"Another one bites the dust"

I'm an avid reader of county extension agent Ralph Mitchell's Sunday column in the Charlotte Sun. He not only writes a good column, his material is almost always relevant because he frequently writes about pests and plant diseases that plague the Punta Gorda area.

I need all the help and knowledge I can find to deal with such problems because I am always fighting one thing or another that is attacking the landscape package I put in when I built my house.

You name it, I've got it. My sago was the first to come down with the dreaded new scale from Brazil. My Christmas palms get a fungus every winter. My gardenias all have sooty mold that makes them look like they were raised in a coal mine. I have grubs in my yard that are as big as my little finger. My hibiscus look sick all the time even though I can find no evidence of bugs or disease. I think they may have nematodes chewing on their roots. My liriope ground cover plants haven't grown an inch even though I drive by untended ones around buildings or in highway medians that are 2 feet high.

None of my neighbors seem to worry too much about or suffer from these kinds of problems. This may be a result of the Mike Sherman syndrome. I don't even bother to unplug my computer, TV and stereo equipment during heavy thunderstorms anymore because I know that Sherman's house -- the neighborhood lightning rod two doors down -- is going to be the one that gets hit. He has taken two direct hits and lost one of about everything that plugs into a socket plus a few roof tiles to boot. Maybe the neighbors figure my yard is the equivalent of a bug lightning rod and will attract pestilence like Sherman's attracts lightning.

The recent column Mitchell wrote about roof rats really struck home, though I wish I had read it a couple of years earlier when I first heard scratching noises in my attic and became, of course, the first in my neighborhood to have a rodent-in-the-roof problem.

I looked up the critters on the Internet and didn't like what I found. Seems those little suckers can do major damage if left alone. I followed all the suggestions for getting rid of them, including trying to close any exterior opening that led into the attic. Nothing worked. Finally, one bit through a phone line and shorted out my whole phone system.

At that point, I had had enough and decided to nuke them with rat poison. I got lucky the first few times, and they crawled out of the attic before they died. Unfortunately, the next one died in the attic in a location I couldn't get to. The smell reminded me of the city dump in my home town and lasted almost two weeks.

Then, I got lucky. According to Mitchell, roof rats can roam up to 150 yards from their home den to find food, and my rats started making stops at the house of my good buddy and neighbor across the canal, Marty Tryon.

Marty is a high-tech kind of guy who searches for a high-tech solution to every problem. If he spotted roaches in his garage, he wouldn't just step on them. He would do extensive research and order a black box that emits a high-frequency signal, thus driving them crazy and causing them to jump in his swale and drown.

Marty came through for me. He researched the Internet and found a rat zapper that you place in your attic and bait with a pet food (Meow Mix is recommended) the raunchy rodents can't resist. The device resembles a trap, but it has a platform inside wired to a battery that puts out 30,000 volts. When a rat gets the munchies and strolls in, he gets zapped so fast his eyes are still open afterwards. A diode at the end of a wire hanging through the attic opening lights up to let you know there's a fried rodent to dispose of. Take the box down to the trash can, unload and reload.

Marty's new machine was so successful that he was dumping rats in the trash almost every day for a couple of weeks. The sanitation workers must have thought he was conducting some kind of bizarre scientific experiment in his garage.

Soon, as a result of their migratory proclivities, every roof rat in the neighborhood made a trip to Marty's rat zapper and from there to his trash can. I haven't had a rat since.

The moral to all this -- you can take care of roof rats by encouraging your neighbors to do it. That's a tip Mitchell forgot to mention.

E-mail Gordon Bower at pgherald@sun-herald. com By GORDON BOWER

Punta Gorda Herald Editor

(yes, the Larry Hagman who played J.R. Ewing in Dallas)

July 16, 1999

Dear Scott,

I wanted to thank you for introducing me to the Rat Zapper. Ever since the El Nino rains set in two years ago, the rodent population in the hills surrounding my home has drastically increased. The evidence comes in the form of chewed out wires in our cars and pool equipment electrical wiring. Rats can do a lot of damage. We've spent thousands of dollars on repairs.

Also, we are subject to power outages rather frequently here in Ojai, so we have an electrical generator we use from time to time. One time the power went out and the darn rats figured out exactly which wires they needed to gnaw through to cripple our generator, which left us completely in the dark that night!

We hated the idea of using poison because of the other pets and animals that live in the hills surrounding our home. We purchased some "industrial strength" ultrasound devices to keep the rodents away from the cars, but they had no effect on the rodent population.

When we heard about the Rat Zapper and you described the technology, we were impressed, but skeptical. We wondered why nobody had come up with anything like this before if it was such a good idea. Well, the proof was in the pudding. The Rat Zappers eliminated dozens of mice and rats in the first 30 days. Our grounds' crew also used the remote monitoring system with monitor panel and radio transmitters to ensure that the Rat Zappers they placed around our home were emptied in a timely manner.

Since we received our Rat Zappers, we have had no more black outs and no more car wiring repairs due to rodents. We are going to continue to use the Rat Zappers to keep a check on the rodent population. Thank you AgriZap for finally coming up with the better mouse trap.

Sincerely,

Larry Hagman

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"... compared the Rat Zapper to other methods of rodent elimination finding the Rat Zapper superior in performance... the Rat Zapper is also more humane than other methods of rodent control"

Jeff Ball
Horticultural Advisor
NBC's Today Show

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09/13/2005

From: Tim Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 1:32 PM To: Cynthia Subject: Re: Another pest bites the dust!

Since I caught our house rat I reassigned the Zapper to outside duty. I skipped the pre-baiting and caught an even bigger rat the first night. "Big Mama" barely fit into the trap!

I just lay a trail of food from just outside to the back of the trap. I've caught a rat every night, one during the day and one within 15 minutes of resetting.

Tim

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   09/21/2005 (killed 15 rodents and still counting)

From: Becky ] Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 11:40 AM To: customerservice

... and still counting. I've recommended the RatZapper to anyone who will listen.

Becky

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From: McLane, Michael Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 8:24 AM To: customerservice

Subject: Wow!!!

After 10 years of putting up with mice and rats in our house, garage, office and attic we are finally winning the battle and now can enjoy living in the country.

We have purchased every known rat trap and gadget with little to no success. When my wife brought the Zapper home I was a little angry that she was spending more money on another stupid device. Was I happily wrong!

Within the first few hours she had eliminated 4 mice and 2 rats. After 2 days the count is up to 12. It's now fun to get up in the morning to see how many rats and mice we have eliminated. The rat zapper is amazing and being an engineer, I am very impressed.

I especially appreciate how humane and clean the device is. As much as I hate the rats in the house, I really did hate killing them more. The sticky plates I could not bare, and the poison left dead rats and mice dying in the walls and creating an awful smell for days.

Thank you for such a great device.

Mike Mclane

PS. We've purchased two more zappers and are telling our friends and family.

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From: Annette S. Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 7:36 AM To: customerservice

Subject: Zap those suckers!

I have had a doggie door into my garage for over 10 years, but have never had a problem with unwanted visitors coming in thru it - until now. First, I found a little pile of insulation under my water heater in the garage. Then I found a little wad of that same insulation at the foot of the stairs leading up to my attic. That was when I realized that the little bugger(s) had gotten into the attic/bonus room area thru the small hole where the pipes from the water heater enter the house! Then I saw some droppings on those stairs where there was none just a few days before, so this was a pretty quick invasion. I've never had a mouse or rat problem before and dreaded the thought of conventional traps or baits. Went on-line to see what alternatives there might be and found the Zapper. When I got home that night, I found some droppings in my kitchen at the corner of my stove, so they were INSIDE now - this was war!!

Found a location to purchase it locally, set it up but didn't turn it on until I saw that a piece of the dogfood that comes with it had disappeared. About 12 hours after first putting it out, I turned it on - about midnight. Got up early the next morning and immediately saw that light flashing. Had me a little mousie, which I dumped in a plastic bag and threw away in my outside trash without touching anything! Re-set it and went to work and had another when I got home - large enough that it's ratty little tail was sticking out, so maybe a small rat. Anyway, I keep resetting it in my kitchen and I keep getting them. I don't know if they're somehow getting into the living area of the house from the attic or if I had that many in there with me all along. Gives me chills to think so! Anyway, since I'm still getting them inside, I'm getting another Zapper for the attic, with a rat tale so I can see when I've got one without having to keep going up there to check. Eight so far in as many days, still on 4 regular alkaline batteries. I HIGHLY recommend the Zapper - it couldn't be easier and is very effective.

19 April 2000

Claims regarding products are usually exaggerated; however, in the case of the Rat Zapper, this is not the situation.

In San Francisco, when we used the Rat Zapper, it killed over 80 mice. Six weeks after moving to Anitoch, we discovered mice in our new home. Within four days, the Rat Zapper killed approximately 40 mice and we have since had no further problem.

This product is humane, economical and efficient and we would recommend it without hesitation.

Sincerely,

Myra K. Metz

P.S. Your prospective customers may find it interesting to know that I am blind.

Here's the next testimony...

I grew up in the country on a ranch and the only way to kill rats is with the large spring loaded traps. And we killed a lot of them big guys.

Well, I was child then, and unloading the rattraps gave me something to do during the summer. I now live in the city and once again have a rat problem. To be quite frank with ya, I don't have time to load, set, and unload the rat traps anymore; nor do I want to. So, I thought I?d give the Rat Zapper 2000 a try. The first night I positioned the trap on the roof and inserted the pet food pellets supplied with the trap, but didnt turn it on (according to the directions).

The next morning, all the food was gone. That night I set the food in the trap again, but this time, turned it on. By 8:30 pm, ZAP!, first rat gone- I also use the Rat Tale to easily see if the trap has zapped any rats without having to climb back onto the roof. Disposal is nothing, simple dump the rat into the trash bin, reload with food, turn the switch back on, and you're loaded for bear, once again. The Rat Zapper 2000; it is a Godsend for rat problems. T. Piland

Pacific Grove, CA

Next Testimony...

Just a quick followup to let you know I have a sequel to my rat eradication program. I did move the Rat Zapper to the bottom of the wall and Rat number 2 bit the dust last night.. He apparently did follow the first rat's trail- much small critter than the first but still a rat!!! As a single woman, I always had the struggle and anxiety of having to deal with the mess after they got on the trap not to mention the more intense anxiety of them NOT getting caught in traps I guess it's kind of silly, but I feel a bit at peace with the Rat Zapper.

I trust that it will take care of the critters and once it does, I don't have to see anything gross (well, that tail sticking out from Mr. Big Rat was pretty gross but nothing like what happens in a snap trap or the squeaking and thrashing on sticky trap) I see a blinking light, and can just tilt the trap into the garbage and it's all set up to go again. I never thought I'd be expressing my affection for a rat trap, but I love my Rat Zapper!!! Aloha- Amy

Next Testimony...