Start raising Geckos and triggerfish
Very simple. All you need is a glass of George Dickel. Flies absolutely love the stuff; when they fly over to have a sip, however, they drown.
As an alternative, you could consume the George Dickel, then throw the empty glass at the fly.
Drop the temperature in your house down to 5-10 degrees or so (that’s Celsius, folks). Flies’ metabolisms, from personal observation in cool rooms, slow down with temperature. They stop being fast, and become slow and languid. Pick them off at your leisure.
I had turned the thermostat down to 60, so the little bastards were flying extremely not fast.
To tell the truth, I only have a few left. Even though the end of the fly swatter had broken off, I was still able to utilize the broken off end enough to dispatch of the bothersome insects. Only a few rogues dare fly around now, hopefully that’ll be the last of them.
Out of all the suggestions, I think a spray bottle filled with alchohol would work best. It’s not really hazardous, and has good knockdown power.
I’ll also get my username changed, I don’t know how I put my email address as my name…that’s embarrassing.
I used to have a roommate back when I lived in Augusta, GA, and we had an arrangement that if he’d cook, I’d dishwash, although admittedly I was rather tardy about doing them after we’d finished a meal. We had no AC in the apartment, so we’d leave the windows open, and there were holes in the screens, so the flies got in. He could catch the flies in his hand while they were in midair (something I never managed to learn how to do). Anyway, he’d not want to squish 'em, not caring for the wonderful sensation of a palm full of fly guts, so he’d throw them into the sink full of dirty dishes covered with dishwater. Nothing like finally going out to the kitchen to wash the dishes and seeing the cold gray greasy dishwater covered with a fine sprinkling of mangled fly corpses. How’s that for a lovely mental picture?
I’ll bet it’d work. Yesterday, here at home, I found myself with a fly in the house and no alcohol. A spray bottle of 409 did the trick–plus, it disinfects!
My fabulous technique involves patience, but usually works:
- Wait until fly lands
- Watch fly until it gets comfy and starts rubbing its forelegs together (it usually does this almost immediately unless you’ve been taking shots at it).
- Get your flicking hand poised for flicking
- Move your flicking hand slowly towards the fly, watching it to make sure it’s rubbing its legs together.
- If you see the fly’s legs stop moving, freeze and wait for them to start moving again before proceeding. He has noticed you moving in.
- When you’re close enough, flick that little bastard hard.
- Find the stunned fly walking around on the floor and smash it. Sometimes it’s already dead.
It’s important to get your flicking hand “cocked” before you move it in, because Mr. Fly will notice you moving your fingers otherwise. Also, the part about being very still when the fly has noticed you is pretty important too.
It helps to flick from behind, and, if possible, in a direction where you’ll be able to find the fly later (oh, and not towards other people’s beverages).
Send $19.95 for a complete VHS tape on learning my technique. Sorry, no C.O.D.
electronics supply stores, it’s used to clean electronic equipment (turned off, of course). Some hardware stores carry it.
Snap them with a wet towel. If you hit them right, they kind of just explode.
You could make your own flypaper, you know. If I’m not mistaken, “flypaper” is nothing more than strips of paper soaked in molasses. Fly lands on molasses-soaked paper, fly sticks to molasses. End of fly. It’s like the LaBrea Tar Pits in miniature!
Any syrup around the house?
erm,cant the fly land on that, adn just pig out.
how does that kill it?
or is it just really boring?
I like the Double-Swipe method. Y’know, swipe rolled up paper just above airborn fly, fly gets sucked up to where paper was, catch it on the way back.
Kinda wish we had more flies here now, so i could try out some of the stuff u guys mentioned.
chopsticks would be cool.
P.s, i like catching them mid-air, then whacking them in teh microwave.
dont tell my mum
( i clean it after )
Don’t waste time and money with expensive home remedies. Use the Vacuum!
I have a vacuum with long, rigid metal tubing. It works wonders. I fire it up and aim in the general direction of the buzzing fly. That THWUUUUUMP sounds means it’s working!
I once left a plum in my fruit bowl while on vacation. When I returned, the kitchen was swamring with tiny fruit flies. I tried the fly swatter, but didn’t get anywhere with it. I turned on the vacuum and had captured the lot of them in minutes. I’ve never had a fly re-emerge from the depths of hte vacuum bag, either.
Catch one on your hand, without squeezing it.
Shake your hand around to disorientate it.
Throw it against a wall and see if you can make it stick.
Couple questions first:
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Is this in a house you live in by yourself, as opposed to an apartment in a building with other apartments?
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Does this happen every time around this year?
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Are these flies rather larger than the standard garden-variety (as it were) fly?
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What do you think of when you turn out the light, you beast?
OK, disregard that last question.
You may be experiencing cluster flies, which can get kinda busy around this time of year. If you can, I’d set off a bomb in the attic, as that is most likely where they’re laying their eggs.
Or they may be regular flies who have found a suitable place to lay their eggs near where they can subsequently get into your house.
If you remove the source, then you’ll reduce and eventually eliminate the problem.
Is it uncovered garbage cans beneath a window? A dead bird or squirrel somewhere? (These can be lots of different places, including chimneys, so look thoroughly, especially wherever the flies seem most numerous.) Is some neighborhood dog using dropping land mines in the bushes by the back door?
Do a little detective work. Try to locate the source.
This is what we used to do in the South Pacific. First you get one of those clear glass balls Japanese fisherman use to hold up their nets and knock a hole in it (they were everywhere-I guess a large gold fish bowl will work just as well but tip it a little sideways). Fill it about half way up with sugarwater. The flies fly in and drown.
In retrospect, I was a liar liar pants on fire when I was 18, I lived in a filthy ass apartment with 2 other 18 year old savages. If I was faced with a fly infestation today, I’d start by cleaning my fucking house and actually washing dishes.
*11 year bump
Did you notice that the last post before yours was made on September 10, 2001? How innocent we were then.
I had FOUR enormous houseflies come in yesterday, a new record, ewwwww!!! (maybe there’s something dead out in the yard). They were huge, flying around bumping into things with a thud. I spent quite a time running around after them with a spray bottle of regular old Windex and spraying like mad the rare moments they landed on something. As long as their wings were wet, they couldn’t fly and I squished each one with a paper towel.
An easy way I discovered to kill flies… in my bathroom there are a few incandescent 60W bulb in little shades above the vanity. Flies, wherever they come from, likes to go in them because they are warm, but don’t stay for too long or else they will overheat. I simply wait for them to fly into one, then hold a magazine over the opening for about 30 seconds. They have no way out and the magazine traps the heat, causing the fly (who has delicate sensibilities) to overheat and either pass out or die outright. Once they stop struggling, I lower the magazine from the lamp with the flies’ body on it and dispose of it with a piece of toilet paper. No time spent swatting.
I registered and necro-ed this thread to post this because I feel proud 
Did you kill seven at one time? 