# Bags of Water Hung to Keep Flies Away



## Jade Tigress (Apr 13, 2010)

I got this in an email. Checked snopes, but no results. Did a web search and found plenty that supports it works. With summer approaching I thought it would be good to share. If anyone tries it let us know. 



> We went with friends to Sweety  Pies on Sunday for  breakfast and sat in the patio section beside the house.   We happened  to notice zip lock baggies pinned to a post and a wall.  The bags were  half filled with water, each contained 4 pennies, and they were zipped  shut.  Naturally we were curious!  Ms. Sweety told us that these baggies  kept the flies away!  So naturally we were even more curious!  We  actually watched some flies come in the open window, stand around on the  window sill, and then fly out again.  And there were no flies in the  eating area!


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## CoryKS (Apr 13, 2010)

I've never heard of this, but HowStuffWorks has a page on it. They don't have a conclusive answer, though.

Snopes has a page too, but they've also classified it as "Undetermined".


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## clfsean (Apr 13, 2010)

Y'know I just saw this on another forum concerning mosquitos & it working on them as well.


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## Stac3y (Apr 13, 2010)

It's used at a lot of restaurants with outdoor seating here. Whether it helps with flies or not, it's useless against grackles. <shudder>


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## seasoned (Apr 13, 2010)

Two of the biggest summer time annoyances maybe done away with with just water. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 I'm in, Flies and as clfsean says, maybe mosquitos too.
Stop them *alive* in their tracks.


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## Sukerkin (Apr 13, 2010)

What on earth are "grackles", *Stacey*?


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 13, 2010)

The Grackle


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## Sukerkin (Apr 13, 2010)

:lol:  You say that as if it should mean something to me, *Xue* .

I'm guessing a kids story 'monster'?


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 13, 2010)

Sukerkin said:


> :lol: You say that as if it should mean something to me, *Xue* .
> 
> I'm guessing a kids story 'monster'?


 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Grackle

It's bird

I did post a picture


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## Sukerkin (Apr 13, 2010)

Poor bird - fancy getting lumbered with a name like Grackle :lol:.


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## dancingalone (Apr 13, 2010)

Sukerkin said:


> Poor bird - fancy getting lumbered with a name like Grackle :lol:.



Grackle is right.  They're loud and aggressive.  They tend to gather near restaurants where they can scavenge for food.  I've seen them steal bread right from tables where people are sitting and eating.  They are big, too.  About a foot tall.


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## Stac3y (Apr 13, 2010)

Yes, grackles are nasty little bastards. Filthy, aggressive, loud, thieving....the best thing you can say about them is that they've chased off most of the pigeons in Austin. And nothing gets rid of them. My neighbor has one of those fake owls that are used to keep birds away from an area. One day I looked over to see a grackle sitting on the owl's head, pecking its eyeball out. A friend of mine saw a flock of them kill a hawk. Ick.


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## SensibleManiac (Apr 13, 2010)

I'll try this out this summer.


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## First Action (Apr 13, 2010)

I wonder why it works... I think it must have lots to do with the pennies. Perhaps it polluted the water and the flys/mossies are deterred by this... But then again, they land on crap so I doubt pollution would bother them

Very interesting though, will have to test it out.


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## MA-Caver (Apr 13, 2010)

First Action said:


> I wonder why it works... I think it must have lots to do with the pennies. Perhaps it polluted the water and the flys/mossies are deterred by this... But then again, they land on crap so I doubt pollution would bother them
> 
> Very interesting though, will have to test it out.


I'll have to check it owt too... just can't figure it though... obviously the pennies have something to do with it but the bags are sealed so something about the baggies having that combination of water and copper/zinc to them is what deterring flies. 

I'd rather have Grackles than those damned Starlings. They're not native to the U.S. and have literally multiplied by the millions. Grackles are prettier in spite of their nasty habits. But then Magpies are considered pest birds as well. 
:idunno:


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## Stac3y (Apr 14, 2010)

I don't think it has anything to do with the pennies; I've seen lots of this done, and no pennies are used here. I vaguely recall reading a theory about this that said it had something to do with the reflection of the water....very vaguely.


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## Jade Tigress (Apr 14, 2010)

I read it has to do with the flies eyesight so it doesn't work on other bugs because they don't see the same way flies do. The water and pennies cause some sort of reflection that scares the flies away. Much like the way they flee as soon as you raise something to swat them.


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## thardey (Apr 15, 2010)

I saw this years ago at a restaurant in Mexico.

No pennies, just water in plastic baggies hung about 10 feet apart. They had no idea why it worked, but they swore it kept the flies away.


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