Inundation of black flies.

[Miss Mousetrousers]

We seem to have had countless ordinary black flies coming in our house this last couple of months. Having searched the carpets for dead rodents and birds our cats sometimes secrete in hidden places, I don't quite know why there are so many.

[bikermike]

we found maggots in our food waste bin (emptied every week). I wonder if the heat is making all animals more bold in their search for food/moisture etc

[Snoop Puss]

Here, we have what the locals call 'fly years'. No real idea why they happen, perhaps a combination of a damp spring followed by a hot, dry summer.

The flies could be coming in simply because it's cooler indoors than out. We often get small groups that circle just inside the door. I'm getting surprisingly good at shooing them out en masse and then shutting the door behind them.

They might also be coming in because they can smell water

[Miss Mousetrousers]

We've had to resort to those horrible fly-papers on a dangly roll and must have used most of two packets by now as fly spray wasn't very effective.

[Snoop Puss]

^We use those too. They look awful, but they do work. Always glad to remove the last ones, mind.

[ESBkevin]

I've mentioned elsewhere the copper coins in a bag of clear water hung near each entry point to the house. It seems the reflection confuses the flies into thinking a predator with big eyes is lurking and they go elsewhere (assuming they havent come from inside in the first place)!

Keep the bag and coin clean, replace the water weekly etc. Doesn't work in the dark though!