Hi readers. When something doesn’t march lockstep to scientific theory it’s superstition. So a lot of what honest-to-goodness scientists spend their time doing is finding out whether what they’re observing is superstitious or not.
Scientific investigation reveals most, but not all flies here are superstitious.
I was having a plague of flies around the door to the RV because of the cat food in bowls inside the door. The neighbor told me he’d had good luck running most of the flies off by putting water in baggies and hanging them around.
Approximately 2.749% of the flies at this location are scientific, allowing them to rest in the vicinity of the RV surface.
“Hmmmm. Superstitious flies he’s got up there,” thinks I. “Wonder if it’s the same breed trying to eat the cat food.”
Though a few scientific flies do come to rest around the door, sometimes on the baggies, they appear to be stupider than superstitious flies. They’re one hell of a lot easier to swat.
So naturally I gave it a try. Swarms of hundreds of flies are darting around ten feet from the door but not approaching. These are obviously the superstitious flies.
Naturally being a scientific sort of guy I don’t pay much heed to superstitious flies. But the scientific ones piss me off enough to swat them because the theories they guide their lives by aren’t the same ones I’ve memorized to say to people.
Old Jules
So Far From Heaven 
put a few pennies in each baggie….I’ve heard that works even better and helps attract educated, suave flies
Hi Rich. My flies aren’t lowbrows. I figure they’d want quarters or half-dollars, at least. Gracias, J
LOVE this! Clever, clever, clever!
elroyjones: The superstitious ones seem clever enough, but the scientific ones are a bit slow on the uptake, thinks I. Gracias, J
Good comeback!
Must remember this come summer and try it around the hen house and duck/goose pens. Didn’t have many this year as the summer was so dry the messes the water birds made didn’t have time to hatch flies. Always get a chuckle out of your writings. This was definitely at the top of the list.
Blessings, Mary
Thanks Mary. J