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Handle Your Inside Pet & Pest Woes With These Four Gadgets

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It is bad enough that we often have to deal with pests, critters and insects outside the home, but indoor pest troubles can be far worse. Once certain types of insects and critters settle into your home’s floors, walls, or other areas, costly and often invasive procedures may be needed to fully rid the home of them and repair any lost damage. In addition to this, household pets can also harbor certain types of pests and independently cause havoc when we are not present. If you are in the market for indoor pest and pet solutions, then continue reading to find out more about four gadgets that can assist.

Telescoping Insect Zapper

Anyone who has insects in the home will love the Telescoping Insect Zapper, a hand-held flyswatter with an electric charge to kill insects without all the mess that traditional swatters would cause. The device uses two AA batteries to zap any and all insects on contact, and can extend up to three feet in length depending on your need for reach. The large zapping head can rotate and pivot in various directions to help you get the best contact with any and all insects. Currently available for just $20, the Telescoping Insect Zapper is a clean and chemical-free solution for indoor pest control.

CatScram

Oh, those crazy cats! They’ll climb anywhere, and in the process, knock things off of shelves, countertops and other areas. The CatScram device is an affordable way to discourage our feline friends from their pursuit of higher and higher places. It emits an ultrasonic pulse that will drive cats crazy; whenever one comes near the device, the sound will cause the cat to leap away from the surface and scurry on its way. Perfect for those who want to condition their cats not to jump onto higher surfaces and areas, the CatScram can be purchased for around $50 through select online retailers.

Bell & Howell Ultrasonic Pest Repeller

The Bell & Howell Ultrasonic Pest Repeller uses a combination of ultrasonic and electromagnetic pulses to deter mice, ants, roaches and other insects from a wide area of the home. You simply plug the device into any wall socket and once activated, it sends a pulse of energy through your home’s wiring to deter pests on an entire floor – up to 1000 square feet! The unit even provides an additional outlet along its side to ensure that it is as minimally invasive as possible. Currently available for around $20, you can find the Bell & Howell unit in stores and online.

Under Hood Animal Repeller

Not only are pests and critters a problem in the living spaces of your home, but they also love to congregate in cooler, darker places – like the garage. The Under Hood Animal Repeller is a great solution that prevents rats and other rodents from crawling into your car’s undercarriage and causing damage to your automobiles. It is activate when it senses movement within the vehicle’s underside and emits an ultrasonic blast to deter them from further movement. Currently available for $30, this anti-rodent device may be one of the cheapest and best investments for your garage and automobiles.

Kevin Ben works at Peregrine, a pest control service in Calgary. He is very tech savvy and he enjoys researching about the latest innovation trends in the market.

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The Things We Learn From Cockroaches!

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No one likes cockroaches. They’re dirty. They’re icky. They’re dirty and icky.

While most of us see absolutely no purpose for these invading pests, scientists have begun to apply principles of nature to the study lab. For years scientists have struggled to perfect the workings of human robotics. Meaning, they could develop a robotic hand to grab a coffee mug off a table, but it couldn’t grab it that well. It could never pick up that mug in the same way a human hand would. Variables such as weight, size and balance could not be computed fast enough that a robot could compensate for those unknown and changing variables fast enough. What if that same robotic hand went from picking up a 10 pound bag of potatoes to a 2 ounce campaign glass? How would it decipher how much force and leverage to use to pick up both items in a safe and efficient manner?

Robotic Hand (Credit: William Sacco, Yale University)

Inside Science New Service tells us that professor Robert Full from UC Berkeley began studying the walking mechanics of cockroaches almost 30 years ago. His studies and findings over those years have recently influenced scientists Robert Howe (Harvard) and Aaron Dollar (Yale) as they have begun to redesign their version of a robotic hand. Cockroaches are able to travel at higher speeds (relatively speaking) along very uneven surfaces. The actual mechanics of their legs, working in unison, help compensate for bumps along the road.

So as Howe and Dollar have taken a special interest in our dirty and icky little friends, let’s not forget that even cockroaches can show us a thing to two.