As Seen on TV Tuesday: Annoying tone claims to repel Pests. Does it work?

Deer are pretty to watch, but they can destroy your flower beds. And you know the saying, "The only good rat is a dead rat."

No matter the pest, the Ultrasonic Cordless Repeller promises to keep them away from areas you don't want them. Consumer expert Amy Davis asked Channel 2 producer Frank Espinoza to try it out.

Espinoza has five dogs. They aren't pests, but the Cordless Repeller claims to even work on dogs and cats. The device senses movement up to 15 feet away and then emits a high-pitched tone that supposedly scares or annoys the animals so much, they want to steer clear of it.
  
You are supposed to just adjust the dial on the repeller to the tone that works with the pest you want to bug off.  Espinoza set it up in his living room. One of his dogs appeared to run in the opposite direction of the repeller, but she came right back within seconds. The repeller claims to be able keep animals up to 5000 feet away; but that wasn't true in Frank's home.  After a couple of minutes, it was as if the repeller wasn't even there. The dogs walked right past it and even sniffed around it.

"I think the product works at first just as a shock kind of thing, and then they just get used to it and they don't care," Espinoza told Davis.

You can only hear the tone if you put your ear right up next to the device's speaker. Espinoza also tested it outside with the same results.

"I don't know how much it costs, but yeah, I wouldn't spend the money on it," Espinoza said. 

We bought the Ultrasonic Cordless Repeller for $19.99 at Fry's. It also needs six C batteries. 

 


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