Flies Away Fly Bait Trap Experiment, Part 1

As I mentioned in my first article and my second article, I am doing a series of scientific experiments :smarty: *ahem* to see which method is best for getting rid of flies. I have tried the water-filled plastic baggy method (I call it The Southern Method, since it seems that this method is attempted mainly in the southern United States) and The Northern Method (since the Northerners like their gimmicks technology, and the water-filled baggies would only freeze come late September….). You can read about my results with The Southern Method here.

I now turn my attention to The Northern Method. While at Walgreen’s one day, while searching for those sticky-ribbon fly bait traps that you hang from the ceiling (can’t find them anywhere any more), I saw this box called “Flies Away” on the shelf. It was on sale for $10. The Flies Away website sells each kit for $15 PLUS you have to pay $8 for shipping and handling. Ouch. That’s a lot of dough for a monthly fly trap.

So we set up the kit. It’s a very basic kit- it contains a plastic bag with plastic top and plastic twine to hang it; a red cap to cover the plastic top, and some suspicious-looking gel in a sealed tube. The directions warn:

WARNING
FLAMMABLE: Do not store or use undiluted attractant near heat, flame, or medical equipment. Avoid contact with skin or eyes. Keep attractant and baited trap out of the reach of children and animals. Do not take internally…

:blink: What could this stuff consist of?! The kit is “used by the U.S. military,” so OF COURSE it must be SAFE, like napalm and Agent Orange, right?!

OK OK enough of the sarcasm…

You add water to the plastic bag and then squeeze the suspicious-looking gel stuff into the trap.

OH MY GOSH!!! The stuff REEKS! It smells like something DIED! I put the trap together about a half hour ago, and that horrid smell is still in my nose. I had my son load up a vase of peonies and put it on my desk… but I still smell that dead smell somewhere. It’s disgusting!!! I’m ready to take a shower! No wonder flies will love it. *shudder*

The directions say to hang the thing about 40 to 50 feet away from any gathering area. No kidding. A mile would be too close. phew….

The product is designed to maintain a pungent odor. Avoid hanging Flies-Away too close to your gathering areas.

So we hung it about 50, 60 feet from my open garage, where all the flies come in: near the garden, on the clothesline. The flies like this area, because it’s near the asphalt but close to the grass and woods behind the garden. I had no idea this stuff would smell like it does… I hope we don’t konk over unconscious while weeding.

I’ll keep the Flies Away up for a week or so, and tell you how it performs. Maybe I’ll even snap progressive photos showing you how the fly trap fills up with dead bodies, muahahaha! Here’s hoping I don’t get TOO many complaints from the neighbors about the “pungent odor.” But then again, they’ve got teenagers and so are probably used to it…

Stay tuned.