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12
Jul
2017
When summer comes, we throw open our doors and windows. Flies love us. Especially when I neglect to close a screen door behind me.
The other day, I spotted a house fly feasting on crumbs of breakfast cereal left on a kitchen counter. He seemed pre-occupied with his meal. I found the flyswatter, sneaked up on him, and whap! One flat housefly!
Then immediately I felt guilty. I remembered – or vaguely thought I remembered – that 50 years ago Mao Tse Tung had decreed that the Chinese people should kill flies. And they did. So effectively that they almost caused the extinction of tree swallows.
I wondered if I might be similarly harming some Canadian species when I swatted that housefly.
Categories: Soft Edges
Tags: Mao Tze Tung, houseflies, sparrows, Four Pests campaign