Here's another old post from my hsb blog!
No, I'm not talking about Iraq. I'm talking about my all out attack on the fruit flies that have invaded my home.
I first started seeing the little buggers several weeks ago after I took some watermelon out of the fridge. My intention was to feed it to my kids later that day. Well, it seems I forgot all about until a few days later when I lifted the aluminum that covered its end and was met by a small army of fruit flies.
So I trashed the melon and swatted at the flies, killing them all off within a few days. Or so I thought. Not long after, I began seeing them again. I don't know if they were left over from the melon incident, or if they had something to do with the veggies my mom had sent over, but they were back. I swatted at them again, killing a few here and there, and they seemed to disappear. Or so I thought again.
Suddenly, unlike King Midas who turned things to gold when he touched them, I was met by a sudden movement of fruit fly troops whenever I would touch something in the kitchen. They loved my faucet, the glass on my china cabinet, my candles, wet wash cloths, and even my beloved Mr. Clean Magic Erasers! I decided that it was time to institute a no fly zone in my kitchen.
I started by Googling "how to kill fruit flies." Most of the ideas involved putting fruit in a glass jar and covering it with plastic wrap, and then poking holes in so that the flies would go in, but couldn't come out. Of course, I didn't have any plastic wrap, but Sunday I did try inverting a Slurpee cup lid in a large Slurpee cup with an old rag and a piece of fruit in it. I noticed the flies loved to land on the cup, but once I got near it they scattered.
I went to church that night, and much to my horror they talked about the plagues in Sunday School. When my five-year-old heard about the plague of flies, he told his teacher that was just like his house! I knew something had to been done. And soon.
Finally, on Monday I got to the store and got the plastic wrap. I tried the glass jar thing but left the Slurpee cup out. The next morning, I woke to find that not a single fly was in the trap, but several were on the cup. So I took the wrap and very slowly approached the cup and covered it. It worked! I trapped some flies!
Then I remembered that they share my affection for Magic Erasers. So I took my old eraser and put it in the lid. The next time I looked, there were lots of the little buggers crawling all over it. I did another sneak attack and got even more!
So I decided to somehow attach the plastic wrap to the cup so that it would be there and ready when the flies landed. That didn't seem to work until I devised my master plan. I took the plastic wrap and wrapped it around the cup so that it was about four inched above it. Then I stuck the top of it together so it just left an opening about two inches wide. I left it like that all night long.
The morning came, and there it was. My little trap was filled with at least 50 flies, chillin' out on my Magic Eraser. I just pinched the plastic wrap closed and they were trapped. I went outside and let them go. Not because the ACLU said I couldn't legally hold them, or because The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were watching me, but because I was afraid if I opened the plastic to kill them, they would escape in my house. I just wanted them outta here!
So all day long, every hour or so, I would go out on my porch and let my little POWs go. I do have to wonder what the neighbors were thinking. I even went out a few time in my nightgown! But as the day went by, I was getting less and less flies in my trap. I do believe that's because the surge worked.
Now, that is not to say all is well. I am still battling those rotten little flies. There are still a few around, but at least they don't swarm around every time I touch something. I'm not ready to pull out yet. As long as I see fruit flies, I, along with my Slurpee cup, old rag, and Mr. Clean, will continue to fight. There is no timeline for withdrawl. I won't leave until the job is done, and every one of those nasty little buggers respects that my house is a no fly zone, and it's gonna stay that way!
I can't really recommend this product.
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