Fly Bye

This helpful tip about the common house fly is not for the squeamish, nor for those with serious infestations. If you have a major fly problem, skip to the next paragraph. If you are squeamish, stop here! This tip is for dealing with random flies that dart through the front door, then circle the kitchen like sharks before landing on your clean kitchen counter - twiddling their legs and daring you to find the fly swatter in time. Approach the fly slowly, with hands about 8 inches apart directly above the resting fly, so that when you clap your hands the moment of impact is about 4 inches ABOVE the fly. Here is where the squeamish will still be looking for that fly swatter. 99% of the time, if you have managed to position your hands correctly without disturbing the fly, you will have a squished fly on your hands as soon as you clap! A little-known fact is that flies lift off vertical to the plane on which they are resting - think helicopter rather than airplane. If you clap above the resting fly, you will inevitably need to wash your hands.

Why not just let the fly live? Because you don't know where he's been! If yours is a typical fly, he may have dined last in manure, decaying matter, or any moist breeding ground for bacteria. He carries that with him, regurgitating saliva and depositing waste on that clean counter - or your bologna sandwich. By comparison, cockroaches are sanitary. If you have a serious fly infestation, here are a few tips for solving your problem. First, locate the source of the infestation. Do you have a trash can with grass clippings that has been sitting too long? A compost pile that is not properly covered or screened? A garbage can with a lid that does not fit properly? Most fly infestations can be relieved simply by drying out or removing the source. While insecticides may not kill maggots in a trash container, boiling water will. And if you find maggots indoors, again the source must be located and removed. Follow your nose, and you may find a rotting potato or a dead rodent that is harboring the flies.