One thing I do not miss about Australia. Gross flies.
I got invaded by houseflies the size of my head. Happened last year, too.
Seriously, you could strap on a saddle and ride these things.
Gah! Sorry to hear that. These flies aren’t that big. I don’t really notice them until night when the ceiling fan lights are on above my computer, and all of a sudden 6 flies are swarming it. Damn annoying.
In case anyone is interested, the damn flies are starting to come back!!! DAMMIT!
Yes, there’s something about July that brings in the house flies. We’ve got a lot in the house. I even bought a battery-operated zapper for the kitchen. It killed exactly one fly. But some of them have committed suicide in the cat’s water bowl.
This time they’re normal house flies, not the smaller ones we had last year.
I get a batch about once a year myself. I use a shop vac (when they are clustered at a glass door) to get rid of them. After a week or so they don’t show up.
Brian
Best idea ever! I’ve started doing this, seems to be working out great!
I have not be able to figure out how the flies are getting into my house. Every window has screens, I try to keep the doors open only briefly when going in and out, and I don’t see many flies around the house. But for the last two weeks, every evening there is a small group of flies floating aimlessly around in the middle of the living room. What do you call a group of flies, anyway? A cluster? A squadron? A bugfest?
I think part of the problem is that the air in the living room is quite still. Maybe a fan blowing from the corner of the room would help. Funny thing is, I rarely get them in the kitchen or the bathrooms. Just the living room, Weird.
I was just ruminating on flies yesterday. The biting flies outside have subsided lately, as they do this time of year but now they have been replaced by housefly (I mostly encounter them in my garage, though) types that just want to buzz around you and land on your skin and run around. They are young and fast and hard to swat. I am really happy the “no see 'ems” have slacked off. They go right through your clothes, bite without you noticing and then the bites turn into huge, red, itchy welts.
I still have to take a break from working at home every hour or so to go and vacuum up about 5 or 6 flies that are flying around my sun-facing kitchen windows. I don’t even have windows or doors opened. So damn annoying!
We had the problem two to three times per years Hundreds of flies over a period of a few days. Pretty sure it was dead rats in the walls. When we tore down the walls to remodel, it became clear. Rats. Dead ones.
Well this just makes my night better 