A thread for miscellaneous stuff...

[CurtEgerer]

After successfully using a plexiglass drafting triangle to kill a wasp this morning, my thoughts turned to the aerodynamics of fly swatters. Turns out it is quite a science, including this technical research paper recently published: Influence of the Porosity Pattern on the Square-Shaped Fly-Swatter

This barely scratches the surface of the research and thesis papers written on the subject

[oldE]

I learned many years ago that slowly bringing both hands into position appropriately 6 inches on either side of the fly tends to confuse it as to which direction it should escape. A sudden hand clap about an inch over the fly usually dispatches the subject.
Handy (see what I did there) when your perforated fly swatter is out of reach.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by oldE

I learned many years ago that slowly bringing both hands into position appropriately 6 inches on either side of the fly tends to confuse it as to which direction it should escape. A sudden hand clap about an inch over the fly usually dispatches the subject.
Handy (see what I did there) when your perforated fly swatter is out of reach.

I never had a fly stick around long enough to get confused by hands. I swear genetics are at work in the insect empire. If you go get a swatter, even if just 10 feet away, you will find no flies in the vicinity where you saw one. I think they know. I believe I have experienced the same effect with mosquitos. When they notice you noticing their presence, they hit the road and sneak back when your attention turns elsewhere.

The exception with flies occurs with poo and garbage. I think they get drunk on intense smells and it's game on. Yes, if you have a pestering fly that keeps evading the swat, go find something really tasty that they are robotically attracted to. They do come to daddy if you have the candy.

Try not to hit the poo directly. No, seriously, a cross swat over the mess has a really good chance of picking one off.

More fly science: set up a fly trap and you will be guaranteed more flies than you had before the trap was placed. You are doing your neighbors a favor.

If you live on a farm with animals all rules are null and void. Best you can do is invite birds. They are so much better at it. They don't call them "swallows" for nothing.

[911 Rod]

The mosquitos I have at my forest are very small and are like kamikazes.
They attack you like a wasp that you pi##ed off. The keep coming at not matter how much you swat at them or use foul language.

[oldE]

We have been adding a new nest box for tree swallow each year. We're up to 5 boxes. The birds are somewhat territorial, so we've got them spread out. This summer has been bad with the number of mosquitoes. Need more nest boxes! Oh yeah. Last year I put together a bunch of kits.

[oldE]

What a night!
Over the past week our granddaughter has been battling anaplasmosis. There have been trips to the Dr. office, blood tests, antibiotics and an IV. My wife got up at midnight to check the kid's temp (normal!), and shortly after coming back to bed, I heard one of the dogs vomit. OK, got that cleaned up, then my wife figured she'd better take that one outside and of course the border collie had to go too. My wife came back into the house in tears! The collie had surprised a skunk!
So: half a box of baking soda, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide to make a slurry. She applied that to the dog, while I got a bucket of warm soapy water and another bucket with rinse water. Back to bed sometime after 1. The border collie got shut out of the bedroom. This morning things weren't too bad.
Kids and dogs.

[GH85Carrera]

This thread is basically a rehash of the Stijn! thread. A thread about no subject and anything or nothing at all. Like Seinfeld, the show about nothing.

And the Stijn thread is the number one thread for reads and posts on all of Pelican. Unfortunately the Stijn thread has pretty much run it's course as all the regulars have either died, or dropped off of Pelican.

[flatbutt]

Cotton Candy grapes. Holy hannah the first hit of flavor actually tastes like cotton candy!

[thingmon]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I have a pic of my niece that i want to edit by removing some crappy stuff in the background etc. I won't be doing this routinely so I don't to buy a subscription. Are there any decent free apps out there?

ChatGTP? I imagine any of the AI apps could do it.