bitey flies.
Bitey flies … moose flies, deer flies, horse flies, stable flies, copper-heads, sand flies … whatever the species, they can make your outdoor adventure less than ideal; they can, in fact, drive you half-way insane. Each bite feels like you have lost a picnic-ham-sized piece of meat. Within a short period of time outside, Emotional Brain will have you slap yourself nearly foolish as the flies circle and dive-bomb your cowlick. To feel your scalp, you would suspect someone dipped your head in egg and rolled it in crushed potato chips. Rational Brain, if it can get you inside, will at least put on a hat.
Pity the poor animals lacking options! The farm dog has a cyclone of bitey flies circling her ears like passenger jets over O’Hare. In desperation, she ducks her head into the long grass and races blindly at top speed in an attempt to outrun them. But apparently Maine bitey flies are even better equipped for their purpose than military drones. They reappear directly overhead when she stops, panting hard, and her ears reemerge from the grass. Livestock in the pastures have even fewer choices. Ears helicopter and tails flail like swords in a gladiator movie while welts the size of golf balls appear on their neck and flanks. You half expect to see raised letters across their fly-bitten sides spelling, “Help me,” a scene from “The Exorcist”.
Help me indeed! But how? Natalia Bragg from Knot II Bragg Farm in Wade offers an effective, environmentally sound, kid- and pet-safe alternative to the polysyllabic ingredients found in commercial bug repellents. Herbal Fly Spray is available by the quart, delivered in a pump spray bottle. It is made from essential oils mixed in water. It is innocuous for people, pets, and livestock, but anathema to bitey flies. The animals quickly learn that the mild smelling spray is no reason for Emotional Brain to send them high-tailing away. Herbal Fly Spray needs to be reapplied regularly to work all day (“Oh, rats. It is 90 degrees and I have to spritz myself with water. Bummer!”). The timing works out about right for a farmer, gardener, or beach baby to take regular water and bathroom breaks, reapply sunscreen and fly spray, and head back out. When the bottle gets low, you simply add more water over and over again. For the record, one “dose” of Herbal Fly Spray will keep sane both Rational Brain and Emotional Brain in one farmer, one farm dog, two dairy animals, and occasional visitors for one entire bitey fly season if you follow Natalia’s instructions for use.
You can find Natalia and other members of the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market in the Aroostook Centre Mall parking lot between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturdays right through bitey fly season and beyond. Stop by. Both Rational Brain and Emotional Brain will be glad you did.
The Presque Isle Farmers’ Market contact person Gail Maynard, who operates Orchard Hill Farm in Woodland with her husband, Stan. Their phone number is 498-8541 and their email is orchhill@gmail.com.
