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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ธ.ค. 2021
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Flies are evasive buzzing machines that make it nearly impossible to swat. Luckily, science has some explanation to help you predict their next move.
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Sources:
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onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/a...
www.istockphoto.com/video/fly...
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www.istockphoto.com/photo/dro...
www.istockphoto.com/photo/ext...
www.storyblocks.com/video/sto...
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I saw an experiment where the Halteres were cut off a fly and then it was released into a large enclosure. The fly could still fly but it could not control its flight at all.
This is very informative but what I want to know is why when I actually do manage to hit a fly while its in the air and send it careening into the wall, how is the fly still alive and buzzing back around moments later?
I know it has a lot to do with the mass of the fly being significantly less and perhaps the effect this has on its inertia and momentum
and im sure the surface area of the impact the force is imparted upon and the impulse of the surface cushioning the blow and perhaps air resistance also play factors in a fly’s survival or not but it’d be interesting to have a full breakdown on the physics of the forces imparted to a fly from an ariel collision with a human swatting them.
Obviously the full force of the human hand isn’t imparted onto the fly because when the fly is caught between the hand and another surface it doesn’t walk away from it but fly is that exactly.
Like I said above I have a few different predictions on the factors at play but don’t know for certain and this channel is really good about presenting these lesser known facts and im curious if anyone can answer this question more definitively?
Of course, every time you catch a fly, you just help evolution produce even better flies.
No, only when it gets away.
Does that mean we're creating a .... Superfly?!
@@roberteischen4170 not quite you are removing slower specimens from the gene pool they would get faster over time because only the fast ones are left to reproduce
@@roberteischen4170 Exactly my thought, i will spend multiple hours targeting a specific fly and every time it evades me only makes me more determined to get it, no fly will ever survive my level of pettiness
Yeah, and don't get COVID vaccines, you'll just help it mutate faster! 👍
To swat a fly you need to know their IP address first, then find out their actual physical address, which is not always their actual address since ISPs don't always have it on hand
This guy swats.
@thcirblueerf They do if you can access the ISPs billing data ;)
So glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read this!
@thcirblueerf I mean, they aren't designed that way, but there are enough IPv6 addresses you could label every square cm of the earth's surface and have plenty more leftover…
They forgot to mention flies and most other small flying insects are so light the wind created by you swinging that magazine at them is enough to blow them out of the way before the magazine can actually squash them. Which is why fly swatters have holes and why a magazine or newspaper works better when rolled up. I also think curved mirrored surfaces might confuse them because they are easier to hit whilst in flight if you use a spoon.
slightly wet hands can even that field or like you said (swatter)
Who uses a spoon to hit flies in the air?
@@_vicary 😂😂
"Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?"
"Because it's DULL, you twit! It'll hurt more!""
@@_vicary If a fly keeps trying to get in your food you might use the nearest object, like a spoon, to swat it away. It's not THAT unrealistic
Now how about the one in which the fly can enter through a milimetric hole, yet can’t fly out of a semi sized fully opened window
[frustrated scream] The door is wide open, and right there, HOW IS IT STILL IN THE ROOM?
Hahaga
vacuum cleaner.
At night turn off all the lights in the house and turn one on outside. They eventually go to the light.
The trick lies in moving slowly. Catching them with a glass this way is relatively easy, depending of course where they have decided to plant their six legs upon.
Mosquitoes causing me more distress rn :'( They have clearly evolved to get tougher. They occasionally survive getting smacked now and have also been surviving in the cold North Indian winter rn.
Also, are surprisingly quicker. I remember being able to catch them alive and now they even escape smacks.
The trick is speed, move your arm literally as fast as you can, you can beat them.
Another trick is to vacuum them up with a vacuum cleaner, this way they don't leave a stain on the wall either. Flies however survive the vacuum cleaner, they fly out when you turn off the vacuum cleaner.
@@hop-skip-ouch8798 your just getting older and slower lol!
That's so true, I caught a mosquito and squished it the other day then watched it fly away like nothing happened
But deer fly bites are far worse than mosquito bites.
As a kid, I used to swat flies rather enthusiastically, I remember breaking more fly swatters than it should be normal. On top of that, often I would see flies flee the moment I grabbed the swatter, before even coming near one.
They better learn
I've developed a technique to hold flies in the fly with my hand, with an accuracy of about 60/70%. You basically need to let the fly land somewhere, get close enough (considering your own agility and biomechanics) and swing your hand as fast as you can, not where the fly is, but where you predict it will be by the time your hand arrives to that area. With practice you learn better to predict their movements, they are quite predictable and they don't change the evasive move once they chose it.
Some guy said they tend to take off backwards
Yeah, sometimes I slap then midair, mostly because when not disturbed, the flies fly almost in a periodic pattern, like they are making a flight circuit. But I'm still not that accurate :0
It's easier to just slowly get a few cm above them and then slapping your hand down formed like a cup. This way we are taking advantage of their super fast reflexes. By moving slowly above them they don't recognize it as a threat. Thus we are applying evolutionary pressure either to make them smarter or slower in their reaction time.
@@BioTechproject27 Yes, I noticed if I slowly placed the fly swatter above the fly and then waited a few seconds that I could get close enough to then quickly smash it.
At a specific speed, not too slow or fast, they can't decide what to do or maybe blind for movements.
My gross party trick is catching flies: I aim 3in above the fly and swoop in snapping my hand closed like a Venus flytrap. No pun intended LOL
I can catch them like that and when I have one in my hand I can catch another without losing the first.
That’s my go-to. Then yeet the thing into a sink hard enough to kill it and then rinse it down the drain.
This is mostly it. Only trying to line your had up with their body because they mainly launch forward backwards also helps.
I put them in the plastic bottles
I chase them to a window and kill them there with a swatter or paper towel, but you do you.
By far the easiest method is to simply wait for them to land on a window, then you can easily just pick them up with two fingers. And make sure throw them outside so they reproduce and continue making stupid flies.
Or that especially stupid fly that just stood there and let me grab it with a napkin while it was on my bed and throw it outside
I've just been killing them against the window this whole time. They still haven't figgured out glass.
@@dynamicworlds1 eem... houseflies do know extremely well how to deal with windows. And they are the annoying kind. Those that don't are pretty noble, and i do just let them out quite often.
@@victortitov1740 is that what they taught you in Minas Tirith?
Good man.
Might have Numenorian blood.
Actually I've figured out a way to get around this, you just keep swatting at them in their general direction without trying to hit them. If they try to land swat at them again. If you keep this up they will quickly just burnout and literally fall out of the sky. This is an especially good strategy if you're dealing with a lot of flies, say if someone leaves the door open or if you're in a room with a lot of breakable items.
My mum does that,quite funny to watch. Swats flies I mean,not dropping from the sky.
My dad taught me a trick for getting them with a vacuum. The key is to move slowly, they mostly stay still and try to adjust to the suction being brought down on them until they can't hold on anymore and get sucked up. We were very successful fly hunters in my house.
I've had good success catching fruit flies that way.
That Sucks!!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Good idea!
I was always told that as well as being astonishingly quick, flies take off backwards, (in reverse) so you can use that to your advantage by coming in with the swatter from that direction - it seems to work, but they're so quick that the success rate is never going to be high.
As was said in the video, they can take of forward or backward. I think backward is just a bit better because their eyes are on the front.
There does appear to be something predictable about how they take off. My grandfather, in his eighties, would easily catch flies in his hands because he had figured it out.
@@davidfortier6976 My dad could that too. He'd be 90 now. Must be a generational thing.
Indeed, I aim for the back of the fly with the swatter. Works a lot.
I'd like to know how a creature that can find it's way in through a half-inch gap manages to miss a wide-open door.
Another important thing about killing flies is that they jump straight up if they are on a flat surface before taking off in either direction so if you clap your hands together about 2 inches above the fly you are almost guaranteed to get it first try. I learned that little physics lesson in band class because they were pumping the septic tank one day during school and there were 100s of flies that decided to make their way into our classroom. My instructor told us about it and we had a contest to see who could kill the most flies for an extra 100 to average into our final grade where everyone else that participated only got an extra 50 points. I killed 49 flies in about an hour. The winner got like 63. It was a tough competition. lol
Yup, that’ll work every time, I’ve done it ❗️👍
The other alternative, instead of using a flyswatter, catch them by hand simply by aiming and swiping your hand about 4-6” above them, they take off into your hand 90% of the time
I clap directly above, and slightly behind them and hope I don't make a mess in my hands. They're also pretty easy to clap out of the air if you judge their route correctly.
@@troyclayton Yeahh, I normally try to nab them one handed, less likely to make a mess, but it means you gotta be able to close your hand relatively quick. But the behind them notion is correct yeah, when I swipe at them I normally swing from back to front if I can get that angle
I usually just squirt them with soapy water, somehow it is fulfilling to see them fall from the sky like a jet hit by missiles..
I have never seen a Slo-mo of them taking off but for years I have caught tons by sweeping up from behind them while closing my hand trying not to smash them and then shaking them up like dice, disorienting them and then throwing them down and stepping on them. I have succeeded in catching more than one in a single swipe. Based on their wing shape and center of gravity I think they take off more like a helo than a plane also the approach from the rear cuts down on their line of site and notice that something is coming.
Yup. Hands are the best fly swatter! 😁
I usually snag them out of the air by snatching at them from underneath. I'm typically more successful if it's indoors in a reasonably well lit area with light colored walls -especially if it's a cooler temperature to slow them down a few ticks.
Didn't know that being able to do so was particularly strange until I worked at a restaurant and caught one in front of several coworkers, they didn't believe me until they saw it wash out of my hand and down the nearby sink.
I did this to my manager once. She was talking to me and a fly buzzed between us. My hand shot out and stopped between our faces and she just looked confused as hell until I old her I caught it 🤣🤣🤣
As a teen I used airborne flies as punching targets because they were hard to hit lol. Wonder if the neighbors ever saw me and thought to themselves "wtf is he randomly punching the air for?" 😂
It's acceptable with a vr headset on your face i've learned.
😂I bet you're neighbors thought you were nuts.
You and my husband would get along great...I bet he did that too, and just forgot to tell me about it a hundred times.
My husband did however come up with a cool strategy - turn off all the lights and close the curtains in all but one area...the fly will go to that area so you'll have a better chance getting it. We use an electric tennis racket.
There's also chemicals in the air that may slow down flies, there was a lead building that my church built and the Flies inside the building were substantially slower than flies elsewhere and I mean like slower than any flies I've ever seen before so slow to where you could reach out and catch one gently and then let it go outside
Lead poisoning flies.. Nice
I was genuinely wondering about this, so thanks. I usually trap flies in a glass and bring them outside. I find that easier, maybe because I can approach them very slowly?
@@NockyBoober outside to be sure
Yes!! The key to getting a fly is slowness. You can lower the boom on them without fail by moving the swatter in extra slow motion. For some reason they can’t detect slow movement when you sneak up on them.
Possibly also the glass. They're kinda dumb about glass.
I use the back of my fingers. This allows me to - flick - my fingers far faster than I can - hit - with the front of my fingers/hand. Also, I believe their default takeoff to be backwards, so I try to approach from the rear. I have a success rate, without a swatter, of 70-80% . Care is required though, try not to hit TOO hard or on the wrong surface, or pain level is maybe not worth the kill :D
I had stitches from my stove. Missed
Sometimes the flick gets the fly stunned and easily finished
The trick is to have your swatter move towards the fly on a surface v-e-r-y slowly until you're within about 4-6 inches; then switch to as fast as you can go to hit them. You'll get them about 90% of the time this way.
I use a bug zapping flyswatter that is the size of a tennis racket. You get them in mid-flight and fry them.
I’m pretty good at catching flies with my hands while they’re on a surface. But I got quite lucky today and grabbed one mid flight. More so because it was the one that kept bothering me and I had been waiting for the damn thing to land!
I don't get how this is hard.
I can kill flies quite easily with my hands, nevermind a swatter.
The trick isn't aiming for them, it's in aiming for where they will be.
I heard about and can attest to that fast processor behind those eyes is single thread. Multi-thread goes fail mode. Aim but hold then create a distraction of greater input with your other hand and fingers, then swat. Seems to work well. I've even soldered a few with the hot tip of a pound of weight gun, not a fast lightweight item.
Air strikes with a fast swatter can take them out whilst airborne.
One trick that often works for me is to wait until the fly is somewhat near the ground, and then while above the fly, flick the fly swatter toward the ground. This creates a gust of wind that stuns the fly and knocks it onto the ground, and then I can deliver the killing blow.
I also bring my cat into the room so that he can use his superior cat senses to keep track of the fly. I can find the fly based on where my cat is looking
I lived next to a horse corral one summer and came up with a nearly perfect approach to killing flies. All you need is a large rubber band and a little practice. When you shoot the rubber band at them it travels to fast for them to get out of the way. It's better if you can get to within a couple inches before shooting, but with practice you can also get them on the ceiling.
The best trick for whacking a fly with a standard swatter is to swing it so the edge of the swatter leads the way.
Then at moment of contact roll your wrist to the flat of the swatter.
It will make for a faster incursion with far less of an air wall that would push the fly out of the way.
i've always thought it was because they are so much smaller and have such a short lifespan that they perceive time differently than us; us swatting at the fly is in super slow motion to them. to us they only live a few days but to them they have long lifespans like we do.
something to that effect.
@@existenceisillusion6528 so is my assumption close or am i way off?
Since I was young I would fill water bottles full of flies, to me mosquitoes are harder to kill bc of how thin they are and hard to see
WHAT!
Yeah, especially if you've been following one with your eyes but then they fly in front of a dark background, and then all of a sudden they just vanish.
Large mosquitoes are definitely easier to kill than small ones because they're easier to see and slower than the little ones.
@@Primalxbeast the large ones are probably the ones that feed on mosquitoes, not us, though
@@dynamicworlds1 They definitely bite. I live in a car in Florida so I get a variety of mosquitoes in my car eating me alive when I have my door open. The smallest ones are the hardest to kill and their infuriating buzzing noise isn't any quieter just because they're smaller, and of course they have to buzz right by your ear while you're trying to sleep.
In my experience, flies tend to jump forward when taking off.
Here's how I catch them:
1- Hand extended (as if to shake somebody else's hand).
2- Fingers touching (so there are no gaps between them)
3- Slowly make a slightly concave shape (this will reduce the time it takes for you to trap the fly)
4- Start moving the hand closer to the fly, perpendicular to the surface, very slowly and calmly. (If done right, the fly shouldn't be spooked)
5- Once the hand is within striking distance, lunge like a snake. The fly should jump towards your palm upon getting spooked, you should be able to feel the impact.
6- Now it's a matter of trapping the fly on your palm, closing it immediately and without leaving any gaps between fingers, so the fly can't escape.
7- Give it a good shake, as if you were about to throw a die, if the fly is in there, you'll feel it bouncing around.
8- Release the dizzy fly. It probably won't come back to bother you again. I've found that flies tend to "learn their lesson" after being caught and shaken like this.
They'll probably go bother someone else (someone who doesn't have fly catching skills).
This skill is specially useful in summer.
When I was 15, I recorded them in slo motion when the first phones started getting high-speed cameras, and figured out they always jump directly out from whatever surface they're on, so I just clap my hands directly above them, works every single time
A couple years ago my parents went on vacation and took all of the flyswatters we owned with them ( 3 to be precise, for their tiny caravan) leaving me and my brother with nothing for the whole house, in a year with an exceptionally high amount of flies. At some point there where like ten in the house. I'm not sure why we couldn't buy a new swatter, but by the time our parents where back the home was free of the flies and we had gotten remarkably good at catching them
I usually use a cloth or towel, the whipping action usually takes the flies by surprise and the large surface area makes it harder to miss
Hey Sci Show, is there any way you guys could remake your "Knowledge is Power" t shirts? I've had mine for 4 years now and it's gotten 3 holes so I can't really wear it anymore :(
"Three holes"? Are you quoting facts, or just boasting?
@@bazza945 uh, my shirt actually has 3 holes in it?
Interestingly, each wing on a housefly is controlled by 7 individual muscles, which are each controlled by a single neuron. Each muscle can be either fully contracted or fully relaxed, the only control the fly has is over which muscles contract and for how long.
IIRC about 1/5 of all of the neurons in a fly are in the halteres, doing sensing and feedback to the wing neurons to compensate for atmospheric conditions. Imagine if your hands had the ability to grasp things without even having to talk to your spine, based on the input from hairs on your palms that can detect when anything down to the size of a grain of sand lands on them, and that's about how flies manage to stabilize themselves.
Young Sheldon has joined the conversation.
First thing I told myself when i saw the title : That's the video I needed right now.
Airflow is a key factor as well. Moving a solid plate or a hand with finger closed together will drive the air away from the front face of the motion. And Fly is such a tiny insect that it could make use of such air flow to flee.
Use a swat with meshes will be much easier to hit flies than a solid one.
When a lad in the late 50s with tadpoles and young frogs to feed, I had good success by hand, a quick sweep from behind, a little above, so they took off into your hand. There seems to be a general consensus earlier of slow approach so they are complacent, and quick finish.
Now I am slower (I even drive slower, LOL) a swat still works with slow approach and quick finish, but sometimes, if the path is clear, a super-fast sweep from a distance can work.
I was told to attack, quickly, directly from the front, something about their processing ability makes them vulnerable from that direction, it almost always works for me. You have to be quick, murderous and decisive and hit downward from above and to the front and squash them before they have a chance to really launch.
Clap your hands just above the fly to capture or kill. flyswaters used radial velocity to multiply tip speed, which is why they work so well.
Long ago I had a swatter gun that fired a circular swatter on a string. It spun as it flew so it was harder to see. I found it quite effective.
Pre-internet, I read an article in the Reader's Digest on how to swat flies with one's bare hands (tl;dr sneak the hands up on either side of the target, from behind
, and clap!)
It's so effective I haven't bought a flyswatter in decades.
Halteres sense movement by forming what amounts to a 'vibrating structure gyroscope', also know as a or 'Coriolis gyro'. If you have a cellphone or drone, there is a tiny Coriolis gyro on board.
Its really satisfying to swat one out of the sky and hear two impacts.
Better options:
1-the commercially available salt gun.
2-soapy water on a spray bottle (set to stream, not spray)
Both of the above attack the fly with fast invisible proyectiles that will not make a disgusting mess. The second type even hinders their strength by choosing their wigns with a heavy soapy goo that will ground them instantly.
My old skooL uncle uses science on the fly. He simply puts a tablespoon of dish washing liquid into a spray bottle filled with water and sprays them. Squirt them on wide spray pattern, a few droplets hit them. They're dead within a minute. And all that is left behind is a soapy water spot that evaporates. Works all day long on the porch. He's a genius.
Yes! Works awesome on most flying insects like mosquitoes and gnats too 👍🏼
@@joseescamilla4470 Bye By Mr Fly! C Ya Ms. Sketa !!
This has been my life-long question. Thank you.
They're relative easy to hit or even catch in hand in spring or autumn because they're chilled and move slowly. In the hot summer, you don't even see them unless they want you to, and what they also want is to be annoying.
I appreciate that you told us how flies work. But we need te second part of how to get rid of them.
When flies keep getting into the house, first thing I do is see if opening the front door up will get them to wise up and leave (usually doesn't work). If not, I just wait for them to land, slowly get up close to them, swat, wait again, and keep at it 'till they finally die. I also try to corner them into a small room and then close the doors when they land, and if I can't do that then I'll turn off all the lights except in one area, pretty much all flies seek out the light instinctively, even when I'm going after them. Eventually those little (and sometimes not-so-little) bugs get too tired or cocky and that gives me the extra fractions of a second I need to finally hit them down.
I used to practice my boxing by going into a small room with flies in it and try to hit them with a punch. It took a long time before I could do it relatively regularly. Those little buggers are quick!
My auntie taught me how to catch flies, she was a MASTER.
You need to catch them from the rear, moving in a slug like speed first and than catch/smash it suddenly when close enough. Being very slow, fly can't see you movement.
You get them from behind, because when fly takes off, in a split of a second it turns backwards.
It really does work!
It's all about having something flexible to smack them with as well as properly "flicking" said smacking tool
a lot of it also comes down to the circumstances and species of fly.
In a room full of flies you might swat 10's or hundreds every step you take.
Anyway can't recall the exact amount but I guess long ago I did get between 10 and 20 small flies with one swap with a booklet.
Dark room, white closet with light on said closet, so was just hitting the booklet to the closet and results
If they’re landed I have good luck with swatting them from the direction their facing. Example if they’re facing toward the left I would swing from left to right. Also I’ve had amazing success with using things similar to kitchen towels or T-shirts
I always figured they got pushed away by a cushion of air from whatever you're swatting them with. So all that air that's trapped underneath the fly-swatter or your hand makes a bubble and pushes them out of the way.
I always thought it had to do with air currents-- if you're swatting with a flat surface with no holes (like your hand) as long as the fly is flying the air rushing out from under your hand carries it away. However, when using a mesh flyswatter or swatting one on a screen door, the air can travel through the swatter or through the door and will therefore not help push the fly away. Dunno how much that is a factor, though.
It can change a near miss into a hit. Heck, I notice I hit much more reliably when the slight cup in the mesh of my swatter cups towards the fly instead of towards me. When they've got that much going for them, every little bit helps.
So Mr. Miyagi is an extreme evolutionary pressure on flies
For particularly evasive flies turn off and on lights to lure them into a small room and wave a hand towel around to scare them from landing. If you’re patient you can tire them out and just pluck them up with your fingers when they land.
Growing up in Florida for 17 years, most of them being without access to the internet, I got bored a lot - and there were bugs so I hunted them for sport. Now any time a bug flies past my vision I get a thought that strikes through my mind like a lightning bolt saying "KILL IT???" and then my hands insa-clap 1-hit the bug in a fraction of a second. It still feels cool every time lol
I nail them all the time. people say I have some of the fastest hands they've ever seen. I believe it's the fact that they feel the breeze coming as you're about to strike that tips them off.
I read an article once long ago that said flies begin their flight by jumping up and to the back and then recommended killing them by clapping above and just a bit behind where they're sitting. It does sound like some of that was wrong, but I have had pretty good success in trying to catch the fly where it's about to be once it reacts to the movement of my hands.
My trick used to be snapping flies out of the air with a bar towel. I'm not 100% sure but I think it was usually some kind of pressure wave that killed them. They usually had remarkably little physical damage but would still die instantly mid flight. I figured if I actually hit them with the snapping tip of the wet towel they'd practically explode, but they didn't!
So does this mean that flies can see the lights flickering like you can in slow-mo footage? I guess that would include not being able to watch tv either bc they would see the changing/refreshing screen
Flies find most TV programming to be beneath their intelligence.
I briefly worked in a brewery. Flies like beer. The inebriated flies' reactions are so slow, you can catch them in flight between thumb and forefinger.
There is nothing more satisfying than hitting a fly and feeling the thud as they get tennis balled into a wall.
Best thumbnail art ever.
My grandad swatted a fly with a newspaper this morning. I was quite proud of him, even I haven't gotten (ie ended ones life) a fly in a very long time
some years ago there was an army of those awful little pantry moths in my house, and I got pretty good at grabbing them out of the air
I noticed that flies do not respond as well to transparent swatting appliances... or just cupping them with a cup with a drop of honey in it.
Use an old hand towel.
Fold it lengthwise so it fits easily into the hand, and go for the fly like cracking a whip.
Works very well.
Much better than a rolled-up newspaper, which was used in the old days, or a rolled-up smartphone, from more modern days.
One time, I made a duct tape whip for fun & there just so happened to be a fly buzzing around the tent-trailer. I lashed the whip once & slapped its hass!
Another time, a fly was buzzing around while we were watching TV at my grandma's place. I readied my hand, watched it fly around & backhanded it so hard it felt like a pebble hit my hand! The fly divebombed, hit the carpeted floor & bounced twice, becoming totally still afterward.
One other time, I backhanded a fly, but it got back up after a few seconds. Now, I find soapy water in a spray bottle much more effective.
That is why you forge alliances with your local spiders.
I enjoy catching flies by hand and releasing them outside, always a fun challenge.
My most effective method has been to slowly place my hands above them spread apart about 6" to a foot and suddenly clapping them together. The fly will usually fly straight up into my hands as they clap together. You will have to adjust the height of your hands above the fly to compensate for your speed.
You can snap a towel or shirt at them like a whip and it tends to fair well for you. The best part is why whips make the sound, flies don't break the sound barrier; you lose fly.
Also, ever since the rona happened I keep a repurposed hand sanitizer mini spray bottle on me filled with Everclear. I also always have a lighter. It's pretty amazing how many insects seemingly unalive instantly when the flame hits them.
Thank you
Interesting, I've noticed a difference between flies that are in the wild, (camping in non road accessible places) versus flies in the house. The ones in the wild are incredible slow to react in comparison to flies in my house.
Figured out that rather than hitting the fly where it is, if you aim an inch above them with a clap youll usually win. You have to wait for them to land then slowly place yourself in position, but 90% of the time it works every time. You have to be committed to the slap though
my 3am brain been acting up and have to search for this.. thanks for this vid i can sleep soundly
Oh Wow the answers were so not what I expected. I though that they would feel the airflow (change) long before you will be able to hit.
Hmm catching in flight them is tricky depending on the species, temperature and lighting I think my success rate varies from 15 to 30% per attempt. What seems to help is approaching it slowly at first and then a sudden quick movement to grab them preferably in the direction they are flying.
To exterminate them in the house I prefer the electrical ones instead of splatting them on the wall. As a bonus you can also catch flying ones with it easily, bit of a nuisance that some larger flies only seem to be stunned by it but they are often on the ground long enough to get them with a vacuum cleaner a bit later (or my cat that sees them as toys to use for a bit during which they'll certainly die).
Best purchase I’ve ever done.. the tennis racket that’s a fly zapper. So fun lol
I have to aim where I think they are going to go (as they evade me), and that seems to work the best for me. For example (and this might seem gross), if they are on a counter, and I place both hands on either side of the fly, and a few inches up, I can bring them together and the fly will fly straight up between and into my closing hands, and get squashed. Of course, I wash my hands right after.
If you cup both hands and bring them together quickly from the front and back end of the fly, the fly will try to fly away but you have an excellent chance of catching the fly in the air inside the cavity formed by your cupped hands.
I'm able to consistently zap flys with a spray bottle of water. What's stange, is they come back to where they were when I miss. I don't know why. 🤔
The trick is to swat where the fly will be in half a second. Once you get that down, a little bit of practice and you can snag them with your bare hand. Get really good and you can snag them with your hand mid-flight. That's a fun one to pull off when there are people around.
To hit a fly, I need 8x scope, motion detection, infrared camera 📷 ... What a evolution 😭
Even more fun to get them by hand
Just aim slightly in front of them. As they usually fly straight when taking off. Works pretty good.
What kind of bird is that (2:40)? It's beautiful!
Good and easy way I've learned to catch flies is by approaching slowly with your palms parallel to the sides of the fly. Don't slap towards the fly but slap your hands together about 2in above the fly, more often than not it will end up in your hands. Another neat thing is you can cup your hands then you can catch them alive to toss in the fire
Flies annoy us, but maybe they just want to scare us away because we annoy them?
What works quite good is to clap the hands ~15cm above them. Or with one hand catch it above where they are.
The best strategy is to attack from as far away as possible using the distance to get as much speed into your arm as you can. Sneaking up will never work, they can see behind themselves and have terrifying reflexes. You have to be moving at maximum speed before they realize you are a threat.
Of course that just means it really hurts when you smash your hand against the table they are resting on.
I find it quite easy to kill flies by hand. You need to move your hand slowly until the distance is about 10 cm and then you need to move your hand very fast.
Another way is to move your hand parallel to the surface they are resting on and catch them when they start. That takes some practice.
I've killed my fair share of these bastards, here's the technique I developed. Take a kitchen towel and follow them around, keep your eyes on it. At some point it's gonna get tired and land, then you wack it. Doesn't matter if you hit it or not. The impact of the towel created a shockwave and knocks it out. I always find it laying around nearby. Bonus is that it doesn't squash it even if you hit it like the fly swatter does, so no mess to clean up.