Idiosyncrasies of Spring
Ah, I saw my first Spring housefly yesterday. Yes, Spring is here again. With it comes the houseflies and moths. With it comes the lengthening days until eventually, we move into daylight savings (move forward one hour so that daylight lasts till 8p.m. or so).
The houseflies here are much bigger than those in Singapore. And they are everywhere. Yes, I mean EVERYWHERE. It is hard to imagine there being so many houseflies in the city area but there are! The species here are also of lower intelligence compared to their Singaporean cousins. The Singaporean ones are smart enough to fly AWAY from you (and towards food) but the Aussie ones actually fly TOWARDS you. Going especially for your ears, nose and mouth.
Eewwww!!! Try not to imagine.
One of my Australian lecturers explained how the Aussie accent or drawl came about. In the outback where the houseflies are really swarming (and still flying towards you), the people try to speak without opening their mouth. Try speaking English that way and you have the Aussie accent, he said.
And the houseflies here seem to operate only between certain temperature ranges. My rough gauge is 24-28 degrees. Outside of this range, they disappear. I have no idea where to. During Spring, the temperature can vary quite a lot from day to day, so it is not unusual to have a fly-free day today and flies-out-for-picnic day the next.
Oh, and houseflies are the reason for the "Australian wave". For the next six months or so, if you see some Australian minister getting interviewed outdoors on TV, watch out for it. *Grin*
The most irritating thing about houseflies is when they find their way into the house but can't find their way out. So there is a constant buzzing sound and from time to time, they will do that flying towards me stunt again. I usually get so irritated that I end up killing them.
I employ the physical method.
Try not to imagine.
The other funny thing about the houseflies here is they don't appear during Autumn, even during their optimal operating temperature range. Indeed, my favourite time of the year in Sydney is the end of February to maybe the beginning of April. Temperature range is agreeable. The days are still reasonably long. And NO houseflies.
The moths are pretty OK in comparison on the irritation scale. Some of the moths I've seen here are HUGE. I was told the moths migrate (south I think) and will pass through Sydney during this time period.
And other insects will make their appearance soon too. The cockroaches, especially in the evenings, are all over the place. Again, not very intelligent type compared to their Singaporean cousins. Some crawl lazily across your path as if asking to be flattened.
So I usually do carry out the coup-de-grace.
Again, try not to imagine.
But this is not a complaint post. I am just SO glad my final winter in Sydney is over. Now to get my final Spring here over and done with.
202 days to go.
The houseflies here are much bigger than those in Singapore. And they are everywhere. Yes, I mean EVERYWHERE. It is hard to imagine there being so many houseflies in the city area but there are! The species here are also of lower intelligence compared to their Singaporean cousins. The Singaporean ones are smart enough to fly AWAY from you (and towards food) but the Aussie ones actually fly TOWARDS you. Going especially for your ears, nose and mouth.
Eewwww!!! Try not to imagine.
One of my Australian lecturers explained how the Aussie accent or drawl came about. In the outback where the houseflies are really swarming (and still flying towards you), the people try to speak without opening their mouth. Try speaking English that way and you have the Aussie accent, he said.
And the houseflies here seem to operate only between certain temperature ranges. My rough gauge is 24-28 degrees. Outside of this range, they disappear. I have no idea where to. During Spring, the temperature can vary quite a lot from day to day, so it is not unusual to have a fly-free day today and flies-out-for-picnic day the next.
Oh, and houseflies are the reason for the "Australian wave". For the next six months or so, if you see some Australian minister getting interviewed outdoors on TV, watch out for it. *Grin*
The most irritating thing about houseflies is when they find their way into the house but can't find their way out. So there is a constant buzzing sound and from time to time, they will do that flying towards me stunt again. I usually get so irritated that I end up killing them.
I employ the physical method.
Try not to imagine.
The other funny thing about the houseflies here is they don't appear during Autumn, even during their optimal operating temperature range. Indeed, my favourite time of the year in Sydney is the end of February to maybe the beginning of April. Temperature range is agreeable. The days are still reasonably long. And NO houseflies.
The moths are pretty OK in comparison on the irritation scale. Some of the moths I've seen here are HUGE. I was told the moths migrate (south I think) and will pass through Sydney during this time period.
And other insects will make their appearance soon too. The cockroaches, especially in the evenings, are all over the place. Again, not very intelligent type compared to their Singaporean cousins. Some crawl lazily across your path as if asking to be flattened.
So I usually do carry out the coup-de-grace.
Again, try not to imagine.
But this is not a complaint post. I am just SO glad my final winter in Sydney is over. Now to get my final Spring here over and done with.
202 days to go.
posted by Acey Deucey at 7:58 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home