flies

[itsmecindi]

I could have gone my whole life without knowing how flies make a meal, but everytime one lights anywhere near the kitchen Fred launches into his speil about how nasty they are and where they were last and so on and so forth.

Out here we have such a variety of flies that I seem to discover a new species every day. There are flies for the spring, fall, summer and yes due to the sub tropical climate, even winter. There are great big old flies, teeny tiny little mini-flies, perfect in every detail but just way small. There are green flies and blue flies and blow flies and shoo flies. Honeymoon flies, horse flies, black flies and fruit flies. Robber flies, cluster flies, and gargantuan stable flies.

And then there's the common house fly. Every time the door opens another one comes in so I now have a cheap plastic fly swatter hanging in every room of the house including the bathrooms. Jake makes a sporting event out of killing them and has his own patented technique.

There's always that one fly that designates my right elbow as his official landing pad, and will come back over and over and over until I'm ready to scream, and scream I do, but he is oblivious.

Then there is the window fly that sparked this whole rant. The one that gets in the top of the window on the inside between the glass and the curtain and buzzes around frantically trying to figure out where he went wrong and why if he can see though it he can't fly through it. He's still up there...buzz..buzz...angry buzz. The only consolation is that eventually he will wear himself to a frazzle and drop to the windowsill leaving his carcass as decoration when he goes to fly heaven.

If I could get my hands on Pandora, I'd just have to shake her til she rattles

 

[chim]

Worked construction most of my adult life, and it always kinda bothered me when a fly would light on my lip as I sat in a Job Johnny........................chim

 

[RichZ]

Part of my job when I used to be an inspector of health care facilities was inspecting the kitchens. I also had to testify in court, when facilities were fined for being substandard, and the facility wanted to fight the fine.

One time, a facility's defending attorney thought he was smart during cross examination, and he asked me why having flies in the kitchen was a health hazard. I then expalined to the court that most types of flies that you'll find in a kitchen consume their food by reguritating their stomach contents, which contain acid and enzymes onto whatever they want to eat. Along with the enzymes and acid are the remains of their last meal. They have no mouth parts other than a syphon, and they have to liquify their food before consuming it. Well, that fly that may be on your hamburger, may have had it's last meal in the contents of a toilet. Now the contents of that toilet is on your hamburger, as you're eating it. So, counselor, do you think that's a health hazard?

Needless to say, the court upheld our fines. But as the judge told me I could step down from the witness stand, I noticed that he looked a little green around the gills. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[itsmecindi]

Ohhh, yes. Disgusting, and never more vivid than when Jeff Goldblume did it on a thirty foot screen in the theatre. Geee--ross.

 

[bgott]

Those cheap plastic fly swatters suck. When you swing at a fly they flex backwards and seem to give the fly enough warning that it's time to move. Find some of those old metal wire framed swatters and you'll be suprized how high your kill to swat ratio jumps. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[itsmecindi]

I did not know that. Jake must be compensating for that in the way only a teenage boy can do, but that more than explains my frustration level when I try to use the dang things. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[bgott]

I figured it out and proved my theory by taping a dowel rod to the handle to try to stiffen it up. With a good wrist flick I could break the dowel rod without hitting anything. I could have probably went to a bigger dowel but then I would have been adding weight to the handle. Too much weight and you're not going to be able to perform those light, controllable flicks that you need to be able to use on glass light fixtures and other delicate objects. The wire handle will flex but not nearly as bad as the plastic. The wire also doesn't have near the wind resistance as the thicker plastic, plus, the mesh in the swatter on the wire framed unit has bigger holes and a smaller cross section so you have a faster swatter. Speed is a necessity because those little buggers have a lot quicker reflexes than you do. You also want to practice your technique. Grasp the swatter in your hand with your thumb about half way up the shaft. Now, practice giving it a flick with a quick wrist snap. Have you ever popped a bullwhip? It's the same wrist action. You want to get to the point where you give them a quick pop with the end of the mesh. Slowly get the end of the mesh a foot or so away, hesitate, then give it a quick flick. That way you don't telegraph your move and give them a head start. I don't know enough about flies to tell you whether they see the swatter coming from over your shoulder or if the advancing air from a long slow swing gives them a sign that life is fixing to get complicated, but quick and sweet beats long and slow. HTH /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[DocHeb]

Adults worry about the follow-through too much. We worry about bug guts on the newly painted walls, lampshades, drapes, windows, furniture, etc... Teenage boys do not have such worries, and use the flyswatter with higher efficiency, but without regard.

 

[kensfarm]

One year.. the fly problem was so bad in our house.. we thought it was like the "The Amityville Horror" movie.. they just kept coming. Well.. when the local farmers clean up manure.. some will spray insecticide.. the flies vacate.. and once it gets colder they bunch up.. squeeze into cracks.. which my old house has plenty!

It was so bad.. I would use the shop-vac every evening when I got home from work.. and go room to room sucking them up. Since then I've hit every window in the house and sealed them.. from the outside.. inside.. and inbetween. We still get a few.. but it's not like a plague.