Gah! Amityville horror!

Pony · #1 09/28/11, 10:08 PM

aka Fly Season.

Hokey Smokes!!! We were out scraping paint on the siding today. I heard an odd buzzy sound, looked up to the north attic window, and the space between the storm and window was FILLED with FLIES. <shudder> Oh, ugh!

Then, later in the day, I looked up, and not only were the flies still crawling in the window, they were ALL over the outside wall. <double shudder>

Closing up the house before bed, the guest room (large south-facing windows) is LOADED with (you guessed it!) FLIES. I didn't mess around in there. I grabbed a can of flying bug spray and let loose. Closed the door behind me as I ran out of there.

Now I'm safely (??) ensconced in our bedroom. And what is this? Buzzing and landing on the bed pillows,, the walls, my lap top.... More of those buzzing boogers.

Bud D Dawg got disgusted and left, but I was swatting and killing for a good 10 minutes before Nick suggested turning off all the lights in the bedroom, opening the hall door, and leaving the light in the hallway on.

That seems to be working for tonight, but tomorrow, they'll be out in force....

OkieDavid · #2 09/28/11, 10:16 PM

If the walls start oozing a red substance just have the last person out the door throw a match over their shoulder but whatever you do, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.

MoonShine · #3 09/28/11, 10:18 PM

They're horrible right now. I looked today and they were covering the back screen door. I guess when the temperature drops, they start looking to come inside where it's warmer. I can't deal with them in the house, they drive me insane. I hang up one of those sticky fly strips. I don't care if it's gross looking, better the flies be on that thing than landing on everything else. I've tried every way I can find to get rid of them this time of year, but nothing seems to work for long.

**Roadking** · #4 09/28/11, 10:21 PM

We've got that too, but with Ladybugs...every year it happens.
The house in Doylestown had the flies, and the first time I saw it, the first thing to hit my mind was Amityville Horror...
This is what shop-vacs are for...LOL!
Matt

JuliaAnn · #5 09/28/11, 11:15 PM

Geeeetttt oouuuttttt!!!!

Said in a low, gutteral hoarse whisper....

wogglebug · #6 09/29/11, 12:28 AM

You've got rodents coming inside for the winter.
You may well have rat-bait of some sort still laid out from the past.
The rats and mice have eaten, the rats and mice have died, the flies are coming to the carcases. There may not be enough rotting little bodies for you to notice them yet, but flies are experts.
The next wave will be when the maggots that the flies have laid in your rodent bodies, in your attic and ceiling, your wall-spaces, and under your furniture, hatch into flies themselves.

Have a nice day now.

tallpines · #7 09/29/11, 02:18 AM

The rath of Elffie emerges in unexpected ways!

huzzyjr · #8 09/29/11, 07:50 AM

mmmmaaakkeee mmmmmmmeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Said in an even lower gutteraly whispery voice. LOLOLOL

Minelson · #9 09/29/11, 09:11 AM

It's really bad here right now too. The poor horses can hardly see through all the face flies. I broke down and put fly masks on them.
The Lady asian beetles are out in full force. Today we are supposed to have very high winds so I'm hoping they all blow away!!!
Stay safe Pony

Macybaby · #10 09/29/11, 10:15 AM

DH mixed up a batch of malathion and sprayed down the house. With the warmer, calm days they have been horrid. Seems they are always worse when we have a hot spell after a cold spell, but it won't be long before it is going to be way too cold for the flies.

Our house is sealed up pretty well, but I remember the flie filled window pull areas in my folk's house. Amazing how they can cram into those spaces!

julieq · #11 09/29/11, 10:46 AM

Can't wait for the first overnight freeze, due in a couple of weeks. The flies are really bad here right now. We have a lovely sticky trap hung in our kitchen.

Pony · #12 09/29/11, 11:27 AM

Maybe it is an Elfie artifact - oh, noes!!!!1!

Don't think there are any dead mice up there. If there are though, why are the flies in the window? I should go take a picture....

Minelson, those asian beetles are NOT ladies. We have another name for them....

JuliaAnn · #13 09/29/11, 02:15 PM

Quote "mmmmaaakkeee mmmmmmmeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Said in an even lower gutteraly whispery voice. LOLOLOL"

You know, that's what I thought when I was watching that movie years ago! I remember thinking to myself "If *I* had bought an old historic house for $80,000 (why I remember that amount I have no idea other than the guy in the movie saying it was an extremely good price) I would NOT be the one getting out!

Pony · #14 09/29/11, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JuliaAnn

I remember thinking to myself "If *I* had bought an old historic house for $80,000 (why I remember that amount I have no idea other than the guy in the movie saying it was an extremely good price) I would NOT be the one getting out!

I agree. Do not walk away from equity!

n9viw · #15 10/05/11, 12:59 PM

I was up on the ladder today, priming the north wall for paint. There's a section of the wall that I simply will not be able to reach, thanks to the steep garage roof (I had to scrape that section with a scraper duct-taped to a broom handle), except to OPEN THE DREADED ATTIC WINDOW.

Now, I may have been accused in the past of having toys in the attic or bats in my belfry, but now I have flies, asian beetles, and these weird black-n-white banded beetles that are cleaning up the remainders.

When I removed the attic storm window, a black cloud enveloped me. I quickly retreated down the ladder with the storm, a belt of black carcasses clinging to the bottom edge. I shook that off in the chick tractor, for which they were grateful, and washed the storm.

Back up the ladder, I scraped off a MAT of dead-and-dying flies, those scavenger bugs, and biological detritus. The smell was like the inside of a chick brooder that hasn't been cleaned, EVER, coupled with weeks-dead roadkill. I don't think they're eating rodents... I think they're eating EACH OTHER.

Incidentally, in that mat I found NOT ONE maggot. There must be a breed of fly that can spawn without a larval stage, which would explain why they are so numerous in the house but we never see larvae.

I washed the window sashes and sill, and had to come in for fresh water and soap, so I decided to sit me down and append Pony's post. The chickens are scratching through the pile of flies, though how they can stand the stench I don't know. I will have to re-prime the wall around and below the window, thanks to the stain of black gunk that I washed off the window frame.

Now, question time:

We CAN'T be the only ones to whom this happens- for those of you with attics, and windows in the attic, how do you keep the flies out? I THOUGHT that storm was tight, but the whole house leaks like a sieve, so not much help there. Suggestions- bait, traps, bombs, SOMETHING that really works?

Nick

Pony · #16 10/05/11, 03:07 PM

Nick had a grand idea (after cleaning out a 6" thick buildup of flies in the window - erk!)

His calculation: 576 cu inches of dead flies.

An attic is the perfect place to use Golden Malrin. None of us (human or animal) ever goes up there. Malrin is very effective.

Wonder if it will get any rodents that happen to wander in...

DW · #17 10/05/11, 06:28 PM

I'm hoping for frost SOON!

MoonShine · #18 10/05/11, 09:53 PM

Good grief, n9viw! Now that's a mess of flies. A few years ago, my Aunt had me climb up into what is now the attic of her house (it used to be bedrooms) to put some moth balls out up there. The floor up there was literally completely covered with dead flies and dead lady bugs. There didn't seem to be one inch that was bug-free. It was the middle of July. Combine the the terrible heat, the stench of the moth balls, and the sound of the dead bugs crunching under my feet....well, I was gagging so hard I couldn't even stand up straight, lol.

Wogglebug, I don't think there are any dead rodents in the walls here. I have outdoor cats and they seem to get them before they can make it into the house. It's just that this time of the year, the flies swarm on windows and doors, trying to get inside for the warmth. Happens every year at this time, just some years worse than others.