Rid-Max Fly Trap^TM - The Environmentally-Safe Fly Trap

Whether you raise animals or just enjoy being outdoors, flies are irritating and unsanitary. Besides being an annoyance, flies carry diseases harmful to people, livestock, and pets.

What is the Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap?
The Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap is a patented, environmentally safe insect trap. The Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap has been tested and certified by the USDA. It traps flies and other insects without the use of toxic pesticides, liquids, or messy and expensive chemical lures. User's provide their own choice of safe and natural bait using whatever material is attracting insects to the area.

The Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap is re-usable which is both economically wise and environmentally beneficial. The trap is effortlessly assembled for use, and the dried, dehydrated flies are easily emptied from the trap for disposal.

The Rid-Max^TM is portable and collapses flat upon disassembly for quick convenient storage or travel. The trap is constructed thus: a 7" diameter cylinder-shaped outer screen "holding area" with an inner removable inverted cone that snaps into place at the bottom of the trap. The assembled trap stands approximately 7.5" high, with legs extending 3" (or less, depending on surface area trap will be used) from the bottom of the trap. The foot pads on the ends of the legs are threaded and adjustable to prevent rocking and to allow leveling on uneven surfaces.

The manufacturers of the Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap are very concerned about our environment and the damage pesticide / chemical insect-killing products do to our planet and our bodies. They also are strong supporters of recycling to help conserve our natural resources. For this reason, the Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap is manufactured using only recycled materials and is considered a "Green" product. The trap and cone are made from recycled plastic material. The legs are made from cadmium plated recycled tensile steel.

How does the Rid-Max Fly Trap work?
The Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap is based on a very simple concept similar to those which have been in use for centuries for fish and crustaceans. Adapting this concept using 21st century technology allows this device made from recycled materials to be re-usable, portable, effective, and environmentally safe:

1. The Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap is placed over a suitable bait or fly attracting matter.
2. Flies are attracted to the bait placed under the trap. Insects which are lured by the bait, instinctively travel upward and into the coned area. They then crawl through the opening at the top of the cone, and are trapped in the "holding area" of the trap.
3. The live trapped flies release pheromones--natural scents which insects emit for communication and breeding purposes.
4. The pheromones serve as an attractant enticing more flies into the trap. Flies are instinctively lured to feeding and buzzing activity produced by other flies--just the frenzied activity in the trap of a few flies will attract more, and the trapping cycle continues.
5. Once egg laying flies are caught, the breeding cycle is broken. This drastically reduces the future fly population in the area where the trap is in use.
6. Trapped flies will dehydrate in approximately one day. Once desiccated, the insects are virtually weightless and odorless, take up little room in trash, and are biodegradable.
7. It is not necessary to empty the Rid-Max Fly Trap until the level of dehydrated insects are approximately half way up the height of cone area. If desired, insects which are still buzzing can be sprayed with a harmless soapy water solution before removal. To empty the Rid-Max Fly Trap, the inner cone can be easily and quickly removed.
8. Disposal of dried insects is a simple matter of emptying into a trash bag. Some customers use the live or dehydrated insects to feed their reptiles, amphibians, birds, or fish.
9. The cone is securely snapped back into place, and the trap again is ready for use.

The mesh walls of the Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap serve many important purposes which include:

• Easy to collapse for storage or travel,
• Solar dehydration of trapped insects alleviating the wet, smelly mess associated with liquid insect traps,
• Enhance the trapping abilities of this product.

What do I need to know to get the most out of my Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap?

• When assembling your trap, make sure to follow all diagrams and instructions carefully. Be careful not to tear screen or assemble trap without reading all instructions first.
• There are adjustable feet on the ends of the trap’s rods, you can use these to adjust the trap’s height slightly, or to level the trap on uneven ground to alleviate rocking.
• Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap works best when he trap is only 1" inch from the surface you’ll be placing your trap on. If you grass height is short or if you’ll be using the trap on hard surfaces, you’ll need to shorten the rods before assembly. Just measure and cut off excess length from the ends without the adjustable pads. If your trap is too high, the flies which land on your bait will be able to freely fly in and out from under the trap instead of flying straight up into the trap's cone.
• Keep the area above of your trap clear. Don’t put your trap under tables, chairs, etc. If flies sense they can safely fly straight up, they will more readily climb or fly up to enter the trap's cone hole from the bait area.
• Check trap daily. You may need to change bait or try different bait for the different types of flies in your neighborhood. If your bait was working great but seems to have lost some effectiveness, it may be time for some fresh bait.
• There are over 2,000 species of flies; many of them are attracted to different kinds of bait. Check to see just what it is that is attracting the flies to your area. We have found great success with many various types of bait. For instance: animal manure (very effective, and any animals won’t be tempted to eat your bait!), old cat or dog food, a small amount of garbage or slop, over-ripe fruit, fish or meat scraps. You can experiment and see what the flies in your area are attracted to and place your trap over that bait. But remember to leave only the bait under your trap in the vicinity to attract flies.
• Make sure to remove all other fly attracting materials, such as garbage, manure, etc. leaving only the bait under the trap to attract flies to the trap. Proper sanitation practices along with the Rid-Max Fly Trap will greatly reduce fly populations.
• You don't need to kill trapped flies, they usually die from dehydration within a day. Do not use hot water, insecticides, chemicals, etc. to kill the flies. If desired, you may submerge your trap in water for 15 minutes or spray with soap/water solution to kill any flies in the trap, then empty dead flies into a trash bag or wrap in newspaper and dispose.
• Your Rid-Max Fly Trap does not need to be emptied daily. You can empty trap when dead flies accumulate half-way up the inner cone.
• Trapped live flies can be used to feed pet reptiles, amphibians, insects, etc. which need to eat live insects.
• Flies can carry diseases. Don’t put your trap near food, children, or pets. Instead place your trap in a nearby, but out-of-the-way spot, to attract flies away from your immediate area.
• If you are having a barbecue, picnic, or other outdoor activity, setting up the fly trap as soon as possible before the event will greatly reduce fly nuisance.
• If you are using your trap in a highly fly infested area and find your trap fills up within several hours, you may need to set up additional traps in your area for even greater results.

Does it work?
Dog breeders have used a homemade version of this trap around the kennels for many years. Visitors witnessing the Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap in action were amazed by it's effectiveness. Many asked us to make traps for them. As one can imagine, hand-making traps is quite difficult and time consuming. Rid-Max^TM is now available and affordable.

Rid-Max^TM has received enthusiastic feed-back from veterinarians, pet owners, stables, farms, aviaries, and conscientious consumers unwilling to use chemical traps or pesticides around children and animals. Many had previous unfortunate experiences with animals eating traps and baits containing the so-called "non-toxic" liquid fly attractants. A great advantage of the Rid-Max^TM Fly Trap is the fact it uses as bait whatever safe, natural fly-attracting material is available: fish, meat, fruit scraps, manure, etc. The trapped flies even serve as additional bait by attracting others via the pheromones they release while in the trap.