Didjaever shoo a fly away from your food or your face or whatever, only to have the multi-eyed little bastard buzz back all the more? And it’s not just flies — mosquitoes, yellowjackets, Republicans — whatever sort of pest it is gets more persistent the more you chase it away. Well, it’s not your imagination, it’s SCIENCE!
Scientists at Caltech studied how flies and other insects can be antagonized by being chased away from something they want. In fact, they discovered that just puffing air at flies was enough to jazz them up into a Hulk-like raging fury, and they believe that humans behave in the same way. The whole thing relates to the production of dopamine in the brain and the disruption of neurotransmitters causing hyperstimulation and ultimately aggressive behavior.
Personally, I have stopped just shooing flies away and have moved on to the electric fly swatter, which may not rile them up but sure does burn their ass if I hit them! What do you mean that’s a little aggro?
