House flies

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annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Location
Canonbie
How is it that if I open the door for more than about 5 seconds a house fly will get in but when I open a window to let it out it'll batter itself against the glass for hours without realising that outside is just an inch away over the frame?

I wouldn't mind so much but I don't know where it wiped it's feet before it came indoors xx(
 

SpokeyDokey

68, & my GP says I will officially be old at 70!
Moderator
Horrible creatures!
 

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Horrible creatures!

Indeed - one of the few creatures I'll happily kill be default; the only deterrant being the need to clean up the mess.

Had a fat one buzzing around the superheated bedroom at silly-O'clock this morning - the noise provoking intense irritation and its presence anxiety about where it might settle while I'm asleep and unaware..
 

SpokeyDokey

68, & my GP says I will officially be old at 70!
Moderator
Indeed - one of the few creatures I'll happily kill be default; the only deterrant being the need to clean up the mess.

Had a fat one buzzing around the superheated bedroom at silly-O'clock this morning - the noise provoking intense irritation and its presence anxiety about where it might settle while I'm asleep and unaware..

We give 'our' flies 3 chances to get out of the house. If they don't, then splat or a dose of Mrs SD's 'hairspray' or whatever they call it these days.
 

Vapin' Joe

Formerly known as Smokin Joe

a.twiddler

Veteran
We've had a tennis racquet shaped fly zapper for a couple of years (from Aldi, I think, though they are commonly available). Runs on 2 AA batteries. The idea is to get a fly to touch the electric grid which replaces the racquet strings while you keep the button on the handle pressed. It kills them instantly, then you can flick them outside or down the loo. The hard bit is actually catching up with them but if they're in the window it's easier. It makes a high pitched whine which I can just about hear. Mrs T can't hear it, but my 4 year old grandson can hear it and says he doesn't like the sound.

It does work on wasps, though I'm more likely to try to get them to leave as they're beneficial for the garden. It's a bit brutal as they're pretty tough but at least if you can stun one you can get it outside and let it fly away. It seems that if you're that way inclined you can zap them until they're trailing smoke and they'll still try to get back to base.

I felt bad after zapping a hoverfly recently as you almost never see them in the house. Silhouetted against the window it just looked like an ordinary fly.
 
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Wasps are my job at home

I generally get a glass or something similar and wait until it settles
Then just slowly move the glass over it
Then slide a sheet of cardboard or paper under it and trap it

then outside and release it


When I was a kid I had a gun thing that made a loud noise by "firing" a bolt of air out of the muzzle
I used to hunt flies and wasp with it
which was great fun - especially seeing them all confused whan I got a direct hit


I did do the honourable thing and chuck them outside after they became confused
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
When I was a kid I had a gun thing that made a loud noise by "firing" a bolt of air out of the muzzle
I used to hunt flies and wasp with it
which was great fun - especially seeing them all confused whan I got a direct hit
How weird - a couple of days ago I was thinking back over 50 years to the one that I had!

It was called a 'sonic gun'.

I don't think that they would be allowed now, looking and sounding like a real rifle. They were so powerful that I could topple Scrabble tiles from across a room! I would place them all around the room and see how long it took me to shoot them. Lord knows how my parents and neighbours put up with the noise.

My dad smashed up my sonic gun after I accidentally fired it as a friend of my sister walked into shot. I almost deafened her and her father came round threatening to call the police!
 
OP
OP
annedonnelly

annedonnelly

Girl from the North Country
Location
Canonbie
Wasps are my job at home

I generally get a glass or something similar and wait until it settles
Then just slowly move the glass over it
Then slide a sheet of cardboard or paper under it and trap it

then outside and release it
Yeah, I do that with wasps, spiders, moths, etc. I have a special dish & piece of card put aside for that - it saves washing the glass after each catch.

But the flies have such good backward vision and reactions that I can't trap them.
 
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