The Curse of the March Fly

While we were in Bridgetown, Charlie and I decided to drive to a nearby park to go for a hike. When we stopped at a car park area near some camp grounds, Charlie opened his car door and immediately some enormous green flies entered the car. These flies were seriously nasty and aggressive and we were sure they were eager to bite us if they could. They made a very loud buzzing noise, like wasps or big bees, and dive-bombed our heads and legs. And there weren't just the two or three flies that were actually in the car, there were more on their way. Reacting quickly, Charlie exited the car and shut the door, leaving me inside the car being dive bombed by the flies. I freaked out and jumped out of the car, too, leaving the flies inside. Meanwhile, our car was being swarmed. Dozens of flies were surrounding our car's windshield, hood, bumpers and doors. The flies made an audible crashing noise when they bombarded the car's windshield. It was as though they thought our car was a horse or cow that they could bite. And they were also swarming us. We wondered whether they had a nest or hive or food or something they were trying to protect. We ran away from the car, but flies still followed us. We swatted around us with our hands, legs and big branches we pick up from the ground, in our desperate attempt to not to be bitten. We then realized that our DEET was in the car.

Charlie was a hero twice that day, the first time when he went back into the car to get the DEET. We quickly applied DEET to our exposed skin and even sprayed the car doors to try to get the flies to back off so we could get back in. In the end, the DEET didn't seem to work to keep the flies away at all. They continued their frenzied swarm. In his second heroic act, Charlie jumped into the car, started the engine and took off as quickly as possible to try to get away from the flies. The swarm was undeterred and continued its pursuit of the now speeding car. I ran after them - while manically flailing my arms and legs and waiving a big branch - both to get away from the flies around me and to not be left behind. Finally, I jumped into the car and then Charlie really took off. I then started hunting and killing the flies that were in the car.

Now, all we wanted to do is go for a hike. The forest in that area is very beautiful and has been recommended to us for hiking. So, we drove along a dirt road a kilometer or so to see if that area was free of flies, but, sure enough, it wasn't. I am not sure how many kilometers we had to go to finally be free of them. Miraculously, neither Charlie nor I were bitten once. We were very lucky.

In the end, we gave up all hope of hiking that forest that day. Instead went to the mining town of Greenbushes, where we had a lovely walk on land that a few decades ago was stripped of all vegetation due to mining activity and since then has been replanted and recovering. I did see a fly or two on our Greenbushes hike, and the flies did dive-bomb me, but thankfully not more than one at a time and at well spaced intervals.

We later learned that our attackers are known as the "March fly." They live off the blood of livestock, such as cows and sheep, that are plentiful in the area. They hatch in mid-February and hang around through March, and then promptly go away. So, we happened to visit during the 4-6 weeks out of the year when March flies are a problem. Lucky us.