Saturday, June 29, 2013

Hang up your fly swatter!

 
 
Click on the photo to enlarge.
 
By nature I am a skeptic. So when I read about a home repellent for flies, I thought, yeah right! But when I read farmers have been using this method for years, I thought I'd give it a try. I put five shiny pennies in a Zip Loc sandwich bag and half filled it with water. I zipped it securely and placed it on the picnic table. We have eaten dinner outdoors the past three days and have not been bothered at all by flies. There are flies, but they don't come near us. They land on the table and fly away. One or two have tried to land, but where there used to be a dozen, there may be one or two.

And, no, it wasn't the frogs. Those flies would sit on their heads. It was actually the pennies in water.

House fly eyes are compound organs that are comprised of thousands of individual lenses. Compound eyes are capable of detecting both the polarization of light and color spectrums unseen by humans. Can you imagine how magnified the perceived "preditor eyes" must seem in that bag of water? A monster head with  a million orange eyes. Let me know if it worked for you.



 

21 comments:

Val said...

You're not quite Bill Nye the Science Guy yet. We'll have to see what else is in your repertoire, Linda O. Who Makes Flies Go.

I hope this doesn't mean fewer pennies for the leprechaun.

Kim Lehnhoff said...

Neat idea!

Now if you could come up with something that kept solicitors from knocking at the door, you'd win the Congressional Medal of Honor!

Bookie said...

I am glad this worked for you and I will give it a try. The flies have been bad this week for some reason and always when we try to eat outside, they come uninvited!!!

Sioux Roslawski said...

Linda--If you take the bag and fling it at the solicitors who come to the door, that will solve Kim's problem...

I will have to try this. It sounds too crazy to be true.

Chatty Crone said...

This I am going to check out! sandie

Susan Sundwall said...

We saw bags of "penny water" hanging in outdoor restaurants while traveling in the Carolinas a few years back. Now, about mosquitoes . . .

Lynn said...

Flies can be annoying. I'll have to try this. There was some other "remedy" that I tried that didn't work. Since I'm so into lavender these days... that's supposed to be a good insect repellant too! Read your other posts, but didn't comment - oh my about your birth experience! Yikes. Love all your posts.

Susan said...

Hi Linda....

Well, I'll be a monkey's aunt. I'm going to give that fly remedy a try, for sure. Thanks for sharing. Never heard of such a thing.

Can you check one out for mosquitoes, too? I'm trying to rub down with Bounce sheets. Read that somewhere, too.

Hope you have a lovely day. Susan

Tammy said...

What a cool trick! I once dangled aluminum pie pans in my vegetable garden because it was supposed to repel...something. Rabbits? Squirrels? It didn't work, and I worried my neighbors would think I was trying to create yard art for serious losers. But this sounds easy and a whole lot less obnoxious. Thanks for passing it along.

Pat Wahler said...

Sounds like its worth a try! I hate flies.

Pat
Critter Alley

Merlesworld said...

Well I never heard that one before but will try it in summer if I remember but we have more problems with mozzies, got any ideas.
Merle..........

BECKY said...

Sounds great. I'll give it a try....Now, do you have anything for mosquitoes?

Beth M. Wood said...

I am definitely going to try this one out Linda! I found a "recipe" on Pinterest for getting rid of bees & wasps - I tried it, but it didn't work. Oh well!

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

This is the first I've heard of this, but if you say it works then it must. I'll give it a try for sure!

Donna Volkenannt said...

Who would've thunk? I'll give it a try.

Cranberry Morning said...

You've got to be kidding! You realize that everyone in blogland is going to be trying this? lol Thanks for the tip. Can't wait to try it out.

Connie said...

I've heard of this too but haven't tried it yet. How cool!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

This is cool, of only we had pennies here in Aus......I would give it a try but alas we don't

jabblog said...

Sounds amazing! Flies don't stand much of a chance in our house with three lively feline predators chasing them and if they fail there are four canines who will do their best;-)

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