My current, fool-proof method for killing house-flies is this:
[ol]
[li]Wait till the damn buzzy annoying fly lands on a surface[/li][li]Spray that fly with lens cleaner solution (which by the smell is just isopropanol/water. I always have a spray bottle around for my glasses.) The bigger the fly, the more sprays required.[/li][li]Fly usually falls to the carpet. It will still walk around (but not much) and won’t fly.[/li][li]Grab the fly with a bit of tissue, flush down toilet.[/li][/ol]
So the questions:
Why is the fly so bad at dodging a spray? These things are like little ninjas at dodging swats from a newspaper.
I assume the fly can’t fly (temporarily) because its wings get coated with liquid. Is this correct? Why would a film of liquid on its wing make it unable to fly?
Why does their “escape” programming seem to fail when they get grounded? It’s never difficult to scoop them up once they’re on the ground. They usually don’t even run much.
Does the isopropanol (or whatever else is in your basic Walgreen’s lens cleaner) have an effect? Would a spray bottle of DI H2O do the same? (I suppose I could test this myself, if I got curious enough.)
Becquse 2with a newspaper, you are pushing them out of the way of the paper. The rush of air pushed by the newspaper is helping to push the fly out of the way. Consider how small the body of the fly is vs. the amount of air moved by a newspaper. That’s why actual flyswatters have little holes in them – to prevent the rush of air in front of them.
That plus flies take off backwards, something most people don’t take into account when swatting.
I use a vinegar:water mix for general housecleaning and it’s similarly effective on immobilizing flies. I’m assuming the fine mist gets their bodies too wet or heavy to take off.
It’s also quite easy to catch flies, even in midair, with the hose attachment on a vacuum cleaner or shop vac.
Spray cleaner, like Mr. Clean diluted with water. I trudge down to make coffee in the morning to find the counters aswarm with teeny teeny ants. A quick spray and they just dissolve - swipe with paper towel - repeat as needed. A most satisfying experience! This has certainly worked better than any of those useless ant traps I’ve scattered around.
I would guess that a spray work because it confuses the fly with too much information. If you come at them with both hands from 2 different directions you can often gain enough time with their escape reactions to get the jump on them. I heard this years ago in reference to their mult-faceted eyes.
Ya know what else works…a refrigerator. At work from time to time they get in our display cooler in the store. They’ll still fly around but very slooooly. You can just reach in and grab them, they almost don’t even try to get out of the way.
If someone were pushing a fridge around my house, I, for one, certainly wouldn’t expect they were trying to murder me. It’s all about the element of surprise.
I’ve heard this one before. The advice I read was aim 1 inch above and behind the fly and aim there. (Since that’s where he’s going to dodge every single time when you swat.) Of course this is based on the fly’s orientation. (IE if he’s on the ceiling aim one inch below and behind)
Last summer when I had a few flies in the house, I chased them around with a dish towel. Once I got some practice in with aiming, it was very satisfactory to follow one until it landed on a dish towel hittable surface. Hold the towel at opposing corners, swing it so it wraps up on itself, and then…THWACK!
