Applicable thread. The pests aren’t electronic, of course, just the device. I had some experience with these devices in Africa about 15 years ago. The DCM’s (deputy chief of mission) house was surrounded by palm trees that were the home of dozens (at least) of fruit bats. At dusk, these large critters would rise up out of the trees and go hunting. It was quite a sight. During the day, they would roost and chitter incessantly.
Unfortunately, bats are also giant poop machines. They’re a lot like Canada geese in that regard. As a result the DCM’s house and pool were covered with bat shit. An even larger problem occurred during evening parties. Guests were finding unwanted deposits in their food and drink, and a swooping three-foot horror will startle a person, to say the least.
Short of chopping the trees down, nothing discouraged the bats. In desperation, I ordered a box full of electronic devices and had them installed around the perimeter fence at about 30-50 foot intervals. Within a week, all the bats were gone. Now, perhaps they got a better lease rate somewhere else, but it would seem to be more than coincidence. I was an instant hero.
My wife thinks this sort of thing works in the house for spiders, which she has declared war upon. Our house has at least a half-dozen of these things pugged in, and I have to say that we don’t get many spiders in the place. I haven’t seen any tigers lurking in the basement either, so perhaps they work for that, also. I think it’s more a case of her campaign of murder and mayhem on the porches and surrounding areas, and the lack of entry points. I’m sure the electronic squealing is causing brain damage.
I assume those electronic devices emitted some kind of ultrasonic sound.
I can sort of see how something like this might work with bats. Since they use sound (their own ultrasonic squeaks) to “see” in the dark, a confounding sound source might “blind” them. Sort of like very bright lights might blind a person.
The bats aren’t going to want to hang around someplace where they’re blinded.
Honestly, I’ve never seen anything else like those bats taking off at dusk. They take to the sky by the hundreds, and in that west African setting, it was like something out of pre-history. They’re very large (up to six foot wingspan) and in the dim light they look like pterodactyls.
Ah, it is because “angel” = “messenger” and Canada Geese make a godawful mess, you see.
Nah, seriously, I’m keen to hear why this is so important. I mean, it’s one of those little factoids that one knowsand if I had occasion to mention the creatures, I’d be very careful to say “Canada Goose” rather than “Canadian”, but Googling just now gets me some people who like “n” in the name AND even some story about them being named after a Mr. Canada, so I reckon it’s wiser to ask here on the Dope why it is such a shibboleth.
Ah, yes-The “Mr. Canada” answer. Sometimes it’s “Ben Canada”, sometimes it’s “John Canada”, either way the answer is wrong. Carl Linnæus, pretty much the creator of Latin binomial nomenclature back in the 18th century, named the bird Branta canadensis in his great work Systema Naturae. FYI-canadensis means from Canada.
Because the aim is to fight ignorance whenever we’re not engaged in character assassinaion with each other. If something is clearly wrong (as in this case), it’s pointed out and then the person is flogged until he admits that he’s a dirty bastard for even bringing it up. Then he’s pitted for defending himself and hounded unmercifully until he develops a behavioral disorder.
