The use of electronic repellents is quite debatable. The scientists agree that this is not the most effective means of getting rid of mice and rats. The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists claim that “although mice are easily frightened by strange or unfamiliar noises, they quickly become accustomed to regularly repeated sounds. Ultrasonic sounds, those above the range of human hearing, have very limited use in rodent control, because they are directional and don’t penetrate behind objects”. The scientists’ main argument is that both mice and rats get used to the ultrasound and stop being driven away by it.
But on the other hand, if we take a look at the sales statistics, we’ll see that millions of electronic repellents are sold! And they are Best Sellers in Pest Control Products. Most of the customers are satisfied and leave detailed reviews Many people are afraid of dealing with poisons or having to figure out traps, and so they try to do with natural and safe mice repelling methods.
When we draw up our articles, we try to rely on the scientific opinion. But we have managed to eliminate the rats ourselves very quickly just with the help of an electronic repellent! The rodents left our house within a few days after using it, and never came back.
Perhaps, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. So if you manage to repel the rodents from your house and then you’ll carry out some preventive measures, things will be great. The decision is up to you.
For more helpful info, you may also like to read: How to get rid of Rats!
Or we have more info for Pet-safe Rat and Mouse Poisons.
5 Electronic Pest Control TIPS: How do ultrasonic pest repellers work?
1. Repel or Lure? Repellers vs. Baits
If you have chosen the ultrasonic repeller against rodents, you have to refuse all other ways of “hunting.”
All other baits and traps are to be removed. You can’t repel and lure at the same time. These two ways of elimination are diametrically opposed. Their combined usage will lead to nothing.
Baits with poison don’t add to the repeller’s action, on the contrary, they diminish its effect to zero. Rats (or mice) repelled by ultrasound would have left your rooms long ago if it were not for the attractive smell of food in baits or traps. So you have to use an electronic repeller or a rat bait station, not both.
2. How do Repellers Act on Rodents?
Ultrasound repellers are designed to drive away rodents already present in home, they can’t prevent their appearance.
Rats and mice exposed to ultrasound become shocked and look benumbed at first. They can’t perceive the source of strong discomfort getting on their nerves. They can’t immediately perceive what’s going on, therefore, you may see a rat running around or standing in stupor in the first days of the repeller’s usage.
After a while, rodents begin to understand that something is wrong, and try to leave the zone of ultrasound action. Thus, the time of rodents’ disappearing may take from 3-4 days to 3-4 weeks.
3. Why Doesn’t My Ultrasonic Repeller Work?
If there is no soft furniture, curtains, carpets and other soft things in the room, then the ultrasound can fill all space due to multiple reflecting from walls, ceiling and floor. Where there is soft furniture and other things absorbing ultrasound, the reflected ultrasound will be minimal or absent. If this is the case, you’d better use more powerful ultrasonic repeller. The power supply will compensate the absence of reflected ultrasound in some degree.
4. How Many Repellers are Needed in a Home?
For apartments and smaller houses, one rodent repeller per floor, as well as one in the basement and one in attic will be minimal. A repeller is necessary for every isolated section in the basement. Also, it is necessary in kitchens and bathrooms of apartments (where rodents can enter by means of a stand-pipe). For storage places you should consider the amount of products to determine the number of repellers.
It is a fact that placing repellers where there are shelves with linen sacks filled with food products (i.e. something porous) the ultrasound simply “sinks” into the sacks. If a situation like that has only one repeller, it will act on a very small area around itself. Therefore, the placing of that sort requires several ultrasonic rodent repellers.
5. Off or On?
In accordance with the manufacturers’ opinion, we recommend turning the repellers off immediately after complete disappearance of rodents.
You should understand the principle of driving rodents out of the place where the ultrasonic repeller has been located. It is based on sharp and negative alteration of the living conditions which the rodents have already got accustomed to. Before this sad event has happened in their life, they were safe, calm and confident – well-oriented in the surroundings.
Once the ultrasonic repeller is turned on, everything changes suddenly. An unknown sound irritates and causes a strong discomfort, or even earaches in rats. Now rodents have to avoid rooms exposed to ultrasound and seek new feeding sources in any other place. But the scenario can be quite different if you have placed the repeller for the sake of prevention, before mice appear in your home.
Let’s think. Sometimes customers say that their repeller has stopped working. It has been working and repelling successfully for some initial period, but in a while, mice and rats have returned and stayed forever. They simply don’t care about the repeller.
As a rule, once circumstance becomes evident: even though the rodents had left, the repeller went on working. The device was not turned off. The next family of rodents was likely to move into and settle down. Exposed to ultrasound from the very beginning, they got accustomed to it, and since then, they get on very well. If that was the case, the only way out is to change the repeller’s brand.
