Nearly fail-proof way to kill a fly indoors

[Shanty Oilish]

Lysol kitchen cleaner, 409 or any similar spritzer.

I suffer from a lifelong inability to swat a fly mortally. Once in a while I can land a blow but they are only stunned and panicked. But with countertop cleaner spray I never lose. They go right down and a second spritz kills them in 15 seconds.

Ok it lacks the drama of the shake'n'bake (electric bug zapper) but it's easier on the cat's nerves. :)

[fortyfeetunder]

1. More entertaining...hairspray

Well you get some on the bugger while it's in flight..and he flies around a minute until the hairspray stiffens up and freezes up his wings and he's like, what the eff, my wings don't work, and then WHOOM! down he goes. Then dispatch him with a towel and dispose of him.

I actually heard this from a comedy routine....

[Syrinx]

2. I'm reporting you to peta

:)

[WilliamPitt]

12. ...can't flap...bzzz...bzzz...mayday...mayday...goo...on...meeeee...

:)

[Interrobang]

21. BWA-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

Will, that's hilarious. I'm going to have to buy some hair spray now. Any particular brand, or just the cheap stuff?

I've tried spritzing flies with Lysol, and they just shrug it off. Maybe we have super macho flies here in Soviet Canuckistan or something.

Personally, I've found that spraying them with a non-aerosol flea-tick killer drops them rather amusingly, myself, and it's less harmful (and smells nicer) than Raid or the like -- also it kills the sand fleas and anything Nero might have picked up. They sort of fly around for a minute, then they drop out of the air, fall on their backs, and kick their legs for a few seconds while buzzing their wings weakly in errratic bursts. I get a charge out of that.

I had a plague of flies in here last year, and I was damn glad to see those little bastards dying en masse. Flies are really disgusting, especially when you have developed a maggot infestation! (Don't ask. Suffice to say it was a combination of a heat wave, stupidly opening the window without the screen, and going away for a weekend without taking out the garbage first, because I forgot!) Bleah. Argh. For those of you who think you're doing the world a favour by not killing flies, do US a favour and squish them into jelly, ok?

[CarlBallard]

3. Where are you?

One of the most surprising things I found out when I moved to Washington is that I could swat the flies with my hand. I still use a swatter because that's really gross. The point is that flies are wimps out West. New York flies, on the other hand, are tough as nails and don't take kindly to a swatter some times.

[Shanty Oilish]

5. In PA right now

I've lived all over the world and seen some flies let me tell you. The only kind I ever could swat were the dopey ones that clustered in windows in cold places.
PA flies look indistinguishable from NY flies, though I do see less of the shiny green ones here. The striped horseflies are as rude here as any found in NY and NJ. They go low and slow like bombers with full loads, but they are still faster than I am.

[CarlBallard]

10. Oh man

I totally forgot about the shiny green flies. We just have black hairy ones out here.

[Catshrink]

4. My cats take care of all my extermination issues.

Last night was a bonus -- a gecko AND a cricket.

[Shanty Oilish]

6. How to catch lizards

I learned this in the south. Get one of those sticky toys that kids throw. It looks like a string of jelly, you swing it and it thwaps against something and sticks to it. With good aim it'll bag a lizard, gecko, or whatever is slithering up the wall. Doesn't kill or maim.

[Interrobang]

22. Can your cats teach my cat how to catch flies? He likes other cats...

...and has no grudge against any other living thing, as near as I can tell. I tried to get my cat to catch a fly once, because cats are *usually* pretty interested in catching things. After I coaxed him a bit, he rolled onto his back (tractable beast) and waved his paws (claws sheathed) around in the air a few times, and then rolled over and started to purr, looking at me like, "Ok, I did what you said, NOW will you pet me?" He's a lover, not a fighter, and when he was roaming stray and having to catch or scrounge his food, he was starving to death, which ought to tell you something about his hunting skills (comma nonexistent)! (He's a rescue cat.)

I think a cat with at least some basic insect-catching and exterminating skills would be handy to have around. Alas, all I have is a cat who knows how to make friends with everyone and everything. :)

[unblock]

7. the key to fly-swatting

a) do not cup your hand -- keep your fingers slightly apart. if you don't, you'll create a sail and the wind you push in front of your hand will push the fly away from your hand before you can smack it.

b) sneak up from behind. no, really. a fly launches by jumping BACKWARD before flapping off.

c) the hand slap will likely stun the fly, but it works even better if you smack the fly into a wall. that 2nd hit will certainly stun, if not kill, it.

d) if it's still alive, it's easy pickin's. step on it, magazine it, raid it, or just pick it up with a paper towel and flush it.

e) wash your hands, please.

[WilliamPitt]

11. also

if you clap them between your hands when they are facing you, they can't see the hands coming for some reason.

[Ellen Forradalom]

8. Nearly foolproof way to entertain a four year old

Have both Mommy and Daddy chase a fly around the house with fly swatters. Huge amusement for the kids.

[WilliamPitt]

9. I used to kill them with my Descartes book in college

The thing was a mess by the end of the semester. :)

[short bus president]

14. bet your plaster was in great shape, too

Given the writer, though, didn't you bother for a minute to just doubt the existence of the flies?

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. ROTFL!

or even the existence of the book. Or, the book wielder!

[inthecorneroverhere]

13. Where are the flies?

If the fly is resting on a surface, sneak up from behind very slowly until you're quite close to it. Then BLAM! with the swatter (or hand).

If the fly is in flight, you can kill it with your hands, but the technique is quite different from the standard kill approach of fighter combat. Rather than approaching from below and behind, approach the fly in the direction that it's flying. In other words, go for a nose-hit. I've seen little kids in Alabama going for Fighter Ace scores against flies using this technique!

Please wash your hands after dispatching or capturing the fly.

Use non-chemical methods like swatter, please. :-)

[Karenina]

15. I open the windows, announce

their fate, sometimes shoo them out waving a 17X 20 piece of tagboard (yeah, I know they're flies but I still don't want to kill them if I needn't) and THEN whip out the vacuum cleaner.

[grasswire]

17. I just discovered the same thing....

...or nearly, the other day. I used Lysol air freshener. The little bugger was belly up within an eyewink. I was quite surprised.

Gee, folks. They carry disease and they vomit on your food. I don't feel too bad about spritzing them.

[short bus president]

19. but how do you know

that the fly vomit isn't what makes dinner so yummy?

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. I'd rather find out the hard way...

[ScreamingMeemie]

18. I use Clorox cleanup....kills ants dead too...