August 18, 2007

Personal Post 5: Crazy But True Fly-Stopper

I have alley trash pick-up, but there has been some confusion lately about where to put the garbage during a temporary alley shut-down, allowing for pruning of the overhanging tree limbs, etc. By confusion, I mean that I put the trash bags in the wrong spot, and they didn't get picked up.

Which means the garbage had to set, developing its aroma and oozing its vile liquid, for another four days. You could almost hear the flies spreading the word. Feast. Fiesta. Major Party Time. The advance team was there within the hour.

So, I went online and discovered that in third world countries, they commonly hang open Ziploc bags filled with water near areas that flies are prone to visit, and somehow this keeps the flies away. The more modern version is reported to be placing CDROMs near the area. Something about the reflection off the water, or off the CDROM - flies don't like it.

Sounded silly, just too darn good to be true. But the volume of testimonials, from all over the world, swayed me. Plus, what's a CDROM hung up on the fence? Cheap, easy, right?

Well, it worked. The shiny CDROM kept all flies from the area. No kidding. And the trash reeked and oozed, a real big test of this folk remedy.

Since then, I've left the CDROM there, and placed one by the back door as well. Nary a fly -- I'm amazed at this one. Thought I'd share it with you.

3 comments:

Simple Guy said...

This is too cool! I will have to try it. Thanks for posting.

Anonymous said...

This works! My niece did her high school science project on whether the water-filled baggies really worked. The results were inconclusive...but they were good enough to make me a believer. It just makes sense the CDs would work even better. Thanks, Reba! Susan in Austin

Unknown said...

Susan in Austin,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write a comment! I'm still using the CDROMs out by the trash cans - and it's still working.

So much so, I'd just taken the absence of flies for granted until I read your post this afternoon. Thanks for reminding me to be grateful for this simple trick!

Reba

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