An Alphabet Of Things I Don’t Like: F

~ beetleypete

Flies.

In this case, I am speaking of three specific flies. The Common Housefly, the Bluebottle, and the Horsefly.
Unbelievably, many people don’t like to kill them, and shoo them out instead. They come back, just so you know.
This is why should show them no mercy, and do your best to eradicate them from your home.

Houseflies poo a lot, in fact almost every time they land. So next time one lands on your food, remember Salmonella and E.coli.
Houseflies taste with all six of their feet.
Houseflies slurp up their food. First they vomit digestive juices onto solid foods and once the food liquidises, they suck it back up.

Still want to open a window and let them out?

Bluebottle flies are distinguished by their distinctive coloration and loud buzzing flight. These flies commonly infest carrion or excrement, and the larvae of some species infest and may even kill sheep.

That’s right. They ‘infest excrement’. Then they come and land on the salad you have just prepared, or the pie cooling on a rack.

Horse-flies or horseflies are true flies in the family Tabanidae in the insect order Diptera. They are often large and agile in flight, and the females bite animals, including humans, to obtain blood. They prefer to fly in sunlight, avoiding dark and shady areas, and are inactive at night.

Yes, these very large flies bite humans (including me) to suck our blood. Then the bites can swell up to the size of an egg, and are very painful. In some cases, allergic reaction to their bites have caused death in adults.

The world would be a healthier and happier place without these filthy things in it.

52 thoughts on “An Alphabet Of Things I Don’t Like: F”

  6. Twice a year we get invaded by so called “sleepy flies.” Everyone here takes great delight in vacuuming them up! I hate those strips of flypaper that used to hang in restaurants where I ate as a kid. I guess they were a good idea in theory,but they were very unappetizing.

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  10. Always remember old documentary of British troops trying to eat slushy bully beef, Mesopotamia WW1 food was just a black mass, yes flies. No wonder more die from disease than anything else

    Now noticing the older I get the faster the fly seems to be …… (no pun there) have to result to more cunning methods now, got a battery powered tennis racket that zaps any flying insect 😁

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  12. I’m totally with you. I hate flies. It amazes me how they can find their way in so easily, but can’t seem to find their way out again, even when you waft them towards a wide-open window, you’d think they could see better with all those eyes they’ve got. I often resort to smashing them. I consider it an act of mercy, because it frees their spirit. After all, who would want to be a fly? I would hate to have to live on poo and vomit on my food before I could eat it.

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    1. They don’t want to go out again, Annabelle, that’s the problem. Once shooed, they will find their way back in as soon as possible. They want our food, and don’t want to have to try too hard to find it in nature.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  14. I have noticed over the past decade that house flys seem to have decreased in numbers. At most I see so few these days, I don’t even count them. I suspect this is due to central air and central heating so we rarelyever have windows or doors open. then the windows are securely screened. Warmest regards, Theo

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  17. (1) Want to see a housefly? Watch “The Wizard of Oz” or “Up.”
    (2) Peter Sellers once flew off the handle on “The Goon Show,” but since this happened on radio, no one got to see Bluebottle fly. For those who claim “seeing is believing,” this was really hard to handle.
    (3) Bellerophon saw a horsefly, captured it, and rode it.

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    1. The large houseflies can be a problem here in summer, as they are determined to try to land on food, even when I am still cooking it! I have to use lids and covers whenever I turn away from anything I am preparing.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  21. I’m with you in not liking them, Pete, but I’m not going to change my ways when it comes to giving them a chance to escape; I’m not a Buddhist personally, but I avoid killing anything myself, if at all possible. The flies in my loft were an unfortunate exception to that rule: it was the only practical solution, though regrettable. Cheers, Jon.

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  22. I do not like flies one bit, urk. But always shoo them out as they are an important food source for birds and other creatures and also part of the pollination process so killing them is as bad as killing bees, even though in my head I’d like to squash them with a newspaper!

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    1. I’m sure you are right of course. But no fly arriving inside my house ever leaves it alive! I reckon there are still enough left to feed birds and pollinate things.
      I have never killed a bee though. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  23. Well I admit that I do show mercy to these creatures, unlike wasps for instance who I kill upon sight, if I’m not scared out of my wits by them😅
    But yeah true, these creatures are disgusting, no denying that!😊😊

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