ET Pest Control (Bat targeting system)

We recently moved to the central northwoods of Wisconsin to a cabin converted into a home in the middle of the woods. Moving from the suburbs of Chicago, the only thing that worried me about the change in scenery would be the almost guaranteed mice problem. Mice as critters don't frighten me. They're cute in pet stores, but when I see or hear one in my HOUSE and I'm not expecting it, the surprise absolutely scares me to death and makes me feel like I can't be at ease in my own home (a terrible feeling).Anyhow, after doing many hours of research online, I found out about the peppermint oil trick, using copper mesh and caulk to stuff up obvious entryways, using a rodent-deterring pepper-based spray that I bought here on Amazon, keeping food in airtight containers and/or refrigerated (no more cookies on the countertop!), and keeping your house free of crumbs. I now have a mouse-fighting "action pack" containing all of the above items.One thing I didn't immediately buy was a high-frequency electronic sound repeller (such as the ET Pest Control System) since I had read many reviews that said these gadgets were hit-and-miss and more frequently than not didn't do squat. I mean, who wants to waste money on something that doesn't work?Even after all this prep, last month (mid-August), we saw our first mouse in the house. Totally disappointing especially since I had such high hopes in the peppermint oil. After we chased him out and sealed that entry hole, we started hearing SCRATCHING from within the walls! It would go on and off throughout the day, sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes in the family room. It seemed that for the moment they couldn't get into the house but from the persistent scratching noises, it sounded like they were trying really hard to bust through. We placed several peppermint oil balls (and sprayed peppermint oil/water mix PLUS sprayed the pepper spray) next to the walls with the scratching but this did not deter the inter-wall rodents at all. Didn't even phase them - they just kept gnawing and scratching away.After the first few days I caved in and started reading reviews about the ultrasonic deterrent gadgets. This particular device had better reviews than most and I really liked that the company's owner took time to respond to less-than-perfect feedback here on Amazon. I made the choice to order this device.When it arrived in the mail, I had been hearing those scratching sounds in the wall earlier that day. I plugged this unit in on a floor-level outlet in the kitchen facing the most active mouse-scratching wall. After that day, I haven't heard any scratching sounds from within the walls. Not a peep. Totally amazed. Granted, it's only mid-September now so we'll see if it keeps up its performance when it gets colder outside. I'd like to order a second unit just in case this first one ever fails, but it appears they're out of stock here on Amazon. Hoping the company is still in business.PERTINENT NOTES: Our home is 950 sq. ft. in a forested, rural area in northern WI (nearest neighbor is about 1/2 mile down the road). Our one unit is plugged into a floor-level outlet facing the previously most active wall. Since this item didn't ship Prime, it did take a while to receive it in the mail. My settings on the unit are per manufacturer's suggestions for rodents: Range: Low; Pitch: Variable; Output: Continuous. When I am in the kitchen I can faintly hear the high-pitched sounds it's emitting but it's a small price to pay for no mice!UPDATE Nov. 19 2014 - We actually bought a second unit to supplement the first one to ensure full directional coverage across the house because we started hearing scratching from within a different wall. Ever since the second unit powered on, no mice sounds, no mice in the house! Would whole-heartedly recommend these units to anyone suffering from mouse problems. We live in the middle of the woods and made it through autumn without having any mouse problems! That's unheard of!Interesting side note: To be proactive, we set out regular UN-BAITED snap traps along the perimeter outside our house in areas where we thought they may be getting in (we are on a slab). During the late fall months, we'd catch about 1 mouse a day in them, totaling about 20 mice since we started doing this. The ultrasonic pest control definitely keeps them OUT of the house, but doesn't seem to penetrate through exterior walls.UPDATE March 12 2015 - We did have two mice (one mouse, one vole) make it into our home during the winter months, both of which we saw upon entry (we heard them moving around in the attic first) and we were able to snap trap them immediately. Not sure why those two chose to enter our home with the two sonic devices on. Perhaps they were desperate or deaf? I still think that the devices have greatly deterred many mice from making the effort to enter our home and I plan on buying another one of these devices for our garage once we have power setup in that building.I mentioned previously that I was able to faintly hear the high-pitched sounds coming form the device. If you switch it to Pitch: Fixed instead of Pitch: Variable, it won't make the audible high-pitched sounds. My guess is the higher pitch noise would be the sound that deters bugs vs rodents.We made the choice to keep the Output set to Continuous instead of Intermittent. The manufacturer's documentation states that after running it on Continuous for a few weeks you can choose to switch it to Intermittent to save on energy. Not sure if this would help/hurt our mouse control results.

The box this product comes in, that font, the font color, and that cheesy-looking looking drop shadow are about the only things wrong with this product. Basically, this product looks silly. However, if you are wondering if this product works on bats, I can confirm that it does.I had a major night roosting bat problem on my front porch area. I've tried everything short of going out and buying a BB gun to shoot them (yes, I know that's illegal) or paying someone $500 to remove them. I mean, bats are great at eating the bugs that annoy us, which I'm all for, but bats don't belong in or around our homes in areas where they can create biological hazards. Their droppings were everywhere on my front porch and I've tried every home remedy and researched the problem extensively. The main issue I kept running into with my research is that most "solutions" to bat problems involve them getting into the home itself and then the home owner does an "exclusion" where they can get out but not back in and then the entry point is sealed up. Those solutions won't work in an open-air, front porch, night roosting scenario.So I ran into this device here on Amazon and had some money from some gift cards that someone gave me, so I figured, "Why not? I've tried everything else." The device arrived way ahead of when it was supposedly going to. I had seen about 15 to 20 bats night roosting on my porch the night before. I set up this device exactly as per the instructions and made sure it was in an optimal area for maximum coverage. I was dismayed to learn that it would take several weeks to get rid of my problem. Bats are semi-intelligent...I've discovered that they will poop on anything they don't like to send a message. I forgot to turn on a light one evening during one of my attempts to get rid of them and woke the next morning and the light was completely covered in bat guano but the ground was clean. The bats were exacting revenge for my attempt at ruining their night roosting place with a bright light. This device is plugged in to just run continuously. My main concern was that the dogs in my neighborhood would start barking up a storm and I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Fortunately, that hasn't happened. If anything, the dogs have been surprisingly quiet - maybe the bats were the cause of all the barking - so now that the bats are gone the dogs have nothing to bark at?What did happen is that the first night this device was up and running, I poked my head out and saw that annoying colony of bats just chilling out as usual (and pooping) but they seemed quite a bit agitated. So I tested that theory, threw on my shoes, and I stepped outside. As soon as I stepped outside, they ALL took off. Usually a few stubbornly hang around after that. The surprising thing is that I haven't seen a single bat or new droppings anywhere since then. Annoy them + one good scare = gone for good? Time will tell but I'm pretty sure this system is doing its job.My only remaining concerns are in regards to waterproofing and the summer heat. The device is outside and, while it is under a porch roof and therefore somewhat protected, it is still more exposed to the elements than if it were indoors. I seriously doubt rain will actually ever reach it, but moisture in the air might condense on the device. The summer heat can reach over 120 F. So there is the possibility of fried circuits and melted plastic in my near future.Supposedly humans can't hear this device. However, I am able to hear the circuitry itself change pitch as it emits its sounds. It isn't particularly loud to me as I have to be pretty close to hear it. However, I have very sensitive ears and can hear sounds many people my age (and younger) cannot.That all said, this device worked to remove my bat problem in under 24 hours. Your mileage may vary.

It just didn’t work. I had it for several weeks but at the end I had to seal some spaces with a net. So that was my experience with this thing and bats.