The Cat as Housefly Wrangler

Summer is here in the desert. I can tell: The housefly has landed. You might have felt the impact; it was 4.3 on the Richter scale. The USGS registered aftershocks for three days.

The common housefly, also known as Musca domestica, is on my list of complete and utter annoyances somewhere between the ant and the California State Tax collection office, and was right under the F111 Aardvark for the "ugliest things airborne" award for 1970. As the F111 was retired by the USAF in 1998, the Aardvark is out of the running for the 2010 award, leaving M. domestica as the odds-on favorite.

Unfortunately, our housefly is far from common. Notice I refer to the housefly in the singular. I doubt more would fit in any given room of our house at the same time. Two collided over the highway at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada last week. Traffic was tied up for four hours until someone brought in a skip loader and bulldozer from the dump down the hill (where they are accustomed to sizable housefly settlements).

Unlike us humans, The Cat looks forward to the arrival of M. domestica. Playmate, diversion, a whole host of opportunities. In fact, as I write this, I believe the housefly is giving her a ride around the dining room (I've heard the tinkle of the ceiling light's glass bulb covers a few times as well as several high pitched giggles).

Just yesterday, The Cat coaxed one of her new airborne companions into the master bath where it got caught in the shower stall. We tossed in a few cleaning rags and a spray bottle, and by the time it was done batting around, the chrome sparkled and the walls were pristine. We've considered talking with a couple of them about painting the garage.

As much as she's enjoying this, The Cat knows all good things must come to an end (the sooner the better!), and has begun rounding up her adoring airborne audience slowly, herding them toward the front door. Soon as I can elbow my way past, I'll escort everyone to the front yard, where two or three enterprising M. domestica have been washing and waxing cars whose owners pull off the nearby highway to watch the annual Desert Festival of the Housefly.

(me? bored? no, never. why do you ask?)