Do ultrasonic pest repellers work?
Ultrasonic pest repellers are devices that work as insect and rodent repellents. They emit sounds waves of high frequency and short wavelength, known as ultrasonic sound waves. These sound waves have a high pitch greater than 20,000 Hz that human ears cannot perceive due to cochlea limitations. Nevertheless, animals like cats, dogs, rodents, and most other pests can hear and detect them.
Why are Ultrasonic Pest Repellers Necessary?
Ultrasonic pest repellers primarily work on mosquitoes, cockroaches, bed bugs, fleas, ticks, mice, rats, and flies. They have come into existence to keep the infestation of these insects and rodents under check. It is because they can lead to the development and contraction of several diseases if left unrestrained.
How do Ultrasonic Pest Repellers Work?
Deterring the sense of rodents and insects through the use and application of audible sounds is an age-old strategy. Sound waves of extremely high frequencies supposedly disrupt the perception and intellectual sanity. They also cause a physiological response called audiogenic seizure response, characterized by convulsions, inherent movements, cerebral haemorrhage and even death.
Theories suggest that these ultrasonic sound waves prevent the pests from building nests, gathering food, communicating with each other, and breeding, compelling them to flee. Hence, these repellers make use of high frequency sounds to fend off the pests and their infestations.
Do Ultrasonic Pest Repellers Work?
The idea of ultrasonic pest repellers sounds ideal as they operate without any chemicals, recharging, or demanding methods. However, the question arises- do they work in actuality or is their operation a success merely in theory? The answer lies in the latter statement. The application of these devices has been doubted for a long time and with good reason.
Some studies have discovered that ultrasonic sound waves can cause an increase in body temperature of particular pests and seizures in them. Nonetheless, their practicability in day-to-day life is uncertain. The notion of driving them out with a fever and headache seems dubious. Additionally, the range of these devices is moderately small.
The pests may initially stay away due to the introduction of a foreign object that they find irritable. Nevertheless, over time, the problem of their infestation would gradually recur. It can get owed to the fact that rodents and specific insects are adaptable and resilient.
In 2015, the University of Arizona conducted a study, concluding that the ultrasonic pest repellers were not an effective means of infestation control, although their demand increased. Another research discovered that the activities of bed bugs changed slightly on the application of the devices, but no overall significant statistical differences arose.
The results and effects obtained from the ultrasonic pest repellers are predominately short-lived and limited. For instance, the National Wildlife Research Centre and the United States Department of Agriculture performed a study on the effects of repellent devices on rodents. They found out that the rats and mice ceased response to the ultrasonic sound waves in a mere few days since the beginning of the exposure to them.
Additionally, ultrasonic pest repellers can have the complete opposite effect than the desired ones. A study in the Journal of Vector Ecology states that it can increase the rate and frequency of mosquito bites by more than 50%. They can also have detrimental effects on pets that can perceive the ultrasonic sounds.
