While it’s winter in North America right now, other parts of the world are entering summer. In these tropical, balmy countries, experiencing the warmth, pool and long walks by the beach, guaranteed, there’s still the age-old problem that occurs when the sun hangs out in the blue sky – and that’s unwanted pests flying around. I’m talking about flies and gnats and any little flying creature that’s annoying over helpful.
Indeed, not only are flies incredibly gross (they like to hang out on poop… enough said), they’re also incredibly annoying. What drives me up the wall is how when I’m at home and I open my door for just two seconds, flies will make their way inside. It’s as if they were waiting for that very moment to sneak into my home. Yet somehow all of that ninja-like speed and ingenuity suddenly disappears when those same flies want to leave my house. Ugh…
So what to do? Well, if you like having exploded insect particles all over the place, you can get a bug zapper. But if you want a less violent and passive approach, perhaps you should give the following anti-fly contraption a try.
Here’s what you’ll need…
- Plastic sandwich bag
- Lime juice
- Table salt
- Shiny pennies
- Water
Mix about 2.5 cups of water with a good amount of salt and two or three squirts of lime juice. Fill the sandwich bag with the liquid until it’s nearly full, and add a few pennies. The purpose of the lime juice and the salt is to help keep your pennies shiny longer. And BAM! That’s it! Your super high-tech fly deterrent is ready for battle. Nail them to your doorway, or try hanging them with paper clips and strings around your yard.
Does it sound crazy? Absolutely. There haven’t been scientific studies that support this method but plenty of people swear by it, including fishermen and restaurant owners. One user on the website Instructables explains why this method works:
“Here’s the reason behind the effectiveness of homemade repellents. Flies have visual receptors called ommatidia. Unlike humans, they don’t have pupils that control the amount of light that enters their eyes. Our pupils do, their ommatidium do not. Therefore, the reflective light or flickering light “scares” them because they can’t focus. Another homemade repellent is the use of an old CD. Just hang one nearby and allow our wonderful sun do its magic! The spinning CD that reflects the sunlight is a knockout for those pesky flies!!! Trust me…it works.”
Watch the video below for more details on this amazing trick and make sure to share it with your family and friends!
