Introduction
It reminded me of the scene from the 1986 movie Poltergeist II when Carol Anne exclaims, “They're back!” No, a poltergeist did not come back.
It also brought to mind the song by Harry S. Miller, who wrote and composed “The Cat Came Back” in 1893. No, a yellow cat did not come back.
What came back? It was those pesky flies! Welcome, dear reader, to the 125th article in the Humor Topic Section. If I were to record myself ad-libbing the reading of this article, I would do my best to sound like Jerry Clower talking about a rat killing. (I enjoyed listening to “Jerry Clower—Rat Killin,” YouTube, by ashleylynn1016, 7/2/2010.) I would be talking about flies.
Cluster Flies!
Last June, the article from 6/23/2025 included our new fly-killing record. (The record is swatted between the sections about my sister-in-law's birthday and the USA's bombing of Iran.) Over three days last June, my wife and I killed 83 flies inside our house! It was a new record. We thought surely it was a one-time fluke. Our monthly pest control service is for spiders and ants. Aside from a fly or two getting in when an outside door is opened briefly, we have never had fly trouble like that before—until last month.
Last month, the flies came back just like last June! Five days later than last year, I saw and killed the first five indoor flies around 10 PM on Friday, June 26. Over the next three days, my wife and I killed 60 more flies for a grand total of 65 dead flies. The following is a photograph of the post-it note on which we tallied kills.
My wife killed 40, and I killed 25. You should have seen my wife on Saturday, June 27! She went on a fly-killing rampage that day!
After last month's “war of the flies,” my online research found out that cluster flies were the problem. I had never heard of them before. These types of flies are active in late spring and early summer, are attracted to sunlit windows, and can be found in large numbers inside homes even when sealed tightly.
Unlike houseflies, cluster flies do not usually breed indoors. During cool months, they hibernate in attics, wall voids, or crawl spaces. In late spring and early summer, cluster flies squeeze through tiny openings seeking to go outside. Many become trapped indoors.
I also learned that the offspring of cluster flies, somewhat like salmon, return to where their ancestors hibernated during the previous cool weather season. Again, I have never heard of these critters!
Conclusion
On Thursday, July 2, Mr. Mitchell—owner of Mitchell's Pest Control and recommended in the “Business Recommendations: Northeast Knox County, TN” section of this website—came by for the usual monthly spraying. I told him about our recent “war of the flies.” He knew about cluster flies but had never heard of any being around here.
Aren't we the lucky ones? As far as Mr. Mitchell knew, we were the first in our area to face cluster flies. We have now dealt with them for two years in a row!
Well, in late September this year, Lord willing, Mitchell's Pest Control will focus a spraying to eliminate the possibility of “War of the Flies III” next June. So, next June, if I don't publish an article about another fly killing, be assured that our pest control service took care of the problem.
As Jerry Clower might have said, “Haw! We done killed enough flies around here!”
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