Tsetse flies

[PeteG]

Is there any other type of repellent recommended or proven effective?

I used a Picaridin based cream that was superbly effective last year.
I’ve been racking my brain to recall what it was to buy some more.
If I remember I will post it as it was very very good.
We had a good 6hrs of (relatively) tsetse free driving in an area that was thick with tsetse’s.
A reapplication after lunch worked through till we got back to camp. And a small spray bottle in the car was good to touch up areas or parts of your body where the cream rubbed off.

Otherwise in a pinch Peaceful Sleep spray helps but it’s probably just in my mind…

 

[Hunt anything]

So, industrial and commercial products are ineffective for tse ste flies.
Smoke for burning ele dung is effective?!
Is this 100% ?

Is there any other fuel/smoke shown effective? Like acacia wood smoke or similar?

The elephant dung smolders and puts out a lot of smoke. The wood would just burn too hot and not enough smoke.
In Mozambique we spent a few nights in anti poaching camps and kept a pile burning all night to keep the mosquitoes away. Worked like a charm.

 

[Wheels]

So, industrial and commercial products are ineffective for tse ste flies.
Smoke for burning ele dung is effective?!
Is this 100% ?

Is there any other fuel/smoke shown effective? Like acacia wood smoke or similar?

From my experience, most smoke tends to work. ie: hippo and zebra dung. The issue with wood is it tends to burn as opposed to smolder and doesn't last as long. Also most people don't want a fire in their vehicle.

 

[Wheels]

The elephant dung smolders and puts out a lot of smoke. The wood would just burn too hot and not enough smoke.
In Mozambique we spent a few nights in anti poaching camps and kept a pile burning all night to keep the mosquitoes away. Worked like a charm.

I was slow on the trigger.

 

[Hunt anything]

I was slow on the trigger.

Lots of time on my hands while watching other people work!

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Luckily, I have not encountered the Tsetse.

The word "Tsetse" actually means "fly" in one of the native languages. So when one says "Tsetse fly" they are actually saying "fly fly."

The let's rename them 'bite bite'

 

[sgt_zim]

Luckily, I have not encountered the Tsetse.

The word "Tsetse" actually means "fly" in one of the native languages. So when one says "Tsetse fly" they are actually saying "fly fly."

Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

The elephant dung smolders and puts out a lot of smoke. The wood would just burn too hot and not enough smoke.
In Mozambique we spent a few nights in anti poaching camps and kept a pile burning all night to keep the mosquitoes away. Worked like a charm.

Yeah, I've been told a pile of poachers will smolder all night if ya don't use too much kindling.

 

[poco]

Any chance someone can recommend mopane fly repellent
my buddies wife says bring a headnet. Because they drove her crazy in Zimbabwe
or they not really a problem?

 

[Rafiki]

Is there any other type of repellent recommended or proven effective?

The following from my hunt report ....

"The quintessential Tsetse fly is an irritating presence. These things are about four times the size of a house fly and the bite is incredible. They are also tough little suckers; you can’t simply swat them; they have to be crushed. They attack in swarms and get under your cloths; they are one of the reasons that it is best to wear long sleeve shirts and pants but even then they can bite through. By chance I had asked my WTA agent about them and was literally told that “they drink Deet” but Picaridin seemed to work if you apply enough. That worked pretty well but the trackers had another solution; Elephant Dung. They would get the dry stuff (it was everywhere), put it in a small bucket they had in the back of the safari car. Once lit it would smolder, the smoke supposedly had the magical power of warding off Tsetse Fly’s. I have no idea if it actually works because I was liberally sprayed with Picaridin."

 

[Hunt anything]

Any chance someone can recommend mopane fly repellent
my buddies wife says bring a headnet. Because they drove her crazy in Zimbabwe
or they not really a problem?

African Sporting Creations sells a good head net.

 

[sgt_zim]

Just for reference

vs horse/deer fly

circled in red are literal saw blades.

they all suck, literally and figuratively

 

[mark-hunter]

Preparing for my first safari I was reading about tse tse flies.
They descended from dinosaur age. They are designed to bite through dinosaur thick skin.
So, I am pretty sure, average shirt will not stop them.

Having said that, in Namibia central highlands (where I hunted) I never saw them which is in line with various tsetse fly distribution maps available around

 

[Nevada Wapati]

My last safari to Coutada 9 in Moz they did the same thing, works like magic. Those bugs are annoying. I also used skin so soft bug repellant/sunscreen and only had been bitten twice by the end of a 10 day safari, where i had missed application.......and the place was alive with tsetse flies

Thanks for the information, I'll be there in September. Doug Duckworth also recommended the Avon skin so soft.

 

[Just Gina]

I will with nearly 100% certainty not EVER go any place with tsetse flies again. I have horrible reactions to them (allergic to mosquitoes also) and it is absolutely not worth it. I tried every spray and cream and sat by the pot of smoking elephant dung and wore a bug suit.
As of now…never again!!

 

[Tundra Tiger]

With apologies to anyone on here named Clarence, the superb work of Gary Larson came to mind...

 

[spike.t]

These creatures, size for size, have probably had more of an effect in Africa than any other single bug or animal. Large swathes of the bush, fortunately, remained largely untouched because of them, and in the attempts to erradicate the tsetse large wild animal populations were culled. That didn't work either, so vacant areas remained to be designated as parks.
On our recent Zambezi valley trip in an open vehicle the pointless swashing and swatting began soon after the second Parks gate and by the time we got to camp the welts were up. The camp staff of course live there, the guides drive around every day, so what is their secret? Deet? Long pants and veils?
Ellie dung burners! One accompanied us on all game drives, you just keep feeding it, works a treat.
Upon leaving they gifted us one and we kept it alight all the way back to Harare, not because there were any more pesky flies, but for that delicious aroma, like coffee on steroids.
View attachment 599660

Kevin having sat in the cab of a cruiser with doors off and a lump of dried ele shit smoking under the drivers seat....I am still not sure what was worse...the smell and smoke of the shit or the flies....the smoke probably......that was many years ago in the selous....and the flies were bad in places....we all jumped out one time and let them have possession of the cruiser.....

 

[spike.t]

So, industrial and commercial products are ineffective for tse ste flies.
Smoke for burning ele dung is effective?!
Is this 100% ?

Is there any other fuel/smoke shown effective? Like acacia wood smoke or similar?

Many years ago I was in a chemist back where I come from and was looking at tge bug spray. They had one called wasp away and it also said it worked on horse flies, so I thought those two species of bastards must possibly be related. Bought some and it worked...again in Tanzania with someone I had booked a hunt for and the flies were bad, so I got it out and offered to clients daughter and client and out on myself....the ph an old time zimbo said when I offered him nah nothing works that's crap...after about 5 minutes of him playing at bring a windmill and him noticing we were only occasionally swiping said OK give it to me....after another 5 minutes he said shit that stuff actually works, and if you buy a few pallets of it you will sell every bottle here...Next time I went to the chemist non in stock....same next few visits. Asked the chemist and he said not had for a while think they stopped making it....even googled the maker and it wasn't listed....so was probably full of stuff that got banned....

 

[30.06king]

Zim is the only place I've encountered the Tsetse. No issue at all in Namibia or Cameroon so I don't even know if they have them there at all. In Zim I didn't take any special measures to combat them. They're not absolutely everywher you go in the bush but definitely can be thick in some areas you move through, which encourages you to keep moving until reaching a relatively lower density Tsetse zone. Yes, they can bite through quite heavy fabric. Had them bite my bum through the heavy fabric of my shorts. And shirt fabric is no barrier at all. Mostly I can withstand the bites as a minor nuisance but the bites that really get me are the ones directly to a nerve that hit like an electric jolt. Wow, you know youv'e been bitten then. There is a bit of sport in trying to whack them before they bite you but, as pointed out, they don't die easily like common house flies. They easily survive a simple smack. A kill requires proper, firm crushing and rolling, or alternatively a decent shot from a good DG calibre.
Personally, I have no grudge against the Tsetse. They have their place in the grand scheme. Mainly we should be thankful they've successfully kept land clearance and utilisation at bay and allowed wildlife to endure.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

As you may know there is a tsetse research station in Mana and it was there that the trap that you see in the bush was developed. It has a black centre panel flanked by a blue panel on either side, about the size and shape of a regular national flag in total. That configuration was come upon as it is most attractive to the flies. Once they land on the black they contact the poison and die. The colour of the blue I am told has to e quite specific, like blue jeans.
So, wearing blue jeans and a black top and you are in for a torid time! My wife wore blue jeans on our trip a few years ago and she clocked 28 bites to my none that morning.