message 1 of 15
by John » Sun Sep 21, 2025 08:10 am
Not gnats really. Fruit flies. In the last few days we've had clouds of fruit flies taking over the house. I've sealed up the drains where I think most of them come from, but it hasn't really slowed them down. Cheri found a spray that is ostensibly safe for pets, and it's got rid of a lot of them, but the battle continues. We also found some traps and as far as I can tell, they contain vinegar. When the vinegar is dried up I can always get more. The traps have caught a few but hardly enough to make a dent. We've used glue traps too and while we've caught quite a few on them, it's still not nearly enough.
I looked up the spray and the ingredients do seem harmless enough although I still won't use it around the pets or their food, and I'm not sure why it's apparently lethal to the fruit flies. And the stuff is really expensive. When Cheri went to get some, she was in line with 7 other people, all getting the same stuff. Evidently this is the year for the little buggers.
Ceiling fans seem to drive them away but we don't have ceiling fans just everywhere. We've had them before and always got rid of them, but never like this. Of course, they'd hang around food, so we keep that out of reach. They also like to hang around where it's wet, especially in the bathroom, which is a little problematic. And for some reason, they seem to prefer light surfaces, although that's not a requirement. Still, I'm optimistic. John