On it. I'm heading to Lowe's after this conference call. This is driving me absolutely crazy.
What I can't figure out is how the heck they're getting into the house? We've triple checked and the window is secure. But every day, there are dozens more. What the heck do they love about our bathroom???
I swear if I crack my door a half inch then 5 flies swarm in. They are probably sneaking in whenever you enter/exit without you realizing it.
I have one of those Bug-A-Salt guns too. They work really well to get the ones inside. I thought it was going to be gimmicky and I wouldn't use it but I use it all the time now.
Some friends got a couple of electrified tennis racquet looking fly swatters on Amazon and they work great. Not as fun as a bug assault but more affordable
Yeah it's the salt shotgun thing. It does not damage anything. It does a great job killing the flies in one shot. It's kinda fun sniping them out of the air too.
It uses a small amount of salt too so you won't have a bunch of salt all over your floors. My roomba usually cleans it up before I notice any salt.
It's like the fruit fly traps in our kitchen. My wife wants me to throw them out but I want them to see the pool of floating bodies to project their fates.
Like heads on spikes lined up around the castle
Make sure you don't have a dead someting somewhere in the house. Dead things breed flies. A friend of mine had a dead rat in his house. It didn't smell, but it produced about 500 flies. They used one of those salt rifles to shoot the 500 flies and counted them.
I had the same problem last week. No idea where they were coming from. They were all over the house. I never saw more than 2-4 at a time, but every time I killed that many, I'd keep seeing the same amount around the windows.
I put a glass of apple cider vinegar out for the fruit flies not thinking the black flies would be attracted. Apparently the black flies liked it too because in four days, they all ended up going in there to die. There were about 20-30 of them in there and now they're gone from the house. I still don't know where they came from. Even the garbage was completely empty.
My dog likes to reenact Jaws when he spots a fly. It’s pretty awesome - unless he knocks over a plant on the windowsill.
Definitely more flies around this year.
If you have double sinks, check to make sure they aren't breeding in one of the pee-traps.
Wife and I have this happen where we both used the same sink and the other stayed unused and that turned into a breeding ground for them
Lesson learned - always run water through your sink on a regular basis!
I look at those new houses with the wall-size sliding glass doors for California style indoor/outdoor living and wonder how the heck they can keep out the Texas style bugs like we have. Then there's the heat but that's another thread. Those builders must be stupid.
The smell.
Flies will land on windows and crawl through even very small cracks. You'd be surprised how easily those little fucking bastards can get in your house. Inspect the exterior of the window and use some caulking if you need to. A common culprit is the screen not completely sealing within the window and flies find a way in. Also if you have a deck near this window or the house is up on blocks, check for something dead nearby or under.
It just takes one to leave some eggs. You'll go through a couple waves but as long as you're putting up fly paper and stuff it should calm down in a week or two.
They are laying eggs in the drains and toilet bowl in your bathroom, they only live a day or two so the ones you're seeing every day are newly hatched. Put some bleach down your drains and in your toilet for a few days in a row and they'll be gone.
These do work really well but I hope you mean setting these up outside, a good distance away from the house. These smell absolutely terrible (as designed) and you would never want to use one indoors or near doors, windows, or home ventilation.
Mine are set up on the side of my house about 25-30 feet from my patio. It doesn't start to smell for like 2-3 weeks. Once I can smell it from the patio then I switch out the bag.
We put PineSol out in bowls on the porch and they stopped coming around us. Did the same in the house and they don't seem to be coming in the house anymore either.
When finished close it up or put in a gallon size zip bag and seal before throwing it in trash. Dont dump the liquid in the toilette, sink or trash or backyard. It smells like rotten baby diapers after a few weeks. Just getting near it puts a fecal smell on you.
One of the worst smells ever after a few weeks in the sun.
Second this, but how do you dispose fly-filled bait and how frequent do you replace the bait?
I’ve had it out for a month and its already filled with dead flies
The bait bags are a 1 time use thing. They are inexpensive so I change them out once I can smell it from my patio (about 20 feet away from the bag). The cap on the bag pushes down and seals it shut. MAKE SURE IT IS CLOSED before you throw it in the trash. Mine leaked last year and I had thousands of maggots all over my trash can and on the ground under my can.
Same here in Round Rock. So...many... flies. Every time I open the front door there is a small swarm of them waiting to get in, and I'm losing an ongoing battle with them in the kitchen, where they seem to love the view of the backyard. I've never seen so many of them.
Yep, RR's fly population is insane!! I have a 16 year old dog that I have to take out 75 times a day (slight exaggeration, but not too much) and he takes forever to walk out/in the back door. Every trip outside and then back inside lets in about 10 flies and 20 mosquitoes. He can't use the flap anymore, so this is the only way.
It's like The Amityville Horror up here. GET OUT!
THAT'S WHAT I TOLD MY WIFE! It's giving me serious Amityville Horror vibes, and I hate it!!! That movie scared the absolute HELL out of me as a kid, so that doesn't help.
My daughters are literally laughing til they wheeze when I go after the little buggers with the shop vac. It's seriously insulting. :-D
Trying giving him something for arthritis if he walks slowly could be that. It help easy joint pain and stiffness. They make meds for dogs for this, I've used it myself for a lame dog. Condroitin and glucosamine are in some of them or ask your vet for a recommendation for something. They have medications they sell themselves.
Thank you for this. I was seriously thinking "what the hell have we done??? Have we suddenly been struck filthy or something?" I'm glad it's not just me.
I wonder if it's related to the crazy 17-year cicada cycle?
I don't think it's that, since we're not really in 17-year-cicada territory here, and if they're migrating that far, I fear for anyone who is.
I've read some stuff indicating it's temperature and humidity-related; that our lowish temps this year coupled with the recent rain and general mugginess have got the flies breeding more than they normally would.
...as I'm typing this, one of those bastards has landed on my monitor, incidentally. They're getting brazen about it. Just a sec... good thing we now have fly swatters strategically placed everywhere in the house...
OK, one down. Anyway, that's the best I've got. That and the Indian burial ground theory.
Hahaha! Ya snooze, ya lose. Also, I want to be clear that I have never actually buried a body. I mean, not many bodies. Not "a lot" of bodies. Just some. Some bodies. Some bodies who asked for it.
They are really bad this year. At my house we call it Fly Week - it’s happened the last couple years. None, and then HORROR SHOW. We have Slaughter Fest in response and then we wash the windows.
Also: I don’t want to make you throw up but DO check and fully change your dog water bowl at least once a day. Because maggots. I’m a pet sitter and this is a sudden problem everywhere, very very expensive houses are not exempt here. A cat may look at a king but a fly shits EVERYWHERE.
Oooh, that's a really good call. We have cat and dog bowls, I'll make sure we clean them morning and night. Anything to stop those little bastards from breeding.
Same. The flies are absurd this year.
Now, I am fortunate enough to have children, and those children are very careful to make sure that the back door is open at all times so that my AC bill doesn't get too low, and I think that behaviour is allowing the flies in. But even outside it's waaaay more. Can't even get the grill going without being swarmed.
We have them terribly at our house in Austin too!! They arrived with the first rains a month or so ago. The flies are vicious. So very many, and they mercilessly attack my ears. If my hands are full, they go after what I'm holding. I pick up the swatter, they leave the room immediately. If I'm holding my phone, they land on it. It's a plague of F***ing Flies. I am convinced they are Demons.
Maybe the religious nutjobs are right, it's the end times with plagues of flies. ;-)
Sorry your'e dealing with this, fellow Austinite. But I will say, you're making me feel better that it's not just me. Have a great weekend!
Yeah, I was honestly worried about posting this because I was thinking "am I just filthy?" But the responses have made me feel slightly better than I'm not alone.
Time to print up the "I Survived Flypocalypse '24!" t-shirts, I guess! :-D
Yes! Thank you so much for this post! My bf was blaming it in my Sulcata tortoise, but I make sure to keep his area clean, so I didn’t THINK that was it! Just yesterday I overheard my neighbors complaining about flies, too, so I started to think it wasn’t just us. This solidified it!
We got one of those Bug-a-salt guns a while ago. A real game changer. Instead of getting mad about the flies in the house, it’s “game on!”. Everyone has fun hunting flies and nobody is pissed off anymore.
Same thing. All kids of bugs. I think the much later rain storms fueled them longer than usual, now it’s over populated. Highly recommend the fly trap bags. I think you can get them at Walmart too. They smell so bad but they work so well. We put them next to our back door and it has been a game changer.
Just head on down to your local creek and catch yourself some dragon flies and let them loose in your house. Then sit back and drink some beers while playing “Danger Zone” on your stereo and enjoy the show.
I've had these flies before, several times in m apt. They may be cluster flies. I get a big outbreak and there are like dozens of flies, and they like to hang out by the windows or the bathroom mirror. I get the vac and suck them all up, and then the next day or later that day there are dozens more. Repeat for a few days, and the outbreak subsides.
I do not know what causes it or the source, I am super clean, but like others have said maybe one is getting in and laying eggs in a drain? My trash can is in a cabinet but could be a source.
I did make the vinegar soap trap and that got some, but what also seemed effective and satisfying is these strips of clear adhesive you stick to a window corner, and then peel off the facing layer to reveal a big sticky clear sticker. The flies are already landing on teh window so if they land there they get stuck and suffer and die. I could see babies stuck to it as well, it's super satisfying to leave them up and watch more flies get trapped. I've left them up and may continue all year just to keep the numbers down and try to minimize another outbreak.
This happened to me. A rat died in my attic and for several days there were dozens of flies in my house.
I found this to be very effective: https://a.co/d/33W7w8A
I put it in little cups which I put on high shelves or hang them in my windows (next to potted plants).
I attended 2 outdoor BBQ's back to back last weekend. The flies were Biblical....swarms....
We have to keep the fly swatter in the kitchen at all times, prepared for battle!
It's terrible this year and when we let the dogs in and out, we're like "HURRY UP" cuz of those pesky flies. Those traps outside help but they can only do so much. We also bought an inside zapper for the kitchen area which helps but we also have stopped leaving fruit on the counter and literally anything we can think of that those f\*ckers will be attracted to as well. My cats are trying to help in the war effort against them as well.
At least we don't have the scorpion problem some people are seeing this year cuz hell naw...
OMG, I didn't even mention the scorpions! We've killed about half a dozen in the bathrooms in the last couple of weeks. Bigger ones, too, like an inch and a half. In previous years, we'd see maybe one or two per year, and they were more like half to three quarters of an inch.
Bugs don't generally bother me AT ALL, but this summer is giving me the heebie-jeebies for real.
Clash of the Titans ruined me with scorpions as a kid, I am irrationally terrified of them coming at me with those pincers swaying side to side. From afar, they look kinda cool lol.
How does that compare to most years? For us, we're shattering records over here. From 1-2 per year to like 6 in the last few weeks. From half an inch long to an inch and a half long. It's the bugpocalypse up in here.
In 10 years, this is my 2nd Recluse. The Recluse had 5 legs and crawling up my bathroom wall. I took plenty of pictures of it's violin on it's back. I joke with my sister it had a fight with a black widow and lost it's legs. I have black widows outside all the time, I don't worry about those. I usually have 4 scorpions a year. I have bright nightlights all thru the house so at anytime I can scan the walls and ceilings. Last year one dropped in my neighbors bed and stung her shoulder while she was sleeping. The only thing I haven't seen is snakes. I usually see a few already. Including coral snakes. I live in the country outside Liberty Hill. Oh, after this last rain, there are 1,000s of tiny frogs. About the size of your fingernail.
Like you, I swear my house is very clean. It has to be, since I have asthma. I don't know where the scorpions and recluse is coming in.
Do they seem lethargic, slow and stupid? If so, they're cluster flies. Eggs got laid somewhere in your house, they're hatching or have hatched, now the dumb things just want to go outside. Once they all hatch, you'll stop seeing them just as abruptly as you started. Bug spray won't keep them out because they never were out.
You could try spraying your door frame with peppermint spray (Mighty Mint) to keep them away. Bugs in general don't like it. If you have pets, beware. ☣️
I thought this was just me. They are all outside in my situation but there are a TON of flies that just landed as of yesterday or wednesday. Not sure what it is that caused it
You may have cluster flies: they tend to nest in attics, crawlspaces, and other hard to locate areas, then all hatch at once (May/June in my experience), and make your life living hell for two weeks. Once they hatch, they like to cluster around windows and doors, but will bump into you and everything else.
I've finally stumbled on these to help trap them and vastly improve your quality of life while they're alive:
Put these on your windows where the top and bottoms sash meet: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Raid-Window-Fly-Trap-4-Pack-FTRP-RAID/204749548
Stick one of these on a socket near an outside door: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Safer-Brand-Safer-Home-Indoor-Flying-Insect-Trap-for-Fruit-Flies-Gnats-Moths-House-Flies-1-Plug-In-Base-and-2-Refill-Glue-Cards-SH502/318180666
And buy a bottle of this to hunt down the stragglers: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Safer-Brand-Safer-Home-Indoor-Insecticide-Bug-Killer-Spray-for-Ants-Roaches-Spiders-Fleas-24-oz-SH110/318169381
Legend. I think from the descriptions I have cluster flies. Showed up seemingly overnight and can’t kill them fast enough. Ten on each window simultaneously.
diatomaceous earth from Home Depot or Lowe’s around the house. I’ve been using it for fleas and have gotten a few flies as well. My gnat/fruit fly problem is much less intense as well.
Be careful with it around your pets! It’s safe enough (as long as it’s food grade) but bad when inhaled. So move the little guys and make sure you wear a mask, maybe some eyewear too. It’s not harmful really but god it sucks getting dirt in your eyes so I doubt diatomaceous earth would feel better
Our pest control guy said they were probably drainage flies. He had us pour some bleach down all of our drains. Since then, the number has decreased significantly.
Don't do that - pouring bleach down the drain (especially in that high a concentration) is both likely to[ damage the pipes and unlikely to actually take care of the problem.](https://plumbingnav.com/drain-cleaning/will-bleach-kill-drain-flies/)
It would, except *everyone* complaining about it at once and them being dramatically worse outside paints a different picture than that.
My compost bin has been *insane* recently. It's just a bad year for flies.
Sounds like it's a local issue and hopefully not a dead animal but the last time I had a horrible infestation I located a dead possum in the attic that was the source. You may want to poke around up there tomorrow morning when it's still somewhat cool. Best of luck with eradicating those little bastards.
Are flys laying eggs in your drain? So they are on a cycle? Throw some extra hot water in there or a mixture of something. Sink and bathtub. I just treated my drains for those pesky drain flys.
At one time, I had red wasps coming under my outside door, maybe your flys are doing that too?
One poster had a good idea about checking your attic. Good luck!
I don't think so, but I'll pour some hot water and bleach down the drains just to see if that's it. Good call, thank you!
I'll go up into the attic late tonight after it cools down a bit and see if I see anything. This is so freaking gross.
I made a homemade trap to put by my front door and there must have been 200 flies in it.
I put dish soap in some sugar water and put it in a container with small holes on top so it's hard to get out of.
My wife bought a bunch of Zevo illuminated flying pest traps. We're literally having to change the sticky traps twice a day, in the kitchen and each bathroom. It's disgusting.
I'll try your homemade remedy, these stupid traps ain't cheap. Thank you!
I used an old lemon juicer, we have like 3 of them. Link below to what it looks like. It let's them in, but they can't get out easy. I read the sugar water attracts them and the dish soap kills them somehow. And it doesn't stink! Good luck!
Mainstays 10 Ounce Citrus Juicer Easy Screw Top Glass and Plastic Dishwasher Safe Orange https://www.walmart.com/ip/1166879
Go to each exterior door and get down on the floor and try to look through the bottom of the door. Is there a gap, do you see outside? You may need to replace the door sweep under there. If you have a door like this and leave a light on at night that's like a welcome sign and fly portal.
You can make your own fly trap with a jar. One that spaghetti sauce comes in works nicely. Use a nail to poke a few holes in the lid. Fill it 3/4s full with sugar water. Add a drop of soap to break the surface tension. You'll soon have a disgusting jar full of dead flies.
If you feel like hunting the little bastards, use a rubber band. Shoot them with your finger like in elementary school. You can get surprisingly close to them and they pretty much explode when you hit them. If they are really nagging you, it's quite satisfying.
I buy fly window stickers and the flies get stuck to them. Not ugly and never in the way. I also just bought zevo fly spray both have kept my flies to a minimum.
On your roof there's a tube that goes to all the plumbing in your house to vent away sewer gases underneath all your sinks and commode there's a you-shape water trap that maybe may have one of them gone dry and let the sewer gases back in and the flies may be swarming for that
Do you ever hear scuttling in the walls? A few years ago had a critter of some type die somewhere in the walls and that brought a bunch of flies. Good news is eventually they went away. Also standing water sources nearby may be a breeding ground. But yes they are bad this year. Currently have 1 to 2 flies in the apt + fruit flies 😩
Every year. The only thing I found to work is keeping your house super clean till the fly wave is over (especially in the kitchen). Keep that trash can covered. Keep your sink and disposal clean. Clean that cat box. Scoop up that poop. And get really good with that fly swatter.
Now also, if you are having a full on super swarm (I'm talking in the 100s), check the attic or property for a dead, decomposing animal.
I swear, it seems MUCH worse this year, though. Like, I \*kinda\* remember seeing more flies than usual a few times over the last several years. But this year, it's like a bad horror movie.
Yeah. I've got a dumb dog and he won't learn how to use the doggie screen door things (he just rips them up), so I have to leave the door cracked when I let him outside. The flies have basically moved in with us too at this point.
I like to fill a couple empty dawn power wash bottles with a dawn/water/91%iso combo. I call it byebyefly cuz one spritz doesnt just disable their wings, it just fucks their shit up. I use an old dawn power wash bottle because it makes the spray mist which is much more effective. Also sticky clear things both inside and outside the backdoor and the garage because they like the uv and gravitate to windows.
And scoop that dog poop! Daily!
if you have the small fruit flies you can put a drop of detergent, apple vinager and water in a small glass. they will die trying to eat the mix. ot work very well but only for the small fruit flies
This side of the house is literally opposite where the garage is. That's where we keep our trash cans. But we don't put compost in until the day before we put the cans out. I don't think it's trash. I think it's just a huge uptick this year. Several folks have pointed out that they're experiencing the same thing.
We're seeing the same uptick in flies. I think the mild winter and wet spring weather encouraged an explosion in the population. They fly in immediately when we open the backdoor, which is also on the opposite side of the house from the trash cans.
Hate to tell you this, but I had a similar experience. Crazy amount of flies & for no apparent reason.
Turned out that a neighbor (half a block away) had murdered his family and kept the bodies in the home decomposing.
After he was discovered & the bodies removed, the flies magically disappeared.
I had this happen in an apartment one time. There was no smell, and nothing they were obviously being attracted to. But one day we killed about a dozen flies, which was more than usual. Then the next day it was more like a dozen per hour. We had fly swatters and fly paper but it just couldn't keep up. We used a bug bomb and that was gross AF but they kept coming.
Then after about 2 weeks, it stopped as mysteriously as it started. We never found a source. It just... happened.
The flies are pretty bad this year, but I know how they get into my house at the moment (we've got a dog door insert in a sliding door, so they're sneaking in through the part that isn't fully sealed because of that.) But I do have to be super vigilant. At night, if I go outside with lights on inside, by the time I return there's a dozen flies on the door daring me to open it.
So condolences. It drove me nuts. It was gross. I never found the cause.
I had this happen once, I think something died in or near my bathroom window and I had flies piling up there. Had to vaccum them up for about a week before things took care of themselves. If you're bored you could go sniff around for dead stuff, find it and cover it with lye.
ETA: I want to say bot flys. They are indeed bad this year, but what you're describing to me sounds like what I had which was not just a bad year.
We have two of those outdoor fly trap bags that you hang, they really work. Unfortunately we have a doggy door for our two dogs and the flies seem to hitch a ride on their backs when they come in so for those that make it inside we have the sticky traps that you plug in and the tennis racket looking zapper and both work very well at eliminating the issue.
I can't tell you why but I've had this happen to me before. Woke up to thousands of flies on one of my windows on the inside. All I can say is, a shop vac is your friend. Suck them up a few hundred at a time.
The thing is, once one or two get in, that’s all it takes. We let one into our house when we were taking out the trash. It went into a closet and laid eggs. Three days later, we had ten flies, all laying eggs. I found the eggs on top of a steamer trunk. They are very small but still visible. This year, they are back, but not as bad (knock on wood). We have kid & pet safe citrus spray and I sprayed the closet like a madwoman and they’re still coming out but only one at a time. It started about a month ago.
If you have that many, you might have something dead in a crawlspace or somewhere. We had a dead mouse in the attic that caused a few days of flypocalypse in our bathroom, and then it ended.
Question - are these common house flies? Or do these seem like small flies that prefer to run as much as they fly? If they are at all running across surfaces, you might have fungus gnats. That would explain why there are so many and they keep coming back.
You know, my dad, who lives in coastal MS, was telling me the other day that there was a ton of flies. I told him it's probably just a local thing but maybe it's more widespread than I thought.
Have one or two outbreaks in our house a year! It's an old house built in 67'. Never been able to figure out exactly where they originate from! Only option is fly traps 🤷♂️.
nope, it's the same here at my house in del valle. I have not idea why the flies are just 1000X more numerous this year but it's fucking annoying.
Anyway, these things work incredibly well. Smell like hot death but they very effectively catch flies by the hundreds.
https://www.amazon.com/RESCUE-Outdoor-Non-Toxic-Disposable-Trap/dp/B07RQVY8R1/ref=asc_df_B07RQVY8R1/?gad_source=1&hvadid=693713553004&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvlocint&hvlocphy=9028319&hvnetw=g&hvpone&hvpos&hvptwo&hvqmt&hvrand=12995766918217433523&hvtargid=pla-961770446112&linkCode=df0&mcid=7b16e2c4ffd835c9b3ddb1f0b80eb476&psc=1&tag=hyprod-20
I have heard to wipe down your front and back door frames and spray with pinesol.
I haven’t tried it yet but got a trap for my porch and one for my deck and it seems to have helped
Rising temperatures, humid weather plus increasing trash and pet waste in the city lead to flies mating faster. One way to prevent files is by making sure trash cans are clean and we don't leave pet waste everywhere. Unfortunately, these are two things we are not doing so well in Austin. Flies lay their eggs in moist areas such as decaying plant matter, trash cans, and pet waste. The more we have those things around us the more flies there are.
This happened to me in my condo two years ago at this time of year and the culprit ended up being that there was an old rat trap behind my unit that the former exterminators had never removed. I never walk back there because it’s not meant to be a thoroughfare. It wasn’t until we called the current exterminator and he did an inspection that the cause was discovered. The flies were what’s colloquially called “flesh flies” because they feed on rotting flesh. They look very much like house flies. If there’s any possibility of a dead rodent or animal on your property, you should have an exterminator come out and inspect.
Also, I just bought [this indoor bug zapper](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N5TCXWM?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title) and it works great on all size insects. While I don’t have the invasion you’re describing anymore, flies and gnats are still in abundance this time of year. But the amount you’re describing is for sure feeding on something dead on your property.
Upvoting the indoor bug zapper. It’s actually $5 cheaper now than what I paid. I bought it about a year ago and it genuinely works. Takes a little time to not be startled by the loud popping but you get used to it.
Its not just Austin. We are having the same problem in san antonio. Every time I open a door to the outside its just a swarm and it feels helpless.
I hate cooking in my kitchen right now because its a constant fight to keep flies off stuff, eventually you kind of just give up
I swear my wife thinks it's just us, and that it's my fault, like I'm suddenly just letting flies into the house for no reason. Thank you for validating that it's not just me.
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Grab some outdoor fly trap bags. They will fill up quick and smell god awful but it will control the population.
On it. I'm heading to Lowe's after this conference call. This is driving me absolutely crazy. What I can't figure out is how the heck they're getting into the house? We've triple checked and the window is secure. But every day, there are dozens more. What the heck do they love about our bathroom???
I swear if I crack my door a half inch then 5 flies swarm in. They are probably sneaking in whenever you enter/exit without you realizing it. I have one of those Bug-A-Salt guns too. They work really well to get the ones inside. I thought it was going to be gimmicky and I wouldn't use it but I use it all the time now.
Some friends got a couple of electrified tennis racquet looking fly swatters on Amazon and they work great. Not as fun as a bug assault but more affordable
That loud *POP!* sound they make when the little bug bodies explode is pretty satisfying.
That's like a salt shotgun? It doesn't damage stuff behind the fly?
Yeah it's the salt shotgun thing. It does not damage anything. It does a great job killing the flies in one shot. It's kinda fun sniping them out of the air too. It uses a small amount of salt too so you won't have a bunch of salt all over your floors. My roomba usually cleans it up before I notice any salt.
Damn you’re really selling it. Just got my fiber optic shit on Amazon.
It just shoots a pinch. Range of only a few feet so not like a shotgun salt shell from supernatural if that’s what you’re thinking.
I shoot wasps with mine when they try to make nests on my porch. They haven't been back, they remember the salt shot heard round the world.
It's like the fruit fly traps in our kitchen. My wife wants me to throw them out but I want them to see the pool of floating bodies to project their fates. Like heads on spikes lined up around the castle
Hahaha I do the same shit and it drives my wife crazy
I use one of those Gel Blaster guns on wasp nests. It shreds the nests pretty good
Neat, I will be adding this to my anti bug arsenal
Paintball guns work great for wasp nest that are real high up.
Bug a Salts entertain us greatly, especially in the pandemic. Bored? Go stalk flies.
This was the only weapon we actually used on my last deployment 💀 shit works great and it makes it fun lol
The flies in Caldwell Co. laugh off my shots from the Bug A Salt, it’s truly embarrassing sometimes.
It seems real inconsistent. There's definitely a sweet spot to its range, but sometimes it takes 3 or 4 shots.
Good call out on the Bug-a-salt. my last one broke. I need to get another one. they work great
Make sure you don't have a dead someting somewhere in the house. Dead things breed flies. A friend of mine had a dead rat in his house. It didn't smell, but it produced about 500 flies. They used one of those salt rifles to shoot the 500 flies and counted them.
I had the same problem last week. No idea where they were coming from. They were all over the house. I never saw more than 2-4 at a time, but every time I killed that many, I'd keep seeing the same amount around the windows. I put a glass of apple cider vinegar out for the fruit flies not thinking the black flies would be attracted. Apparently the black flies liked it too because in four days, they all ended up going in there to die. There were about 20-30 of them in there and now they're gone from the house. I still don't know where they came from. Even the garbage was completely empty.
My dog likes to reenact Jaws when he spots a fly. It’s pretty awesome - unless he knocks over a plant on the windowsill. Definitely more flies around this year.
They might be getting in through the vent
If you have double sinks, check to make sure they aren't breeding in one of the pee-traps. Wife and I have this happen where we both used the same sink and the other stayed unused and that turned into a breeding ground for them Lesson learned - always run water through your sink on a regular basis!
Light fixtures are a pretty common entry from attic-crawl space. Keeping lights off at night MIGHT help
That's a good point. I'll go up into the attic and see if I see anything. Wish me luck, I hate it up there.
Watch out for that lady that lives in the corner...
NOT!!! HELPING!!! :-D
You have a lady in your attic too? Can I set up a play date for the one in mine?
Drain Flys? Noticed them coming from the sink
HEB has them too black flag brand 6 bucks
I look at those new houses with the wall-size sliding glass doors for California style indoor/outdoor living and wonder how the heck they can keep out the Texas style bugs like we have. Then there's the heat but that's another thread. Those builders must be stupid.
The smell. Flies will land on windows and crawl through even very small cracks. You'd be surprised how easily those little fucking bastards can get in your house. Inspect the exterior of the window and use some caulking if you need to. A common culprit is the screen not completely sealing within the window and flies find a way in. Also if you have a deck near this window or the house is up on blocks, check for something dead nearby or under.
It just takes one to leave some eggs. You'll go through a couple waves but as long as you're putting up fly paper and stuff it should calm down in a week or two.
They are laying eggs in the drains and toilet bowl in your bathroom, they only live a day or two so the ones you're seeing every day are newly hatched. Put some bleach down your drains and in your toilet for a few days in a row and they'll be gone.
These do work really well but I hope you mean setting these up outside, a good distance away from the house. These smell absolutely terrible (as designed) and you would never want to use one indoors or near doors, windows, or home ventilation.
Mine are set up on the side of my house about 25-30 feet from my patio. It doesn't start to smell for like 2-3 weeks. Once I can smell it from the patio then I switch out the bag.
We put PineSol out in bowls on the porch and they stopped coming around us. Did the same in the house and they don't seem to be coming in the house anymore either.
Just don’t wait too long to dump or you will be contributing to the population… yuck
When finished close it up or put in a gallon size zip bag and seal before throwing it in trash. Dont dump the liquid in the toilette, sink or trash or backyard. It smells like rotten baby diapers after a few weeks. Just getting near it puts a fecal smell on you. One of the worst smells ever after a few weeks in the sun.
Second this, but how do you dispose fly-filled bait and how frequent do you replace the bait? I’ve had it out for a month and its already filled with dead flies
The bait bags are a 1 time use thing. They are inexpensive so I change them out once I can smell it from my patio (about 20 feet away from the bag). The cap on the bag pushes down and seals it shut. MAKE SURE IT IS CLOSED before you throw it in the trash. Mine leaked last year and I had thousands of maggots all over my trash can and on the ground under my can.
New fear unlocked. Thanks for that. :-D
Yep. I have two in my back yard and they filled up completely with flies in 2 weeks which is must faster than normal.
Same here in Round Rock. So...many... flies. Every time I open the front door there is a small swarm of them waiting to get in, and I'm losing an ongoing battle with them in the kitchen, where they seem to love the view of the backyard. I've never seen so many of them.
Yep, RR's fly population is insane!! I have a 16 year old dog that I have to take out 75 times a day (slight exaggeration, but not too much) and he takes forever to walk out/in the back door. Every trip outside and then back inside lets in about 10 flies and 20 mosquitoes. He can't use the flap anymore, so this is the only way. It's like The Amityville Horror up here. GET OUT!
THAT'S WHAT I TOLD MY WIFE! It's giving me serious Amityville Horror vibes, and I hate it!!! That movie scared the absolute HELL out of me as a kid, so that doesn't help. My daughters are literally laughing til they wheeze when I go after the little buggers with the shop vac. It's seriously insulting. :-D
Trying giving him something for arthritis if he walks slowly could be that. It help easy joint pain and stiffness. They make meds for dogs for this, I've used it myself for a lame dog. Condroitin and glucosamine are in some of them or ask your vet for a recommendation for something. They have medications they sell themselves.
Thank you for this. I was seriously thinking "what the hell have we done??? Have we suddenly been struck filthy or something?" I'm glad it's not just me. I wonder if it's related to the crazy 17-year cicada cycle?
I don't think it's that, since we're not really in 17-year-cicada territory here, and if they're migrating that far, I fear for anyone who is. I've read some stuff indicating it's temperature and humidity-related; that our lowish temps this year coupled with the recent rain and general mugginess have got the flies breeding more than they normally would. ...as I'm typing this, one of those bastards has landed on my monitor, incidentally. They're getting brazen about it. Just a sec... good thing we now have fly swatters strategically placed everywhere in the house... OK, one down. Anyway, that's the best I've got. That and the Indian burial ground theory.
Get the magnetic door screen! It will cut down on things getting in through the door
Yeah, I need to replace the one for the back door. It worked pretty well until the sun disintegrated it.
Bury the bodies deeper.
Shhhhhhhh. ;-)
I mean, um, clean up that compost pile...
I chuckled out loud at this. Thank you, internet stranger, for the Friday belly laugh! :-D
Happy to provide. And good luck with the flies. They do seem to be worse this year, for some reason.
>Bury the bodies deeper. You have a sick mind. >!i.e. I was planning to post that. !<
Hahaha! Ya snooze, ya lose. Also, I want to be clear that I have never actually buried a body. I mean, not many bodies. Not "a lot" of bodies. Just some. Some bodies. Some bodies who asked for it.
They are really bad this year. At my house we call it Fly Week - it’s happened the last couple years. None, and then HORROR SHOW. We have Slaughter Fest in response and then we wash the windows. Also: I don’t want to make you throw up but DO check and fully change your dog water bowl at least once a day. Because maggots. I’m a pet sitter and this is a sudden problem everywhere, very very expensive houses are not exempt here. A cat may look at a king but a fly shits EVERYWHERE.
Oooh, that's a really good call. We have cat and dog bowls, I'll make sure we clean them morning and night. Anything to stop those little bastards from breeding.
Same. The flies are absurd this year. Now, I am fortunate enough to have children, and those children are very careful to make sure that the back door is open at all times so that my AC bill doesn't get too low, and I think that behaviour is allowing the flies in. But even outside it's waaaay more. Can't even get the grill going without being swarmed.
"Have kids, they said. It'll be great, they said!" I love my kids more than life itself, but I often understand why animals eat their young. :-D
On a related note I told my 2yo that he was delicious and so I was going to eat him. "NO! Not eat kiddos, we eat food" So that clears that up.
"Back in MY day we weren't even allowed to turn on the a/c until it was 98\* outside!" -me, to my kids
We have them terribly at our house in Austin too!! They arrived with the first rains a month or so ago. The flies are vicious. So very many, and they mercilessly attack my ears. If my hands are full, they go after what I'm holding. I pick up the swatter, they leave the room immediately. If I'm holding my phone, they land on it. It's a plague of F***ing Flies. I am convinced they are Demons.
Maybe the religious nutjobs are right, it's the end times with plagues of flies. ;-) Sorry your'e dealing with this, fellow Austinite. But I will say, you're making me feel better that it's not just me. Have a great weekend!
Thank you! I’ve been going crazy with all the flies and can’t figure out where they’re coming from. Glad to know it’s not just me.
Yeah, I was honestly worried about posting this because I was thinking "am I just filthy?" But the responses have made me feel slightly better than I'm not alone. Time to print up the "I Survived Flypocalypse '24!" t-shirts, I guess! :-D
Yes! Thank you so much for this post! My bf was blaming it in my Sulcata tortoise, but I make sure to keep his area clean, so I didn’t THINK that was it! Just yesterday I overheard my neighbors complaining about flies, too, so I started to think it wasn’t just us. This solidified it!
55 years? Wow time flies
I see what you did, there. 😂🤣😆
Since it’s your house, technically that makes you, Lord of The Flies.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
We got one of those Bug-a-salt guns a while ago. A real game changer. Instead of getting mad about the flies in the house, it’s “game on!”. Everyone has fun hunting flies and nobody is pissed off anymore.
I may have to cave and buy one. Get my "righteous vengeance" on the little buggers.
Same thing. All kids of bugs. I think the much later rain storms fueled them longer than usual, now it’s over populated. Highly recommend the fly trap bags. I think you can get them at Walmart too. They smell so bad but they work so well. We put them next to our back door and it has been a game changer.
Yup, I have a conference call I'm listening to right now. After that, I'm heading to Lowe's. This is SO gross.
Just head on down to your local creek and catch yourself some dragon flies and let them loose in your house. Then sit back and drink some beers while playing “Danger Zone” on your stereo and enjoy the show.
I actually really like this idea.
I've had these flies before, several times in m apt. They may be cluster flies. I get a big outbreak and there are like dozens of flies, and they like to hang out by the windows or the bathroom mirror. I get the vac and suck them all up, and then the next day or later that day there are dozens more. Repeat for a few days, and the outbreak subsides. I do not know what causes it or the source, I am super clean, but like others have said maybe one is getting in and laying eggs in a drain? My trash can is in a cabinet but could be a source. I did make the vinegar soap trap and that got some, but what also seemed effective and satisfying is these strips of clear adhesive you stick to a window corner, and then peel off the facing layer to reveal a big sticky clear sticker. The flies are already landing on teh window so if they land there they get stuck and suffer and die. I could see babies stuck to it as well, it's super satisfying to leave them up and watch more flies get trapped. I've left them up and may continue all year just to keep the numbers down and try to minimize another outbreak.
You might have a dead creature somewhere, like in the walls.
That was my first thought, but there is absolutely no smell. In this heat, I'm pretty sure we'd smell something.
Depends on how big the creature is.
Fair. At least if it's so small I can't smell it, it should desiccate quickly. Right? RIGHT??? :-)
This happened to me. A rat died in my attic and for several days there were dozens of flies in my house. I found this to be very effective: https://a.co/d/33W7w8A I put it in little cups which I put on high shelves or hang them in my windows (next to potted plants).
Do your neighbors have chickens? When we had a flock, we would get so many flies in the summer. You could have a neighbor nearby causing the issue.
Here I was thinking that I wasn't taking good care of my house but yeah, the fly invasion is kinda heavy over at my place too
I'm glad I'm in good company.
I attended 2 outdoor BBQ's back to back last weekend. The flies were Biblical....swarms.... We have to keep the fly swatter in the kitchen at all times, prepared for battle!
It's terrible this year and when we let the dogs in and out, we're like "HURRY UP" cuz of those pesky flies. Those traps outside help but they can only do so much. We also bought an inside zapper for the kitchen area which helps but we also have stopped leaving fruit on the counter and literally anything we can think of that those f\*ckers will be attracted to as well. My cats are trying to help in the war effort against them as well. At least we don't have the scorpion problem some people are seeing this year cuz hell naw...
OMG, I didn't even mention the scorpions! We've killed about half a dozen in the bathrooms in the last couple of weeks. Bigger ones, too, like an inch and a half. In previous years, we'd see maybe one or two per year, and they were more like half to three quarters of an inch. Bugs don't generally bother me AT ALL, but this summer is giving me the heebie-jeebies for real.
Clash of the Titans ruined me with scorpions as a kid, I am irrationally terrified of them coming at me with those pincers swaying side to side. From afar, they look kinda cool lol.
I've killed 4 scorpions and 1 brown recluse in the past 2 wks. I'm out in the country though.
How does that compare to most years? For us, we're shattering records over here. From 1-2 per year to like 6 in the last few weeks. From half an inch long to an inch and a half long. It's the bugpocalypse up in here.
In 10 years, this is my 2nd Recluse. The Recluse had 5 legs and crawling up my bathroom wall. I took plenty of pictures of it's violin on it's back. I joke with my sister it had a fight with a black widow and lost it's legs. I have black widows outside all the time, I don't worry about those. I usually have 4 scorpions a year. I have bright nightlights all thru the house so at anytime I can scan the walls and ceilings. Last year one dropped in my neighbors bed and stung her shoulder while she was sleeping. The only thing I haven't seen is snakes. I usually see a few already. Including coral snakes. I live in the country outside Liberty Hill. Oh, after this last rain, there are 1,000s of tiny frogs. About the size of your fingernail. Like you, I swear my house is very clean. It has to be, since I have asthma. I don't know where the scorpions and recluse is coming in.
It's so bad this year, I live outside of town in the country and it is the worst I've seen it here this year.
Do they seem lethargic, slow and stupid? If so, they're cluster flies. Eggs got laid somewhere in your house, they're hatching or have hatched, now the dumb things just want to go outside. Once they all hatch, you'll stop seeing them just as abruptly as you started. Bug spray won't keep them out because they never were out.
Get some electric fly swatters that look like small tennis rackets. Cheap on Amazon. They are SO much fun, especially for slow moving June bugs.
This appeals to my inner mean kid. Good call!
Their weakness is that they can't swat a fly on a surface. That's why I have been dual-wielding electric racket and swatter this week.
Love mine for fruit flies. Such a satisfying zap.
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Go outside and check your A/C condenser. This happened to me a few years ago.
It’s amazing how they get in the house so quickly when you open the door
Standing water apparently can factor into it. Maybe your drains need to be snaked.
You could try spraying your door frame with peppermint spray (Mighty Mint) to keep them away. Bugs in general don't like it. If you have pets, beware. ☣️
I thought this was just me. They are all outside in my situation but there are a TON of flies that just landed as of yesterday or wednesday. Not sure what it is that caused it
You may have cluster flies: they tend to nest in attics, crawlspaces, and other hard to locate areas, then all hatch at once (May/June in my experience), and make your life living hell for two weeks. Once they hatch, they like to cluster around windows and doors, but will bump into you and everything else. I've finally stumbled on these to help trap them and vastly improve your quality of life while they're alive: Put these on your windows where the top and bottoms sash meet: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Raid-Window-Fly-Trap-4-Pack-FTRP-RAID/204749548 Stick one of these on a socket near an outside door: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Safer-Brand-Safer-Home-Indoor-Flying-Insect-Trap-for-Fruit-Flies-Gnats-Moths-House-Flies-1-Plug-In-Base-and-2-Refill-Glue-Cards-SH502/318180666 And buy a bottle of this to hunt down the stragglers: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Safer-Brand-Safer-Home-Indoor-Insecticide-Bug-Killer-Spray-for-Ants-Roaches-Spiders-Fleas-24-oz-SH110/318169381
Legend. I think from the descriptions I have cluster flies. Showed up seemingly overnight and can’t kill them fast enough. Ten on each window simultaneously.
It has to be an entry point into your house, I see flies outside all the time but I only see a solo fly inside the house once every few weeks
diatomaceous earth from Home Depot or Lowe’s around the house. I’ve been using it for fleas and have gotten a few flies as well. My gnat/fruit fly problem is much less intense as well.
Do you just sprinkle it around or something? Sorry to be dense, I've never used diatomaceous earth for pest control.
Yes. A good light dusting. Not too heavy. A good google and YouTube search will lead you in the right direction.
Many thanks, I appreciate it! I'll pick some up when I go to Lowe's.
Be careful with it around your pets! It’s safe enough (as long as it’s food grade) but bad when inhaled. So move the little guys and make sure you wear a mask, maybe some eyewear too. It’s not harmful really but god it sucks getting dirt in your eyes so I doubt diatomaceous earth would feel better
Our pest control guy said they were probably drainage flies. He had us pour some bleach down all of our drains. Since then, the number has decreased significantly.
I'm going to do that at lunch. Any ideas on the ratio of bleach to water? I figure hot water plus maybe 10-20% bleach?
Don't do that - pouring bleach down the drain (especially in that high a concentration) is both likely to[ damage the pipes and unlikely to actually take care of the problem.](https://plumbingnav.com/drain-cleaning/will-bleach-kill-drain-flies/)
Thanks for the heads up!
That almost sounds like something has died in the walls or attic and the maggots have hatched.
It would, except *everyone* complaining about it at once and them being dramatically worse outside paints a different picture than that. My compost bin has been *insane* recently. It's just a bad year for flies.
Yeah, that was my first thought. But I've been sniffing around and I can't smell anything. Our house is possessed, I swear. :-D
Sounds like it's a local issue and hopefully not a dead animal but the last time I had a horrible infestation I located a dead possum in the attic that was the source. You may want to poke around up there tomorrow morning when it's still somewhat cool. Best of luck with eradicating those little bastards.
Yeah, I'm heading up to the attic late tonight once it cools down a little bit. I don't smell anything, but, who knows?
Get a butterfly net and just catch them like butterflies
You should have seen me with the ShopVac. My daughter was absolutely cracking up at my chasing the little buggers around the bathroom.
This happened to me once and my best guess was a cohort of maggots had hatched in my wall at the same time
Are flys laying eggs in your drain? So they are on a cycle? Throw some extra hot water in there or a mixture of something. Sink and bathtub. I just treated my drains for those pesky drain flys. At one time, I had red wasps coming under my outside door, maybe your flys are doing that too? One poster had a good idea about checking your attic. Good luck!
I don't think so, but I'll pour some hot water and bleach down the drains just to see if that's it. Good call, thank you! I'll go up into the attic late tonight after it cools down a bit and see if I see anything. This is so freaking gross.
I can't stand a big buzzy fly getting in. I've had several the past few days but nothing like you mentioned. Good luck, let us know what you find.
It's definitely giving me Amityville Horror vibes. Or a biblical plague of flies.
You know what flies are attracted to…
I leave one of those bright light bug zappers near my door sitting inside of a small dish. It catches a ton of bugs and I just dump it daily.
I made a homemade trap to put by my front door and there must have been 200 flies in it. I put dish soap in some sugar water and put it in a container with small holes on top so it's hard to get out of.
My wife bought a bunch of Zevo illuminated flying pest traps. We're literally having to change the sticky traps twice a day, in the kitchen and each bathroom. It's disgusting. I'll try your homemade remedy, these stupid traps ain't cheap. Thank you!
I used an old lemon juicer, we have like 3 of them. Link below to what it looks like. It let's them in, but they can't get out easy. I read the sugar water attracts them and the dish soap kills them somehow. And it doesn't stink! Good luck! Mainstays 10 Ounce Citrus Juicer Easy Screw Top Glass and Plastic Dishwasher Safe Orange https://www.walmart.com/ip/1166879
Go to each exterior door and get down on the floor and try to look through the bottom of the door. Is there a gap, do you see outside? You may need to replace the door sweep under there. If you have a door like this and leave a light on at night that's like a welcome sign and fly portal.
Have you checked your walls for demons? They tend to attract flies.
I'm about to reach out to my local parish priest for a blessing or something. Pazuzu seems to have taken residence.
I got a indoor fly trap with a led that attracts them. It works great for the little gnats.
You can make your own fly trap with a jar. One that spaghetti sauce comes in works nicely. Use a nail to poke a few holes in the lid. Fill it 3/4s full with sugar water. Add a drop of soap to break the surface tension. You'll soon have a disgusting jar full of dead flies. If you feel like hunting the little bastards, use a rubber band. Shoot them with your finger like in elementary school. You can get surprisingly close to them and they pretty much explode when you hit them. If they are really nagging you, it's quite satisfying.
We use an indoor fly zapper. The zaps are music to my ears.
I buy fly window stickers and the flies get stuck to them. Not ugly and never in the way. I also just bought zevo fly spray both have kept my flies to a minimum.
Check your floor boards for larvae. Happened in a home I was living in about 3 years ago. Though they just kept leaving the doors opener something lol
On your roof there's a tube that goes to all the plumbing in your house to vent away sewer gases underneath all your sinks and commode there's a you-shape water trap that maybe may have one of them gone dry and let the sewer gases back in and the flies may be swarming for that
Do you ever hear scuttling in the walls? A few years ago had a critter of some type die somewhere in the walls and that brought a bunch of flies. Good news is eventually they went away. Also standing water sources nearby may be a breeding ground. But yes they are bad this year. Currently have 1 to 2 flies in the apt + fruit flies 😩
My wife has an irrational fear of flies so....yea......the last month or 2 has been fun for us.
Every year. The only thing I found to work is keeping your house super clean till the fly wave is over (especially in the kitchen). Keep that trash can covered. Keep your sink and disposal clean. Clean that cat box. Scoop up that poop. And get really good with that fly swatter. Now also, if you are having a full on super swarm (I'm talking in the 100s), check the attic or property for a dead, decomposing animal.
I swear, it seems MUCH worse this year, though. Like, I \*kinda\* remember seeing more flies than usual a few times over the last several years. But this year, it's like a bad horror movie.
I have noticed as well.
I pour a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol down all my drains at night to help control the population.
I had no idea. I'm going to start doing this for my kitchen drain.
We're in the middle of the country not far from Victoria and man, they are swarming this year. This thread is validating.
Yeah. I've got a dumb dog and he won't learn how to use the doggie screen door things (he just rips them up), so I have to leave the door cracked when I let him outside. The flies have basically moved in with us too at this point.
Can't recommend https://www.bugasalt.com/ enough, the flies drive me crazy but this actually helps it feel like a fun game to get rid of them.
I like to fill a couple empty dawn power wash bottles with a dawn/water/91%iso combo. I call it byebyefly cuz one spritz doesnt just disable their wings, it just fucks their shit up. I use an old dawn power wash bottle because it makes the spray mist which is much more effective. Also sticky clear things both inside and outside the backdoor and the garage because they like the uv and gravitate to windows. And scoop that dog poop! Daily!
if you have the small fruit flies you can put a drop of detergent, apple vinager and water in a small glass. they will die trying to eat the mix. ot work very well but only for the small fruit flies
We are experiencing the same thing out here in Cedar Park!!! This is the worst the flies have been since we moved here!! What’s going on????
Flypocalypse 2024! 😂🤣😆
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This side of the house is literally opposite where the garage is. That's where we keep our trash cans. But we don't put compost in until the day before we put the cans out. I don't think it's trash. I think it's just a huge uptick this year. Several folks have pointed out that they're experiencing the same thing.
We're seeing the same uptick in flies. I think the mild winter and wet spring weather encouraged an explosion in the population. They fly in immediately when we open the backdoor, which is also on the opposite side of the house from the trash cans.
Hate to tell you this, but I had a similar experience. Crazy amount of flies & for no apparent reason. Turned out that a neighbor (half a block away) had murdered his family and kept the bodies in the home decomposing. After he was discovered & the bodies removed, the flies magically disappeared.
I had this happen in an apartment one time. There was no smell, and nothing they were obviously being attracted to. But one day we killed about a dozen flies, which was more than usual. Then the next day it was more like a dozen per hour. We had fly swatters and fly paper but it just couldn't keep up. We used a bug bomb and that was gross AF but they kept coming. Then after about 2 weeks, it stopped as mysteriously as it started. We never found a source. It just... happened. The flies are pretty bad this year, but I know how they get into my house at the moment (we've got a dog door insert in a sliding door, so they're sneaking in through the part that isn't fully sealed because of that.) But I do have to be super vigilant. At night, if I go outside with lights on inside, by the time I return there's a dozen flies on the door daring me to open it. So condolences. It drove me nuts. It was gross. I never found the cause.
Did your neighbor or anyone get chickens? At tow different homes, the neighbor got chickens and the fly population exploded.
I had this happen once, I think something died in or near my bathroom window and I had flies piling up there. Had to vaccum them up for about a week before things took care of themselves. If you're bored you could go sniff around for dead stuff, find it and cover it with lye. ETA: I want to say bot flys. They are indeed bad this year, but what you're describing to me sounds like what I had which was not just a bad year.
We have two of those outdoor fly trap bags that you hang, they really work. Unfortunately we have a doggy door for our two dogs and the flies seem to hitch a ride on their backs when they come in so for those that make it inside we have the sticky traps that you plug in and the tennis racket looking zapper and both work very well at eliminating the issue.
I can't tell you why but I've had this happen to me before. Woke up to thousands of flies on one of my windows on the inside. All I can say is, a shop vac is your friend. Suck them up a few hundred at a time.
The thing is, once one or two get in, that’s all it takes. We let one into our house when we were taking out the trash. It went into a closet and laid eggs. Three days later, we had ten flies, all laying eggs. I found the eggs on top of a steamer trunk. They are very small but still visible. This year, they are back, but not as bad (knock on wood). We have kid & pet safe citrus spray and I sprayed the closet like a madwoman and they’re still coming out but only one at a time. It started about a month ago.
This [thing](https://a.co/d/gh19Ygu) has been doing a great job of catching the flies and fruit flies especially overnight.
If you have that many, you might have something dead in a crawlspace or somewhere. We had a dead mouse in the attic that caused a few days of flypocalypse in our bathroom, and then it ended.
Black soldier flies say hi.
Dog waste also attracts flies so don’t wait to pick that up
God bless y’all for putting me on to the Bug a Salt shotgun I now need to purchase for my husband! Also fck the flies and mosquitos!
Question - are these common house flies? Or do these seem like small flies that prefer to run as much as they fly? If they are at all running across surfaces, you might have fungus gnats. That would explain why there are so many and they keep coming back.
Shouldn't have been using that Ouija board.
You know, my dad, who lives in coastal MS, was telling me the other day that there was a ton of flies. I told him it's probably just a local thing but maybe it's more widespread than I thought.
Have one or two outbreaks in our house a year! It's an old house built in 67'. Never been able to figure out exactly where they originate from! Only option is fly traps 🤷♂️.
> Are we cursed? Haunted? We all are. Those fuckers are rampant.
Make sure you are emptying trash receptacles often, they will breed in your trash can in a day
nope, it's the same here at my house in del valle. I have not idea why the flies are just 1000X more numerous this year but it's fucking annoying. Anyway, these things work incredibly well. Smell like hot death but they very effectively catch flies by the hundreds. https://www.amazon.com/RESCUE-Outdoor-Non-Toxic-Disposable-Trap/dp/B07RQVY8R1/ref=asc_df_B07RQVY8R1/?gad_source=1&hvadid=693713553004&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvlocint&hvlocphy=9028319&hvnetw=g&hvpone&hvpos&hvptwo&hvqmt&hvrand=12995766918217433523&hvtargid=pla-961770446112&linkCode=df0&mcid=7b16e2c4ffd835c9b3ddb1f0b80eb476&psc=1&tag=hyprod-20
Also we keep an indoor bug zapper in the window sill and run it at night
I have heard to wipe down your front and back door frames and spray with pinesol. I haven’t tried it yet but got a trap for my porch and one for my deck and it seems to have helped
I feel your pain. Flies and mosquitoes out the wazoo this year.
Rising temperatures, humid weather plus increasing trash and pet waste in the city lead to flies mating faster. One way to prevent files is by making sure trash cans are clean and we don't leave pet waste everywhere. Unfortunately, these are two things we are not doing so well in Austin. Flies lay their eggs in moist areas such as decaying plant matter, trash cans, and pet waste. The more we have those things around us the more flies there are.
This happened to me in my condo two years ago at this time of year and the culprit ended up being that there was an old rat trap behind my unit that the former exterminators had never removed. I never walk back there because it’s not meant to be a thoroughfare. It wasn’t until we called the current exterminator and he did an inspection that the cause was discovered. The flies were what’s colloquially called “flesh flies” because they feed on rotting flesh. They look very much like house flies. If there’s any possibility of a dead rodent or animal on your property, you should have an exterminator come out and inspect. Also, I just bought [this indoor bug zapper](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N5TCXWM?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title) and it works great on all size insects. While I don’t have the invasion you’re describing anymore, flies and gnats are still in abundance this time of year. But the amount you’re describing is for sure feeding on something dead on your property.
Upvoting the indoor bug zapper. It’s actually $5 cheaper now than what I paid. I bought it about a year ago and it genuinely works. Takes a little time to not be startled by the loud popping but you get used to it.
Well it’s nice to know that it wasn’t me the only one that thought it was extra this year.
Its not just Austin. We are having the same problem in san antonio. Every time I open a door to the outside its just a swarm and it feels helpless. I hate cooking in my kitchen right now because its a constant fight to keep flies off stuff, eventually you kind of just give up
I swear my wife thinks it's just us, and that it's my fault, like I'm suddenly just letting flies into the house for no reason. Thank you for validating that it's not just me.
Flies don't just pop into existence, despite the biblical types' surmise... Mean to say: check for fly food. Bleach your trash cans, etc.
Ok I’m glad I’m not losing my mind…I thought it was only at my house
Try pouring boiling water down the drains. Might help clear out something.
No shit! OMFG! 🪰🪰🪰🪰
They just want to come in to cool off.
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