"Drunk" Flies?!

[Ceri JC]

Bit of an odd one this and I was wondering if any .orgers could shed some light on it.

I don't have much of a problem with very small (mushroom) flies as I like unusual plants and have several Drosera Capensis (a type of carnivorous plant) dotted around the house. This summer, I've had hardly any problem with larger flies (the really big fat noisy ones) at all. So little in fact, that I've not bothered getting any Darlingtonia Californica (a carnivourous plant that can catch/digest larger flies) as I had originally planned.

The other night, I was chasing a big fly about, trying to whack it with a newspaper and this went on for a good 10 minutes or so. It then occured to me that I've not had this happen at all in this house before. Sure enough, the two flies I killed today appeared to be "drunk" and dazed and I managed to just grab and crush them in a tissue, first try. Thinking back over the year, all flies bar that one have been ridiculously easy to catch. I don't have a cat or any other pet, so it's not that which is hitting them and making them dazed.

That got me thinking, drunk/dazed flies isn't symptomatic of something more serious (like a gas leak, high C02 content of the air, etc), is it? I live in an old (1910) terraced house. Don't know if that makes any difference.

This isn't a wind up/joke, I'm genuinely baffled by it. Any ideas?

[the_lone_wolf]

haha, i managed to get a horsefly the other day, our swatter has points at the end like a comb, slipped one of them right down the back of it's head where it meets the neck, splinter cell stylee, took hours to finally give up. i feel vindicated in that it was a horsefly that got me last year and my ankle swelled up til it filled the top of my skate shoes, you couldn't see any ankle bones at all, just swelling, nasty buggers. normal flys get a quick painless death, unless the dog catches them (mid flight) and chews them up:D

edit: to remain somewhat on topic, i find that the longer they spend bashing against the window glass, the less coordinated they get...

[tigersaw]

I've got one of those high voltage tennis racquets, make swatting flies a sport.

[Viper]

I've got one of those high voltage tennis racquets, make swatting flies a sport.

I got one of them. dont test if its working with your tounge cos it bloody hurts :rolleyes:

[Grinch]

You will find that if the fly has been trapped in your house for a long period then it will have a dazzed/drunk look about it. As would you if you had be locked in a large room for a long period with no food/water. I expect your house is just fine, if your really worried I'd look at getting a CO2 detector.

[Ceri JC]

I got one of them. dont test if its working with your tounge cos it bloody hurts :rolleyes:

Did Scoobs pass on this valuable nugget of information to you?