UK gardening - Re: Possibly OT: Sonic cat deterrent queries (NOT an anti-cat thread)

Author

Re: Possibly OT: Sonic cat deterrent queries (NOT an anti-cat thread)

dave

2005-07-31, 1:21 pm

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:46:55 +0100, Sally Thompson <sallynewsgroup@yahoo.co.uk>
wrote:

>We have two much-loved young cats, originally found abandoned in our
>log store (so please don't start the anti-cat venom). This year we
>were thrilled to find the swallows nesting in our open-fronted
>cartshed garage for the first time. We have watched them building
>their nest, and now feeding their young. As you can imagine, there is
>a conflict of interest here!
>
>We are constantly sending the cats packing from the garage vicinity.
>Apart from the danger to the swallows when they dive-bomb the cats to
>scare them away, we feel it is also distressing them (the birds, not
>the cats), and wondered whether to buy one of these sonic cat scarers
>sited at the front of the garage for use during the swallow-rearing
>season. Can anyone who has one tell me:
>Will it upset the swallows?
>Is it audible to humans?
>What (roughly) is the range? - we don't want to stop the cats going
>outside, obviously.
>
>I would be very glad to have some calm replies!

Sally,
Maplin sell and sonic "Insect" repeller that I bought just for fun to see if
it'd work. It doesn't repell any insects I tried it on. The thing DID work
electronically - I looked at the output on a 'scope and it it generates a nasty
looking square wave that sweeps about 18kHz to 30kHz. At that frequency no
person is going to be aware of it. The power output is very low and doesn't seem
to bother birds either. Cats I haven't tried it on so can't say. My *guess* is
that if it'd bother the cats it'd also bother the birds - *although* the thing
is very directional. This is good for what you want of course. The sound waves
are quickly attenuated in air so range I would say is effectively only a few
feet. You'd also have to get one with a decent power output and I think that
might cost £££. Maybe someone has done some more detailed experimenting - but
from what I've done, as I say, I didn't find them very effective.

I'm off to take a look at your B&B - we like to make the occasional weekend
getaway to somewhere *very quiet* :-) Does your place qualify :-)

Sally Thompson

2005-07-31, 2:21 pm

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:48:12 GMT, dave <dave@127.0.0.1> wrote:

>On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:46:55 +0100, Sally Thompson <sallynewsgroup@yahoo.co.uk>
>wrote:
>
<snip query about sonic cat deterrent>[color=darkred]
>
>Sally,
>Maplin sell and sonic "Insect" repeller that I bought just for fun to see if
>it'd work. It doesn't repell any insects I tried it on. The thing DID work
>electronically - I looked at the output on a 'scope and it it generates a nasty
>looking square wave that sweeps about 18kHz to 30kHz. At that frequency no
>person is going to be aware of it. The power output is very low and doesn't seem
>to bother birds either. Cats I haven't tried it on so can't say. My *guess* is
>that if it'd bother the cats it'd also bother the birds - *although* the thing
>is very directional. This is good for what you want of course. The sound waves
>are quickly attenuated in air so range I would say is effectively only a few
>feet. You'd also have to get one with a decent power output and I think that
>might cost £££. Maybe someone has done some more detailed experimenting - but
>from what I've done, as I say, I didn't find them very effective.
>
>I'm off to take a look at your B&B - we like to make the occasional weekend
>getaway to somewhere *very quiet* :-) Does your place qualify :-)

Very quiet indeed - apart from the noise of the swallows going on red
alert when they see a cat<g>.
Thanks for your reply Dave. I think I'll just have to try one and see
if it bothers the birds at all.

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
bed and breakfast near Ludlow: http://www.stonybrook-ludlow.co.uk
Burne-Jones/William Morris window in Shropshire church: http://www.whitton-stmarys.org.uk

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