If you feel like you're waging (but losing) the war on flies in and around your home, you're not alone. There are more than 16,000 known species of flies in North America alone, all of them annoying.
Flies are more than just an annoyance—they also pose a risk to human health. Flies carry microorganisms that can cause medical problems ranging from diarrhea and bloodstream infections to meningitis. Dozens of pathogens are closely associated with fly infestations, including E.coli, staphylococcus, and salmonella, as are diseases such as hepatitis, cholera, and typhoid fever.
Flies are a common nuisance during the warmer months of the year, with fruits flies, houseflies, and sewer flies being among the most common types of flies that plague New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland homeowners. While particularly bad infestations of flies, especially fruit flies, require professional pest control help and the expertise of a seasoned exterminator, learning how to get rid of flies yourself can be useful in some situations.
Although flies can breed indoors, most get their start outside. For that reason, it makes sense to find the source of the flies afflicting your home before you formulate a battle plan to defeat them.
Flies are attracted to any type of organic matter, especially if it's in a state of decay or decomposition. This means that flies are naturally drawn to your compost pile outback, any type of animal waste, and any sort of rotting fruit or vegetables.
Eliminate flies' happy spot – the spot where they can lay thousands of eggs - and you will see the fly population reduced dramatically. In fact, with the proper steps outdoors, you will have fewer problems controlling flies indoors. Failing to take outdoor fly control into account will undermine successful efforts to curtail the local fly population inside as well as out.
Some more tips for outdoor fly control:
Inside the home there are several measures that you can take to make your home appear less appealing to flies. First, do your best to keep flies out in the first place by keeping doors and windows shut when possible. Inside cover all food keep trash in a tightly sealed can and clear away any food debris after cooking and serving meals. The goal is to give the flies that come into your home nothing to hey deal find appealing about your home.
Keep a flyswatter on hand to deal with occasional flies that find their way into your home. If you notice a particularly large number of flies coming inside, you can try sticky strips of flypaper, which are available for sale at most big box retailers or hardware stores.
The rate at which flies reproduce is nothing short of shocking and underscores the need for effective pest control and a timely call to the exterminator. Take the common fruit fly, which is a particularly bothersome pest in New Jersey. The fruit fly gets its name from its attraction to overly ripe fruits and vegetables, which is also where it likes to lay its eggs. A single female fruit fly lays hundreds of eggs in a very, very short span of time. The eggs that she lays turns into little maggots and those maggots turn into grown flies over the course of just a few weeks. This means that a domestic fruit fly infestation can quickly get out of hand if you don't take steps to control it.
While DIY methods of fly extermination are okay in some instances, calling a professional exterminator is usually the most expedient option to help you get rid of these irritating winged critters. Viking Pest Control is ready to buzz on over to your home to help. Our team is trained in the management and extermination of flies and have proven methods to take care of the little buggers once and for all, including the use of treatments and products that send flies packing. Reach out now - we're ready and eager to help you find a solution for your fly problem.
For a free fly control quote call Viking Pest at (800)618-2847 or visit vikingpest.com.