How to Control Flies in Your Home and Yard

How to Control Flies in Your Home and Yard Whats a barbecue or picnic without a few flies, right? Wrong. The flies you nonchalantly swat from your burger and coleslaw can make you sick. These flies, known as filth flies, make a living off animal feces and garbage. Flies pick up all manner of nasty bacteria, then transport the disease-causing organisms right to your food. Take a few measures to control flies in your backyard and your home, and youll be healthier for it. What Are Filth Flies? Filth flies carry disease-causing organisms and can be a threat to public health. These flies breed in bacteria-laden environments, such as feces, carrion, and human food waste, often in close proximity to humans or domesticated animals. Filth flies include some of our most common fly pests - house flies, fruit flies, green bottle flies, stable flies, and several others. A single house fly can carry over one million bacteria. No less than 60 different diseases can be transmitted by filth flies, from salmonella to dysentery. Most filth flies can reproduce quickly in warm weather. To keep fly populations under control, you must limit the places where they can breed and feed. Good Sanitation Practices Theres nothing a filth fly likes less than proper sanitation. Adult flies need a place to lay their eggs, and a clean home and yard just wont appeal to mama fly. Heres how to keep flies from breeding in or near your home. Clean up all pet and animal feces promptly. Any fresh, moist animal feces will draw flies. To keep flies from breeding in your dogs business, either bury it immediately or use a pooper scooper and plastic bag to remove and seal the feces. Place the bagged waste in a lidded garbage can.Dispose of kitchen scraps and other organic waste properly. When it comes to food waste, the drier the better. Drain any moisture you can from it before throwing it away. Scrape your plates or other leftovers into a plastic garbage bag, tie the bag shut, and put it in a garbage can with a tight fighting lid.If you save kitchen waste for your compost heap, add some sawdust to your scrap bin to help absorb moisture and odors that might attract flies. If your compost pile does not heat up sufficiently, those kitchen scraps may attract breeding flies. Turn your compost pile regularly, and dont put meats or animal waste in your compost bin.Garbage cans and dumpsters are favorite breeding areas for flies. You can significantly reduce fly populations by keeping lids tightly closed on your trash cans, and making sure the cans have no holes. All garbage within the can should be bagged and tied closed. Dont forget to put your garbage out for collection regularly. Its not a bad idea to scrub out your cans now and then, to remove any food or pet waste residue. Recycling cans also attract some filth flies. Rinse empty soda cans, beer bottles, and pet food cans before tossing them in the recycling. If possible, use a lidded recycling container.If you have fruit trees in your yard, pick up any fruit that falls on the ground. Fermenting or overripe fruit provides just the right combination of moist and sweet to attract flies.Indoors, take care not to overwater your houseplants. Prune and discard of any dying plant parts. Fungus gnat larvae feed on fungi that develop in moist soils and on decaying plant matter. Physical Controls Following all the sanitation rules above will significantly reduce, but not completely eliminate, flies in your yard and home. You can further limit the numbers of these unhealthy pests by using appropriate barriers and traps. Install and maintain tight-fitting window screens. Check your screens for holes or tears, and repair them as needed. Caulk and seal any openings around windows, doors, or in your foundation.Sticky flypaper does work but is most useful when fly populations are low. If youve followed all the steps to limit breeding sites, hanging a few sticky flypaper traps will do the trick on the few that wander into your home. Still, you might not like having a ribbon of dead flies hanging from your ceiling.Commercially available fly traps work well, especially for house flies. Traps usually contain some kind of food bait, sometimes in combination with a pheromone. Place fly traps where you see the most flies. Pesticides Pesticides are available to control flies, but should never be used as the first line of defense against them. Proper sanitation is the best way to keep flies to a minimum. Follow sanitation guidelines, install good window screens, and use traps when needed. You should rarely if ever, need to use a chemical pesticide on flies.

Pros and Cons of Earning a Masters Degree Before a PhD

Pros and Cons of Earning a Masters Degree Before a PhD As a potential applicant to graduate school you have a great many decisions to make. The initial decisions, such as what field to study, may come easily. However, many applicants struggle with choosing what degree to pursue, whether a master’s degree or PhD is right for them. Others know what degree they want. Those who choose a doctoral degree sometimes wonder if they should first complete a master’s degree. Do you need a master’s degree to apply to a doctoral program? Is a master’s degree an essential prerequisite for gaining admission to a doctoral program? Usually not. Does a master’s degree improve your odds of admission? Sometimes. Is it in your best interest to earn master’s before applying to PhD programs? It depends. Pros and Cons of Earning a Master's Before Applying to PhD Programs There are both advantages and disadvantages to earning a master’s before applying to PhD programs. Below are some of the pros and cons: Pro:  A master’s degree will introduce you to the process of graduate study. Without a doubt, graduate school is different from college. This is especially true at the doctoral level. A master’s program can introduce to you the process of graduate study and help you understand how it is different from undergraduate study.  A master’s program can help you make the transition to graduate school and prepare you for making the transition from college student to graduate scholar.   Pro:  A master’s program can help you see if you are ready for doctoral study. Are you ready for graduate school? Do you have the right study habits? Are you motivated? Can you manage your time? Enrolling in a master’s program can help you see if you have what it takes for success as a graduate student – and especially as a doctoral student. Pro: A master’s program can help you see if you are interested enough to undertake a PhD The typical college survey courses present a broad view of a discipline, with little depth. Small college seminars present a topic in more depth but it will not come close to what you will learn in graduate school. It is not until students are immersed in a field that they truly come to know the depth of their interest. Sometimes new grad students realize that the field is not for them. Others complete the master’s degree but realize that they have no interest in pursuing a doctorate. Pro: A masters may help you get into a doctoral program. If your undergraduate transcript leaves much to be desired, a master’s program may help you improve your academic record and show that you have the stuff that competent graduate students are made of. Earning a master’s degree shows that you are committed and interested in your field of study.  Returning students may seek a master’s degree to obtain contacts and recommendations from faculty. Pro: A master’s degree can help you change fields. Are you planning on studying a different field than your college major? It can be hard to convince a graduate admissions committee that you are interested and committed to a field in which that you have little formal experience. A master’s degree can not only introduce you to the field but can show the admissions committee that you interested, committed, and competent in your chosen field.   Pro: A master’s degree can offer a foot in the door to a particular graduate program. Suppose you hope to attend a specific graduate program. Taking a few graduate courses, nonmatriculated (or nondegree-seeking) can help you learn about the program and can help faculty learn about you. This is even more true for master’s students. In many graduate programs, master’s and doctoral students take some of the same classes. As a master’s student, you’ll have contact with graduate faculty – often those who teach in the doctoral program. Completing a thesis and volunteering to work on faculty research can help faculty get to know you as a competent and promising researcher. A master’s degree might offer you a foot in the door and a better chance of gaining admission to the department’s doctoral program. However, admission is not guaranteed. Before you choose this option, be sure that you can live with yourself if you don’t gain admission. Will you be happy with a terminal master? Con:  A master’s degree is time-consuming. Typically a full-time master’s program will require 2 years of study.  Many new doctoral students find that their master’s coursework doesn’t transfer. If you enroll in a master’s program recognize that it will likely not make a dent in your required doctoral coursework. Your  PhD  will likely take an additional 4 to 6 years after earning your master’s degree. Con:  A master’s degree is usually unfunded. Many students find this a big con: Master’s students usually do not receive much funding. Most master’s programs are paid for out-of-pocket. Are you prepared to potentially have tens of thousands of dollars of debt before you begin your PhD.?  If you choose not to seek a doctoral degree, what employment options accompany your master’s degree? While I’d argue that a master’s degree is always of value for your intellectual and personal growth, if the salary-return of your degree is important to you, do your homework and think carefully before enrolling in a master’s program prior to seeking your PhD. Whether you seek a master’s degree before applying to doctoral programs is a personal decision. Also recognize that many PhD programs award master’s degrees along the way, typically after the first year and completing exams and/or a thesis.