Why flies are hard to swat, and how to outwit them

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That’s wild. If not for leaving salt and 'sploded bug guts all over the place I’d be all over that.

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They’re not very good at outrunning an isopropyl spritz fireball… just saying.

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I had some aerosol alcohol at one point for cleaning circuit boards - that works really well and doesn’t hurt any surfaces that get in the line of fire.

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I bought one for stinkbugs, which it doesn’t work so well, their carapace is too tough. I don’t think I’ve ever shot at anything other than a stinkbug. I don’t really get any other insects except for the occasional spider mite infestation from some plant I bought.

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I occasionally grab them out of the air. I can let 'em go outside, squish 'em, throw 'em hard at the toilet bowl (throw hard enough & they can’t just fly away) so they stick to the water and can be flushed.

Once I spat one out of the air. I was sitting by the sunken kiddy pool which was briefly a sort of pond in our backyard, trying to read. A fly was driving me crazy - I had nothing to interest it, but that didn’t stop its flying up to me every 10 seconds to make sure nothing had changed. Finally I’d had enough, and held a sip of water in my mouth. I waited, and when the bastard came back, I spat the water at it and it fell right into the pool. I could then enjoy my book until the mosquitos discovered me. I then went back inside.

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I have a cat so bug spray is something I avoid if I can and I prefer this to a fly swatter :yum: and it doesn’t really squish flies. It just punches them to death

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Yeah anything with a proper exoskeleton is pretty impervious, not surprised that stink bugs would be unbothered by it. Also don’t try it on wasps :joy:

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I use cheap hairspray (the kind that comes in a pump spray bottle). Brings down all bugs for easy disposal, and doesn’t bother pets.

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I’m too lazy to RTFA, but 100 milliseconds seems really slow.

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You can position your hand about six to eight inches above the fly, then wait for it to walk. Once it begins to walk, swat. It won’t have time to shift from walking to flying, and you’ll have some lovely fly-guts on your hand.

I grew up on a farm. I have done this many, many times.

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A rubber band at point blank range works well. Once they’ve landed on something, most flies will let you get within 5 - 6 inches without feeling threatened. Get close and then let 'er rip. The fly can’t react fast enough to dodge at that distance. Not very sporting, but it gets the job done.

The rubber bands from produce work well. The thicker, the better. I keep a small collection in the kitchen to knock out fruit flies.

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Something about the color scheme and body shape on that fly makes it look like a sweet little 60s sports car

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Oh yeah, I was just about to chime in with that. Rubber bands work every time

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“It is best not to swat the fly’s starting position, but rather to aim a bit forward of that to anticipate where the fly is going to jump when it first sees your swatter,” he said.

Houseflies have all-round vision and can take off in any direction independently of how their body is aligned.

“Just predict the thing that’s impossible to predict! Easy!”

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A folded paper towel works better than a fly swatter. Just lower that vast, ill-defined whiteness over the fly until you can crush and wipe it up.

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I have best success rate by aiming just behind the fly. I find that flies tend to take off backwards when they sense the swatter coming towards them.

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This is the way.

Above and slightly forward of the fly enables me to catch them alive in the middle of a slightly cupped clap and dispose of humanly out a window should I choose.

Other professional fly tricks learned in Australia:

  • Shake your flies from your foolishly chosen dark shirt onto oncoming pedestrians then flee flyless from the scene.
  • With practice you can easily herd a room full of flies out an open door in light airs. The correct technique involves waking them from ceilings/curtains, then slowly advancing toward door while alternating one arm up while the others at you side/altenating leg kicks to the side.

Warning: Fly herding technique is effective but neighbours may think you just dancing crazy by yourself.

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…draculas, mothras.

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