Catching Flies

Not baseball related!  These are the kinds of flies I'm talking about...

Those pesky flies!  During the summertime we always have a problem with flies.  The problem intensifies when you have 3 cows and a calf, a goat and her kid, around 80 laying hens and 68 meat birds roaming around on 3 acres right behind your house.  The animals generate a lot of poop and it is no secret that poop attracts flies.  I hate having flies around, especially when they come inside the house.  There is nothing more distracting than a fly buzzing around looking for a place to land.  There is nothing nastier than a fly landing on your food.  You know what that fly has been walking around in and now he's walking in your supper plate, not to mention the fact that flies secrete saliva when they land on food.  Appetizing, eh?

I found a website Facts about flies that gives some interesting information about these disgusting creatures.

• A fly's life cycle is 30 days.
• They go from the maggot stage to adult fly in a few days.
• Flies are the indirect cause of low weight cattle and poultry death.
• They have a smelling distance of over 750 yards.
• They normally feed in a 2 square mile area.
• Flies can lay 500 eggs in several batches of about 75 to 150.

It is no mystery that our fly population is exploding right now and we want to control them.  The boys and I sometimes grab a few flyswatters and go out to the garage and can kill 50 or so flies in minutes.  We actually count them as we kill them.  Sadistic, isn't it?  It is really mind-boggling how many they are.  But like I always say, a fly killed outside is one less fly to try to land on your spaghetti while you are trying to eat. 

There are other, less time-consuming ways to kill flies.  Take for instance the product below that I have hanging from the pear tree near the garden.  This is a fly trap with an attractant.  The way it works is like this: You break open a plastic container that contains a very smelly attractant and let it flow into the bag.  Very smelly does not accurately describe the odor.  I can't think of a proper adjective to explain the putrid smell, but it sure attracts the flies.  After you've released the attractant, you pop the cap up on the bag and fill the bag with water up to a fill line and then hang the trap about four feet high from a tree.



The fly trap

The nasty flies smell the attractant and are lured into the bag and then they can't get out.  If you look closely in the photo above, you can see some of the trapped flies on the inside of the bag. 

Now in the photo below, you can see a fly that is about to take a fatal step.  When he goes through the black cap and into the nasty smelling goop below, he'll be unable to undo what he's done.  And he'll die.  The thing he thought was so attractive will be the thing for which he meets his doom.  That's sort of a parable in itself, isn't it?  Sometimes we're drawn to something we think is good.  We abandon our instincts, values and sense of right and wrong and allow ourselves to be lured into a place that we really don't want to go.  All of a sudden - we're trapped!  The thing that once seemed go inviting is now a stinking death trap.  Don't take the bait!

Another one bites the dust

Back to the flies - I held my breath and walked up to the malodorous bag today.  There are thousands of flies in it - living and dead.  I measured and there is an inch and a half layer of dead flies floating on the surface with dozens more flying around trapped.  The trap's luring qualities actually intensify as time goes on as the dead flies make it stink more, attracting more flies, which attract more flies, and... You get the picture.

Bag of nasty, smelly flies

In a few days Tricia will no doubt ask me to move the fly trap away from the house and the garden.  At that point, I'll hold my breath and move the trap to a more distant location.  The last time I used this product, the fetid flytrap filled to the top with dead flies and swelled up like a watermelon with rotting flies.  I waited until the dead flies that filled the bag had completely decomposed before throwing it away as I didn't want to go near to that radioactive thing.  You can pick one of these up at the feed store.  I give it two thumbs up.  It works better than a fly-swatter and better than the sticky fly paper strips.  Shoo fly, don't bother me!  The ones in the bag won't be bothering anyone anymore.