People want to have power over pests. And if there’s a nifty non-chemical gadget with which the battle can be fought, all the better. There are a lot of cool tools available for the mechanical control part of IPM. Figuring out which set to use for each unique problem is one of my favorite parts of this job. But you only want to put tools that work in your toolkit.
Almost every development I’ve worked in has had residents who sing praises for ultrasonic pest repellers. I'm not going to theorize why residents are convinced they work, but no research has been able to prove that these devices work reliably to get rid of pests. Despite this, there are many makes and models available. And they aren't cheap!
Ultrasonic or electromagnetic devices emit a noise that humans can’t hear, but the target pest can. Supposedly this makes the pest go away. There are ones designed for birds, bats, mice, cockroaches, and even mosquitoes.
Today I was sent the abstract from research by Carlos F. S. Andrade and Isaías Cabrini published in the Journal of Vector Ecology (35 (1): 75-78. 2010) titled, “Electronic Mosquito Repellers Induce Increased Biting Rates in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes.” You read right—not only are they useless, they may increase the risk of biting!
Since we’re on the topic of the Maine state bird—check out NPIC’s insect repellent locater. It has you enter your target pest (tick or mosquito or both) and the time you’ll be outside then it suggests repellent products. http://pi.ace.orst.edu/repellents/.
Another great source for mosquito information is TAMU’s Mosquito Safari: http://insects.tamu.edu/feature/mosquitosafari/index.html
There are auditory repelling devices that DO work for pest control—ones that play distress calls that scare off the target pest. These are used in bird control. In fact, I was sailing last weekend out of a marina that used to have one to deter birds from landing on (and messing up) the boats.
The moral of this story is to look for research before purchasing a pest control device. Or post a comment here and I’ll try to dig up the answer for you!
But what about our residents who are convinced the ones for mice and roaches work? Just referencing research probably won't get you far. Give residents an alternative that works better (and may cost less).
Print off and hand out copies of the Cleaning Supply Shopping List. Download Cleaning Supply Shopping List. Explain that if they spend their $20 on cleaning supplies and use them, they won’t need to repel the pests. The pests won’t have any reason to come in, in the first place.
Ditch the ultrasonic devices and save the outlets for air conditioners and fans. Stay cool this week. As we say in the Northeast, it’s a scortcha!
we are trying to use a bag that looks like a wasp nest to scare away more of the pests and it seems to be working so far.
Posted by: Bruce Mackay | 09/25/2011 at 07:57 PM
There may be other factors at play making the wasps change their routes. I don't know of any published research on these fake nests that are meant to repel. There was a discussion on a national listserv about them a few weeks ago. No one reported that they worked and a number of people had done basic studies that showed that the fake nests had no effect.
Posted by: Allie | 09/30/2011 at 10:13 AM
Almost every development I’ve worked in has had residents who sing praises for ultrasonic pest repellers. I'm not going to theorize why residents are convinced they work, but no research has been able to prove that these devices work reliably to get rid of pests.
Conveyancing solicitors
Posted by: Account Deleted | 02/11/2012 at 01:11 PM
I love how people's desire to find an easy solution extends to pest control as well. Honestly, if people want a desired result, there are rarely shortcuts to get you there...
Posted by: Roseville Pest Control Guy | 03/01/2012 at 12:06 AM
Who knew that such a simple app would be able to do what commercial products do. Are there any noticeable effects of having it on the whole time? Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Pest Control in Miami | 01/30/2013 at 05:42 PM
This is an awesome post. Thanks for the easy solutions. We've been trying to get someone to do rodent control in MA but I might try some natural ways first.
Posted by: Carli | 01/31/2013 at 07:07 PM
Your post is very informative. I have not seen much results in the way of sonic repellers either. Perhaps in the future we will have something that actually works consistently. Pest control is evolving all the time, and willingness to adapt and change to the different species that are being introduced, and product enhancements makes this industry ckhallengin and exciting at the same time.
Posted by: Brian Reynolds | 02/25/2013 at 03:15 PM
It is a great article about to aware the people wasting their money on ultrasonic pest repellers. This article is also very informative and helpful.
Posted by: Exterminator | 12/27/2018 at 01:07 AM
Thank you for the post. keep posting useful information.
Posted by: hpests | 02/19/2019 at 02:37 AM