View Full Version : How to catch a fly without chasing it?
From time to time a fly makes it into my room and spends the next week flying around my head or sitting on my arm. But these things are way too fast to catch them.
Getting rid of a wasp is easy, just lure them with something sugary into a cup and put your hand on it when its in. But I have no clue what flies want. Except sitting on me and being generally annoying?
Any tricks how to get rid of a fly?
Coidzor
2012-10-08, 08:49 AM
Put out some fruit-based vinegar?
The Succubus
2012-10-08, 09:01 AM
From time to time a fly makes it into my room and spends the next week flying around my head or sitting on my arm. But these things are way too fast to catch them.
Getting rid of a wasp is easy, just lure them with something sugary into a cup and put your hand on it when its in. But I have no clue what flies want. Except sitting on me and being generally annoying?
Any tricks how to get rid of a fly?
Disposal by feline generally works well from what I gather. But yes, fruit vinegar (raspberry vinigarette for example) is more effective than sugary stuff. XKCD told me so. =P
Killer Angel
2012-10-08, 09:01 AM
From time to time a fly makes it into my room and spends the next week flying around my head or sitting on my arm. But these things are way too fast to catch them.
(snip)Any tricks how to get rid of a fly?
They're not so fast... :smalltongue:
Anyway, 3 possible solutions.
1 - use a scoop flytrap.
2 - buy a Venus Flytrap (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Flytrap).
3 - make your room as dark as you can, leave the window slightly open and the fly will fly away.
bluewind95
2012-10-08, 09:04 AM
A good hunter cat will do the trick within minutes. It will also likely dispose of the evidence... in his belly. Seriously. We once saw our cat Dante leap, nab an annoying fly with his paws, and then as he landed, he just popped it into his mouth. That fly was never seen again.
Flies like something smelly. You might want to try that. You can also maybe get a trap actually made for flies? Wasn't there some sort of "fly paper" that people could get? It has some glue-covered surface that traps flies when they land.
One trick with fruit flies is to leave out a beer bottle, with about half an inch left in, overnight. The flies will be attracted to the beer, but it is toxic to them. In the morning you can throw out the bottle, which should be full of dead flies.
With regular flies - you can just chase them with a vacuum cleaner, obviously with the hose attachment. This is quite easy.
factotum
2012-10-08, 03:01 PM
I find the traditional newspaper or magazine can be used to get rid of them, but don't roll it up! Wait for the fly to land on a flat surface and then throw the magazine at it, flat. Even if the fly sees the thing coming, and takes off to get out of the way, it's very unlikely to be able to clear the impact area in time.
There is also the knock-down trick. This is where you slap it downwards with your hand in order to knock it down onto the floor, whence you stamp on it. You need to move your arm very fast for this to work.
And then there is the clapping trick. You wait for the fly to come close, and then clap your hands around the fly. Flies cannot handle dodging two impacts at once.
noparlpf
2012-10-08, 04:17 PM
From time to time a fly makes it into my room and spends the next week flying around my head or sitting on my arm. But these things are way too fast to catch them.
Getting rid of a wasp is easy, just lure them with something sugary into a cup and put your hand on it when its in. But I have no clue what flies want. Except sitting on me and being generally annoying?
Any tricks how to get rid of a fly?
Flypaper? Worked great for me a couple summers back when I needed it. Alternatively, roll up a newspaper and stalk the thing down, but beware, for that leaves messy fly-insides on your walls and ceilings.
LaZodiac
2012-10-08, 04:19 PM
Hey now, you catch more flies with honey then with vinger. Or so they say.
THAC0
2012-10-08, 04:24 PM
Bug-a-Salt. Google it.
noparlpf
2012-10-08, 04:25 PM
Ooh--leave out a glass of cheap beer. It works for bees, wasps, and slugs, and kills them too. Try it for flies?
TheThan
2012-10-08, 04:30 PM
The clear answer is chop sticks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1gAHil89Z4).
Coidzor
2012-10-08, 04:41 PM
Hey now, you catch more flies with honey then with vinger. Or so they say.
You have an XKCD strip (http://xkcd.com/357/), mademoiselle. :smallwink:
Blue Ghost
2012-10-08, 06:40 PM
On a related note, anyone have any tips for catching mosquitoes? Evil little buggers...
Dr.Epic
2012-10-08, 06:42 PM
Just leave out some food and they'll go for it.
noparlpf
2012-10-08, 06:45 PM
On a related note, anyone have any tips for catching mosquitoes? Evil little buggers...
My recommendation. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYXPqrXZ1eU)
Tebryn
2012-10-08, 06:48 PM
On a related note, anyone have any tips for catching mosquitoes? Evil little buggers...
Well, you're in trouble as they are attracted to the color blue.
Traab
2012-10-08, 08:46 PM
I have an electrified tennis racket thing I swing around to bug zap any flies that annoy me. Its worth its weight in gold. It is rarely lethal, but it does stun them long enough to finish off, and if they get zapped a few times they die. Oh, and I found out that it just really annoys wasps and such. I had to trap the wasp and virtually set it on fire from constant voltage, (the thing was smoking by the time I stopped) before it quit trying to kill me back. I guess it needs more voltage or something.
Best use was in my bosses house. Somehow he got a HUGE fly infestation. My theory is, the rat exterminator he had come in awhile back missed a corpse somewhere. Anyway, there is this cloud of them in the basement, and I walked in with that zapper swinging it all around me. Pop pop pop pop pop pop pop. The thing was lighting up the room like a strobe light. And because these were mostly full contact smacks out of midair, the zap and smack combo was enough to mostly kill them all. I think I logged in a couple dozen corpses before the rest wised up and left me alone. I went from needing to cover my mouth so I could breathe safely, to barely noticing any around me in about 5 minutes of swinging. Then I replaced the overloaded flypaper strips with new ones and called it a day.
Kelb_Panthera
2012-10-09, 05:18 AM
Houseflies always take off in the direction their butt is pointed. Sweep your hand in from behind them and you can catch them with pretty fair reliability. Just don't close your hand too tight.
Once you've got the little booger, you can release it outside, throw it into the toilet and flush, hurl it into the surface of a table or counter and squash it while it's still stunned, etc.
GnomeFighter
2012-10-09, 05:31 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon
Or fly paper.
Kelb_Panthera
2012-10-09, 05:50 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon
Or fly paper.
Subscribe the "There is no overkill, only open fire and reload" school of thought do we? :smallamused:
Me too.
Winter_Wolf
2012-10-09, 06:20 AM
I have an electrified tennis racket thing I swing around to bug zap any flies that annoy me. Its worth its weight in gold. It is rarely lethal, but it does stun them long enough to finish off, and if they get zapped a few times they die. Oh, and I found out that it just really annoys wasps and such. I had to trap the wasp and virtually set it on fire from constant voltage, (the thing was smoking by the time I stopped) before it quit trying to kill me back. I guess it needs more voltage or something.
Are you sure it doesn't need new batteries? I once (accidentally) killed a small bat with one of those racket-shaped bug zappers. I was trying to shoo it toward an open window. I did feel bad about it. I would have felt a lot worse if any of the people or dogs in the house got rabies, though.
As to flies, I'll second fly strip. Otherwise you could get an electric bug zapper light, but I've always found those of dubious usefulness.
Traab
2012-10-09, 07:04 AM
Are you sure it doesn't need new batteries? I once (accidentally) killed a small bat with one of those racket-shaped bug zappers. I was trying to shoo it toward an open window. I did feel bad about it. I would have felt a lot worse if any of the people or dogs in the house got rabies, though.
As to flies, I'll second fly strip. Otherwise you could get an electric bug zapper light, but I've always found those of dubious usefulness.
Pretty sure, I got it at ocean state job lot, as a cheapo item. I honestly didnt expect it to work at all really. And rarely lethal may have been a mistake. Its rarely lethal when its a glancing blow. Like, they didnt get swatted but came close enough to catch a spark. Im pretty sure most of the flies I whack from the air and zap all die. And if they get snagged they burn. Stinks something awful if I dont notice in time.
Absol197
2012-10-09, 08:26 AM
Pretty sure, I got it at ocean state job lot, as a cheapo item. I honestly didnt expect it to work at all really. And rarely lethal may have been a mistake. Its rarely lethal when its a glancing blow. Like, they didnt get swatted but came close enough to catch a spark. Im pretty sure most of the flies I whack from the air and zap all die. And if they get snagged they burn. Stinks something awful if I dont notice in time.
My friend had a couple of those, and they saved our college house from a true nightmare! We had a wasp nest that had burrowed into the foundation of our house, with one of the exits being in our basement. Every day of the week, there would be one to four wasps down there. They were definitely hard to kill with the thing, but so much better than trying just a newspaper of something!
That little device saved us while we waited for the landlady toget an exterminator out to free us!
noparlpf
2012-10-09, 08:34 AM
My friend had a couple of those, and they saved our college house from a true nightmare! We had a wasp nest that had burrowed into the foundation of our house, with one of the exits being in our basement. Every day of the week, there would be one to four wasps down there. They were definitely hard to kill with the thing, but so much better than trying just a newspaper of something!
That little device saved us while we waited for the landlady to get an exterminator out to free us!
My way of dealing with it:
1. Go into basement. Set off a smoke bomb or two.
2. Fill in hole with concrete.
3. Go outside. Repeat.
Absol197
2012-10-09, 08:46 AM
My way of dealing with it:
1. Go into basement. Set off a smoke bomb or two.
2. Fill in hole with concrete.
3. Go outside. Repeat.
The problem was we didn't know which of the hundreds of tiny pock-marked holes in our basement wall they were coming out of, or if they were just coming in though the hole that surrounded the exhust vent for our washer/dryer. Both would haev been a royal pain to fill in. Plus, we were renting the house, so we weren't allowed to make any major changes, and would have to pay out of pocket, not only for the materials to do the filling, but for doing it, too!
The LOBster
2012-10-09, 10:41 AM
I actually own a no-kill version of the bug vac... Thing. It works like a charm - I just take the bug outside after the vacuum nabs it, open the end of the tube, and dump the bug out into the wild.
I'm weird, because I'm perfectly fine eating meat, but I couldn't kill a bug even if I wanted to.
valadil
2012-10-09, 01:58 PM
There's a trick to swatting flies. Swat slowly.
But the fly moves so fast? How will swatting slower help?
Flies seem like they're able to detect your hand and fly away at the last instant because you're moving it so fast. They have tiny hairs that feel the breeze caused by your hand. Millions of years of evolution have taught them to move when they feel the breeze. The solution is to move your hand so slowly that there's no breeze whatsoever.
This doesn't help if the fly won't stand still of course, but when you do catch him unawares you'll have a pretty good chance of doing something about him.
I eventually did it with the solution I used before and should have tried in the first place. A large transparent cup from the kitchen and a sheet of paper. Just get it to sit on a window or table and you probably catch it on the first try.
And this happened to be my incredibly smart 10,000th post. :smallbiggrin:
And this happened to be my incredibly smart 10,000th post. :smallbiggrin:
Given that the Forum has just over 10,000,000 posts, this means that you are 0.1% of the playground :smallsmile:
noparlpf
2012-10-09, 06:44 PM
There's a trick to swatting flies. Swat slowly.
But the fly moves so fast? How will swatting slower help?
Flies seem like they're able to detect your hand and fly away at the last instant because you're moving it so fast. They have tiny hairs that feel the breeze caused by your hand. Millions of years of evolution have taught them to move when they feel the breeze. The solution is to move your hand so slowly that there's no breeze whatsoever.
This doesn't help if the fly won't stand still of course, but when you do catch him unawares you'll have a pretty good chance of doing something about him.
Or, just swat faster than the fly can react. If you crack the wall with your rolled-up newspaper, well, hopefully your mum/dad/guardian/landlord will understand.
dehro
2012-10-14, 10:12 AM
fly-swatters still are the best thing against flies.
one more trick to using one is to try intercept-courses..and to keep swatting after your first strike, should you miss.. you're likely to catch it, eventually. also, friends, room-mates and relatives will think you're trying to impersonate a retarded ninja and you'll have a new story to laugh about.
you've already solved the issue, or I would have said, since you're in Germany, go to the nearest OBI. they have an entire section of shelves devoted to pest control items.. I know because I work for the company that sells those items to them. amongst the rest, are a fly traps for outdoors, a couple of items for indoors, and fly swatters.
@blue ghost...as for mosquitos.. the tiger-mosquito is a bit of a bitch and virtually nothing but chemical products works against them. regular mosquitos that fly mostly at night can be caught by electric mosquito traps, the ones with a blue-ish neon light acting as bait..they've existed for decades and your local hardware store should have a few models, depending on where you live..
or you can keep them at bay with stuff you smear on your skin or with scented candles and suchlike.. not everything works but I'm not familiar with what you have available in your parts so can't give more advice.
otherwise, for killing mosquitoes like a boss, this:
http://www.gearfuse.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/handheld-flamethrower.jpg
Surrealistik
2012-10-14, 10:26 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbUH_iVjYw
Scarlet Knight
2012-10-16, 07:13 AM
On a related note, anyone have any tips for catching mosquitoes? Evil little buggers...
"The wings of a fully grown male mosquito can in fact fetch anything up to point eight of a penny on the open market." :smallbiggrin:
I assumed tiny things that they are, that they only live for a few days, so this summer when one was in my room, I decided to just let it bite me twice and then it dies by itself.
Wrong. Those tiny bastards can live for months. :smallmad:
dehro
2012-10-16, 09:50 AM
I assumed tiny things that they are, that they only live for a few days, so this summer when one was in my room, I decided to just let it bite me twice and then it dies by itself.
Wrong. Those tiny bastards can live for months. :smallmad:
also, they breed
also, they breed
And can carry diseases: Malaria, West Nile Fever, Yellow Fever, ... :smalleek:
dehro
2012-10-16, 02:54 PM
And can carry diseases: Malaria, West Nile Fever, Yellow Fever, ... :smalleek:
not everywhere..and we have pills and injections for that.
Asta Kask
2012-10-16, 02:58 PM
I assumed tiny things that they are, that they only live for a few days, so this summer when one was in my room, I decided to just let it bite me twice and then it dies by itself.
Wrong. Those tiny bastards can live for months. :smallmad:
Flamethrower.
noparlpf
2012-10-16, 03:02 PM
Flamethrower.
Still think my laser idea would be cooler.
dehro
2012-10-16, 03:02 PM
Flamethrower.
look at what is spoilered in post nr 33 :smallwink:
HairyGuy4
2012-10-17, 09:26 PM
If you live in the country, and own guns, flies make excellent target practice. Just don't shoot at them when they're still flying. Or when they're on your wife's book. She gets mad about that.:smallbiggrin:
Kelb_Panthera
2012-10-18, 04:17 AM
If you live in the country, and own guns, flies make excellent target practice. Just don't shoot at them when they're still flying. Or when they're on your wife's book. She gets mad about that.:smallbiggrin:
If your wife's ever lost a finger to a .45 because you missed a fly......
:smalltongue: Just messin' with you.
Seriously though, bug zapper. Just 'ware flying squirrels that are easily confused.
Zdrak
2012-10-18, 04:53 PM
I'm amazed no one mentioned Aeon Flux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aeon2.jpg) yet.
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