On The Fly

There's a fly zig-zagging around the room.

The door's open to let in fresh air, but with the fresh air in came a fly.  It has settled into a flight pattern that doesn't seem to really be accomplishing anything obvious.  It is not near food, other flies or me.  Nor does it seem to be ready to go sit down and read the latest National Enquirer, a publication certainly meant solely for flies.

Don't you sometimes wonder what in the world is going on in a fly's mind that makes it decide to get up off its sofa and fly around and around, acting like a tiny flying pinball?  Whatever serves as a "mind" in a fly instigates a flying mode and it flies until - what?  What the heck is it doing anyway?  

Most likely, it is both avoiding and seeking.  It's avoiding bats, birds, lizards and human fly swatters and seeking manure, dead things and slime.  Flies are attracted to moisture and suck it up with their mouth parts.  Females lay their eggs and then keep on going, flying, zig-zagging and - actually - pooping almost constantly.  Great, huh?

A while ago, a very small fly-like insect seemed intent on hovering about three inches away from my nose no matter how I waved and fanned it away.  Very irritating behavior.  Whatever the fly-like bug was doing to avoid my hand - easily a million times bigger than it was - as I swatted back and forth very spastically, is probably worth studying.

Flies are definitely alien looking with their weird multi-lensed eyes and buzzing wings.  They have two wings where most flying insects have four.  They're not cute like bees, and they carry diseases on their feet, bad diseases like cholera, dysentery; they are vectors for nearly everything we humans try to avoid in order to stay healthy.

Dogs, cats and I love to nab flies, especially right out of midair, although I have never eaten a fly like a dog will.  Not on purpose anyway.  Once or twice on bike rides, one has achieved total engulfment in my mouth, but it was rapidly ejected.  Followed by shouts of disgust and revulsion, which flies are pretty much masters at generating.  I do have a grudging admiration for their flying though, now that I see this particular fly wearing itself out as it goes about its business in the middle of the room.

If flies had been invented by, oh, terrorists, they would have no redeeming value whatsoever and annihilation of all flies would be completely justified.  Before you kill every last fly, try to imagine that they are part of the Big Picture of nature.  Other creatures find them delectable and depend on them as a major food source.  Disgustingly, they begin life as maggots, the most repulsive things of all, pretty much.   But, if you watch shows like CSI, you know that maggots do a pretty important job in the world of leftover body parts, gobbling them up rapidly, recycling like no other.

I'm not saying refrain from killing flies.  Just realize that as creepy as they may seem, as annoying as they always are, they have a place in the ecosystem.

Okay, now that I've admired this fly, I'm ready to kill it, but I'll keep my ears open for news about how flies make decisions.  Then, maybe I'll understand some politicians.