Billie Bob's Foolproof Flycatching Technique

from kristallo.org
  1. Roll an A4 sheet into a cylinder.
  2. Wait til the fly is sitting calmly on a suitable flat surface.
  3. Holding one hand over the top of the paper cylinder, very slowly lower the bottom of the cylinder over the fly where it's sitting. If you do it slow enough, the fly will stay put til you have the cylinder completely covering the fly.
  4. The fly should now be trapped! With the cylinder still held on the flat surface, pinch the bottom of the paper together with your free hand and fold it over, so that the fly can't escape.
  5. Now you can set the fly free in a suitable place (or squish it inside the paper, or whatever you prefer).
I came up with this method after learning that flies fly away when they sense changing air currents (from, say, an approaching swatter). The thin edges of the cylinder cut through the air and the flies notice nothing. There are of course some super-sensitive flies which you'll never catch, but in general this has proved to be a very neat, effective method.
Feedback? Drop me a line at: bob at billblock dot biz.