Mr. Miyagi ain’t got nuthin’ on us.
For the past few months, we’ve had a bit of a fly problem. To be more exact, our next-door neighbors have a rat problem which they don’t deal with aggressively. That means that we have rats, however many exterminators we have drop by or traps and poisons we might set out. And if you have rats, you will have flies. I guarantee it.
Right now, though, we’ve managed to kill off our resident rats and are simply dealing with the fly issue.
We’ve learned to distinguish between at least three different kinds of flies. First, you have the small, hovering flies† that never seem to land on anything. They’re annoying and hard to swat, but generally keep to themselves. Next, you have the slightly larger houseflies that most people are familiar with. They wander around the house and generally keep to areas with lots of windows, as if they want out. They like ceilings an awful lot too. Again, these are annoying, but not so bad. Plus, they are pretty easy to kill since they tend to land for long periods and don’t startle easily.
And then….then, you have the giants of the local fly community: flesh flies and the occasional blow fly. When you get these flies, you know you’ve succeeded in killing a rat. These suckers are HUGE and sound like B-52 bombers as they fly around the house. They land often enough, but even the slightest movement will send them on a dive bombing run at you. These monsters are out for blood.
We usually hunt them in the evening (apparently, even flies get sleepy and less alert when the sun goes down) or first thing in the morning. At some point, though, the Mr and I got tired of running to get the fly swatter, only to have the fly gone by the time we returned. Now, I only get the fly swatter when I need the extra reach. Otherwise, I just grab a tissue and nab the critters, squish them and toss them in the trash. I prefer this method particularly when they land on my white curtains or lamp shades. And I’ve gotten pretty good at it. It’s not chopsticks, but I think even Miyagi San would be impressed with my kill record. As gross as the whole ordeal is, they’ve been great in improving our hand-eye coordination.
I’d love for the problem to be over, but because of our proximity to our neighbors (we’re literally only inches away), I fear this is going to be something we deal with until we move. I admit that I do prefer flies to hearing rats scratching their way into our walls, but ideally we wouldn’t have to make that choice. Plus, we’ve been told that it’s only a matter of time before we get some new rats and the cycle starts over again. It’s too bad, really. I like our house and the neighborhood.
† One exterminator told us that they are quite prolific this year for some reason and are killing off earthworms. The things you learn…
