Flies

Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Sat 11 Sep 2010 12:14

Flies can be a nuisance from time to time. Perhaps it is our proximity to hundreds of goats in some of the bays but listening to their bells at dawn and dusk when they move, presumably to feed, is so delightful we can put up with a fly or two.

 

Swatting gets dull and we have an aversion to breathing in fly spray if we can avoid it so time to break out the fly papers Carol had bought in Chester market for 99p.  Honey scented it said on the packet and each came with its own drawing pin for easy positioning – what a bargain and they have added every convenience.

 

Nowthen, a fly paper pulls out to a sticky spiral 12-18 inches long and hangs on a hook, on a boat.  So it swings.  So you need to make sure it doesn’t hit anything when it swings because they are every bit as capable of sticking to walls, furniture and fingers as they are of sticking to flies and sadly, the honey scented sticky stuff is not easily removed with soap and water, or nail varnish remover, or Sticky Stuff Remover.  So there is only one place on the boat that it is relatively safe to place it and that doesn’t seem to be a place the flies particularly want to explore in spite of the honey scent that they are supposed to find irresistible.      The scent of rotting meat or fish may have been more effective but probably not ideal in an enclosed space for the human residents.

 

Not too surprising therefore that my first experiment a few weeks ago had failed miserably.  Undeterred I tried again.  Not a fly went near it.  Blank, sticky paper left hanging in a most unattractive dribbly kind of way. 

 

Nothing for it but to cheat.  I swatted a few flies and stuck them on to impress Mike.  He was very impressed until he noticed that the flies were all in one place and all seemed to have landed on the flypaper on their backs.  Highly unlikely that they would execute a joyful somersault at the prospect of a honey scented feast so the only way that could happen was if I had put them there holding their legs.

 

Found out in less than a minute I left the paper up and made a cup of tea.  Then, fancy that, more flies on the fly paper!  Never mind this honey scented nonsense flies are attracted to dead flies!  Success.  All we need to do is pre-load the papers with a couple of ones we killed earlier and then let nature take its course. 

 

Standby for further reports from the front line of the fly battle but in the meantime, here’s the picture......

 

m_DSC06065.jpg