I am still cleaning out my basement from the recent flood. I’m not alone as I still see neighbors putting ruined furniture and other sodden possessions out in the alley for the garbage collector. 

One of the problems the flood water created is sewage, the perfect breeding ground for flies. And boy has my backyard been filled with them. When I was outdoors, the number of flies buzzing about seem like something out of a documentary from Africa, hundreds of flies swarming about.

I do put out fly traps every year. This year I tried a new one that was very pretty but totally ineffective. It was some sort of hanging glue stick with a blue cage that went around it, allegedly designed to attract flies without a smelly bait. The cage was designed to keep large butterflies and hummingbirds from getting stuck to it. 

After hanging it from my garage, I was very disappointed to see that it attracted only a small number of flies, along with a number of ladybugs. A fly trap that catches ladybugs is not a good sign. It also caught what appeared to be bees or wasps. I don’t mind the wasp, but bees are too essential to my garden and this world to see any of them killed. So I tossed that one in the garbage and went back to the old tried-and-true bait trap with the smelly attractant.

The one I got is the kind where you cut the plastic bag’s round opening at the top, pull out the little green plug and then use a string or tie to hang it. You add a certain amount of water and the flies obviously got the message because they began to swarm. The first one I hung, was three-fourths full in less than 24 hours! Reading the literature from the manufacturer’s website, they claim the bag can hold up to 20,000 flies. And I believe I had almost that many!

The bag had only been up for two days when I had to close it and throw it away. I hung a second one and again it is filling up quickly. At $6 a bag, that is a very expensive, but very successful method of getting rid of flies. Several people online said I could purchase the reusable variety, but I’ll pass on that idea. I also pulled out my bug zapper. Hopefully as the number of flies attracted to the flytrap diminishes, the bug zapper can pick up the slack. There’s no more comforting sound than hearing the sizzling coming from the zapper as another fly is killed.

I am still waiting to hear what the city is planning to do to compensate those of us who have lost a lot due to their negligence. Right about now, I wish the city had the $51 million to spend on its citizens to help alleviate the problem it helped to create.