If you’re a citizen of the US, you likely understand how big of a pain black flies can be, because once late summer hits, they become a plague. We have them here in Ohio, but when I lived in Colorado, they were insane and everywhere, and no matter what I did, they would just keep multiplying. Fly swatters aren’t the easiest way to take care of a pest like the fly, but there is an easier way. A way that’s more humane than poison or gas, and way less grueling, disgusting work than a swatter. And a whole heck of a lot more fun.
The folks over at Bug-A-Salt created a handheld gun that can be used to take care of flies. It reminds me of a super soaker or nerf gun, but it doesn’t use water or foam ammo; it uses basic, ordinary table salt for ammo. Sounds wild, right? Well, it’s true, and to be honest, it’s a lot of fun.
I’ve always had a special place for life, especially animals, and while I can’t say I’ve never hurt a fly, I have, however, never hurt an animal and never will for as long as I can help it. My appreciate for wildlife is something that draws me to the woods, and is why I love to spend my time in the wilderness, surrounded by the natural world. But when I’m at home, and I’m plagued with hundreds of black flies, there’s something that happens inside me. A sort of agreement, or a reckoning, more like. My eye twitches and I realize I’ve had enough, and I go on a swatter rampage. By the end of it, I’m cursing, and have maybe snagged one or two actual flies. And so the summer months come to an end, while I’ve developed a permanent twitch and constantly feel like there’s a fly crawling up my leg. It’s not a pretty sight.
So when I tried the Bug-A-Salt 2.0, I thought long and hard about how I felt about it ethically, and to be honest, it’s not perfect, by any means. But as I said, it’s not poison. And for that, I am thankful. The Bug-A-Salt is truly a more humane way of dealing with pests in the home. I’m all about catching a spider and releasing him outside, and the same goes for rodents where possible, but with flies, it’s near impossible to let them out a window or front door without attracting more inside.
The Bug-A-Salt is the ultimate evolution of the fly swatter. What makes it so great is that it uses table salt, and it’s a lot of fun to use. Simply fill it with salt and pump it, and aim. No batteries are required, and with each fill up, you can take around eight shots. They’ve gone as far as to add a pop-up sight indicator to help you aim. It’s actually quite easy to hit your intended target, because you can hold it a foot or more away from the fly, and as long as your aim is decent, you will almost always hit the target.
I’ve always had a special place for life, especially animals, and while I can’t say I’ve never hurt a fly, I have, however, never hurt an animal and never will for as long as I can help it. My appreciate for wildlife is something that draws me to the woods, and is why I love to spend my time in the wilderness, surrounded by the natural world. But when I’m at home, and I’m plagued with hundreds of black flies, there’s something that happens inside me. A sort of agreement, or a reckoning, more like. My eye twitches and I realize I’ve had enough, and I go on a swatter rampage. By the end of it, I’m cursing, and have maybe snagged one or two actual flies. And so the summer months come to an end, while I’ve developed a permanent twitch and constantly feel like there’s a fly crawling up my leg. It’s not a pretty sight.
So when I tried the Bug-A-Salt 2.0, I thought long and hard about how I felt about it ethically, and to be honest, it’s not perfect, by any means. But as I said, it’s not poison. And for that, I am thankful. The Bug-A-Salt is truly a more humane way of dealing with pests in the home. I’m all about catching a spider and releasing him outside, and the same goes for rodents where possible, but with flies, it’s near impossible to let them out a window or front door without attracting more inside.
The Bug-A-Salt is the ultimate evolution of the fly swatter. What makes it so great is that it uses table salt, and it’s a lot of fun to use. Simply fill it with salt and pump it, and aim. No batteries are required, and with each fill up, you can take around eight shots. They’ve gone as far as to add a pop-up sight indicator to help you aim. It’s actually quite easy to hit your intended target, because you can hold it a foot or more away from the fly, and as long as your aim is decent, you will almost always hit the target.
Now, you’re probably curious what happens to the flies?! Well, they are struck with the salt and simply fall limp. It is the force of the blow that does them in, rather than the affect of the salt itself. The only bad part is that after some quality time shooting, you will want to run the sweeper, because salt will sit on the window cills and gather along the floor. All in all, I like the Bug-A-Salt 2.0 gun, as it’s affective and entertaining. I don’t suggest using it on any other sorts of animals or bugs, but only if you have an infestation, or plague, where they shouldn’t be. The pros are that it’s non-toxic and inexpensive, and have I mentioned fun?
Bug-A-Salt has made a unique product to help against a yearly problem, but they haven’t lost their humor about it. The box that comes with the gun is full of funny sayings, logos and fly facts, but on their website they take it a step further by offering shirts and other gear, too. I found their evolution shirt to be hilarious: monkey plagued by flies evolves into man, who is also plagued by flies, and as he evolves, his technique evolves, causing the flies to thin. And so we’ve moved from a rolled up newspaper to a swatter, and finally the Bug-A-Salt. It’s brilliant.
If you would like to find out more about Bug-A-Salt, click here.
Article written by Brandon Scott / Eye & Pen
Bug-A-Salt has made a unique product to help against a yearly problem, but they haven’t lost their humor about it. The box that comes with the gun is full of funny sayings, logos and fly facts, but on their website they take it a step further by offering shirts and other gear, too. I found their evolution shirt to be hilarious: monkey plagued by flies evolves into man, who is also plagued by flies, and as he evolves, his technique evolves, causing the flies to thin. And so we’ve moved from a rolled up newspaper to a swatter, and finally the Bug-A-Salt. It’s brilliant.
If you would like to find out more about Bug-A-Salt, click here.
Article written by Brandon Scott / Eye & Pen
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