Lubbock Under Attack With Swarms Of Flies And The Deterrent That Doesn’t Work

Is it just me or are the flies CRAZY this year?  I was putting in a fence this weekend and I looked down and there were 15 flies on my arm (yes, I'm sweet, sweet White Chocolate, but that's still a lot).

So I was covered with flies Saturday but it was something earlier in the day that caught my attention.  I dropped by Rudy's with friends (RUDY'S RULES).  Midway through a late lunch bags of water attached to the ceiling caught our eyes.  Now this kind of thing is not all that strange in West Texas, but I asked my friend what they were for, and he said "it's supposed to keep flies away".  Now in ALL FAIRNESS, there were no flies in Rudy's, but that doesn't mean there's any real cause and effect here.

I decided to research the flies and bags of water thing.  I'm sure some of you will swear by it, but there's no proof ANYWHERE that it works.  The "supposed" science behind the bags of water is that it "confuses" flies due to their compound eyes and they fly away.  There are even people who will tell you that you have to add a penny or tiny pieces of tin foil to the water for some reason.

Here's a bit of reality for you.  IF containers of liquid "confused" flies, then they'd never land on your water glass and I think we can all agree, they are more than happy to land on or in your drink. The best way to cut down on flies is to take your mom's advice and "close that damn door" and not let them in.

If you'd like to investigate this phenomenon a bit more, here's a pretty balanced article from "How Stuff Works".