Here you go Mark, I went back in my files & got the whole file of what I posted earlier:
Ultrasonic and Subsonic Devices
I think all of us have, at one time or another, been frustrated by trying to rid our homes of some type of pest. With companion birds in the house we are looking for safe, effective ways to rid and prevent pests and vermin from bothering us.
Every few years a new crop of ultimate remedies and/or devices hits the market. The remedies I don’t know about, but the ultrasonic and subsonic devices, both the battery operated and the ones you plug into an electrical outlet, ARE NOT effective at driving off or preventing the return of the insects or vermin that they claim.
In the 1980s, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission warned companies about deceptive marketing claims for such products. For a while the devices faded from the market, however, a new crop of marketing hypesters are offering their ‘ultimate’ products (2009), for anywhere from $6.99 USD to $699 USD.
What these devices are very good at is separating the buyer from their money, nothing more.
There have been any number of scientific studies, performed by reputable institutions and their findings have been published for all to read, compare and question. The manufacturers and/or marketers of these wonder devices merely offer anecdotal testimony that cannot be tested or verified.
The following are excerpts and conclusions, offered by noted educators and researchers concerning ultrasonic and subsonic pest control devices.
Barb Ogg, PhD, Extension Educator, University of Nebraska-Lincoln has written: “Ultrasonic devices claim to use ultra-high frequency sound waves to chase away birds, bats, rodents and arthropod pests like fleas, cockroaches, silverfish and even spiders.
The consensus of researchers who have actually investigated ultrasonic devices is these products do not effectively repel or eliminate pests from homes.”
Leonard R. Askham, in an article Ultrasonic and Subsonic Pest Control Devices, posted on the Washington State Extension Communications and Educational Support website states: “Testing has also shown that the sounds don’t carry far. About half of the energy is gone in 15 feet. None remains at 30 feet.”
Askham goes on to state: “….. ultrasonics and recently subsonics have been tested extensively in the laboratory and field. These devices don’t work. Animals placed in cages next to the devices continue to live normal lives.”
In a 2006 study Lack of repellency of three commercial ultrasonic devices to the German cockroach, conducted by researchers at the Department of Entomology, Louisiana State. The University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, found that:
“Ultrasound from any of the three devices did not demonstrate sufficient repelling ability against the German cockroach in the tests. The result failed to provide evidence that ultrasonic technology could be used as an effective pest management tool to repel or eliminate the German cockroach.”
A posting on the website of Iowa State University, University Extension, by Donald Lewis, Department of Entomology is titled Ultrasonic Pest Control - Buyer Beware is worth your time to read. To read the Iowa State webpage, simply do a internet search for: Ultrasonic Pest Control - Buyer Beware.
While the devices tested may not have been the particular one that you may be considering, none of them work for what they are supposed to. Spend the money on yourself, your birds or your family instead.
Sorry.....
