Mosquito Devices

[Lunar Scorpion]

Hard to hear from Porlock to be honest, and thats from a teenager. Its above the co-op store at Bodmin, you can see it, its not normally on, but sometimes during the day it is and at the weirdest of times.

Some days around 12-2 the things on, and it doesn't make sense because there aren't groups hanging around, just people buying there dinner and leaving. It is an irritating noise, but from the other end of those shops it can barely be heard (by anyone I know) so I'm suprised you can hear it from Porlock.

Found it funny once two builders were at the cash point, there was about 4 of us cringing at the high pitched noise, and this builder was giving us the weirdest look ever, any way he turned around and his mate (who must have been mid 30s atleast) was cringing too, which is when he told him that it was one of the dispersing alarms.

I'm sure they wouldn't be that effective, because you can put up with it after a few minutes of standing there as you get used to it. Note; don't associate me with any groups of kids hanging around, I mean from the point of view of waiting for my mates to walk out of the co-op or bakery!

I'm talking about one coming from an actual house on Porlock (to the right as you turn out of Bodmin) - it goes on and off over a few seconds.

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

The reason I started this thread is because I was delivering leaflets for one of the county council election candidates down Porlock Avenue and I heard this really high-pitched, annoying sound that caused me some distress and made it very difficult for me to be in the area several metres around it.

I had suffered the same thing before from that house (except I was walking up the other side of the road going to someone's house with them) but this time I noted the number.

I would be interested to know the number as, although I may rather too elderly to hear it myself, I do have a bat detector and will see if I can set it off and detect it. I wonder if it has a detrimental effect on bats? That would be an offence in itself, if it could be proven.

I'd be interested to know if you could tell me - it's a bit more scientific. See previous post, and if you get to the school you've gone too far!

 

[Gramaisc]

The reason I started this thread is because I was delivering leaflets for one of the county council election candidates down Porlock Avenue and I heard this really high-pitched, annoying sound that caused me some distress and made it very difficult for me to be in the area several metres around it.

I had suffered the same thing before from that house (except I was walking up the other side of the road going to someone's house with them) but this time I noted the number.

I would be interested to know the number as, although I may rather too elderly to hear it myself, I do have a bat detector and will see if I can set it off and detect it. I wonder if it has a detrimental effect on bats? That would be an offence in itself, if it could be proven.

I'd be interested to know if you could tell me - it's a bit more scientific. See previous post, and if you get to the school you've gone too far!

I'll have a go, if I can remember to take it with me at some point. Does it occur at all times, do you know, or just in the evenings? I used to live at 80 Porlock three quarters of the way through the last century, just by the bus-stop at the end of Tiverton.

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

I would be interested to know the number as, although I may rather too elderly to hear it myself, I do have a bat detector and will see if I can set it off and detect it. I wonder if it has a detrimental effect on bats? That would be an offence in itself, if it could be proven.

I'd be interested to know if you could tell me - it's a bit more scientific. See previous post, and if you get to the school you've gone too far!

I'll have a go, if I can remember to take it with me at some point. Does it occur at all times, do you know, or just in the evenings? I used to live at 80 Porlock three quarters of the way through the last century, just by the bus-stop at the end of Tiverton.

Well it was about 5pm Saturday (still daytime as far as I'm concerned), and the other time was early hours of a Sunday morning and I was just passing through so that's all I know.

 

[pop80_uk]

Of couse the question is, does it violate the human rights of the gangs of teenagers?

The thing is would this person have put up this device and paid an awful lot of money if there was not a problem? Doubt it...

Human rights, respect.....all have to be earned, they are not a birth right. Also many of the gangs of teenagers I see do not demonstrate many human traits.

I always use the example of burglary, the majority of us are law abiding people who can easily walk down the street without having the urge to attack anyone. However faced with someone in your house, who has broken into your house and it threatening your property and you/your families life then they loose all human rights and anything that happens is fair game. By breaking into your house they immediately loose any right to proclaim human rights, he attacked me first, he injured me more etc. As by the very action of breaking in they cause you to act and behave out of character.

The same can be said of this device, if a group of teenagers are hurling abuse, bricks, whatever at a house and trespassing with the intent of causing maximum distress then the owner should be able to take action to remedy this without cause or effect.

 

[Gramaisc]

You analogy isn't really applicable to this situation. These devices affect all susceptible people - both guilty and innocent. There could well be perfectly reasonable teenagers living nextdoor and having to put up with this all the time. Punishing the innocent because it's the only convenient way to punish the guilty is not a suitable reponse. We pay the coppers enough to come round and deal with yobs hurling bricks, surely.

 

[pop80_uk]

We pay the coppers enough to come round and deal with yobs hurling bricks, surely.

Sadly now there are more yobs hurling bricks than there are police to deal with them. It always amuses me when they get arrested on these cop shows and quote "their human rights" they probably have no idea or collation of the nature of these rights, with it just being something they read in yesterdays Sun as a quote.

I do agree with your comments around the reach of this device it could be effecting the innocent. I did think the idea was that it was turned on and off, i.e big group of youths its knocked on, no youths it is turned on. Rather than being on all the time.

 

[db]

Of couse the question is, does it violate the human rights of the gangs of teenagers?

The thing is would this person have put up this device and paid an awful lot of money if there was not a problem? Doubt it...

Human rights, respect.....all have to be earned, they are not a birth right. Also many of the gangs of teenagers I see do not demonstrate many human traits.

I always use the example of burglary, the majority of us are law abiding people who can easily walk down the street without having the urge to attack anyone. However faced with someone in your house, who has broken into your house and it threatening your property and you/your families life then they loose all human rights and anything that happens is fair game. By breaking into your house they immediately loose any right to proclaim human rights, he attacked me first, he injured me more etc. As by the very action of breaking in they cause you to act and behave out of character.

The same can be said of this device, if a group of teenagers are hurling abuse, bricks, whatever at a house and trespassing with the intent of causing maximum distress then the owner should be able to take action to remedy this without cause or effect.

yeah but the point people are making is, everyone who is able to hear this device is being punished, regardless of whether they are perpetrating any crime.. the "infringement of rights" is in reference to the fact that perfectly law abiding people are being subjected to what amounts to auditory torture and asked to put up with it just on the off chance that there may be an unruly element in the vicinity..

it's a bit like the government locking everyone in their house at 20:00 every night and saying it was a necessary precaution to stop anyone who has any ill intent from leaving their house after dark.. i know that's a very silly and extreme example, but you can see what i'm saying..

edit: that being said, if i fell foul of these groups of youths, i'm fairly certain i would be up a ladder like a shot installing these mosquitos all over the place with the little bastards turned up to full power lol..

 

[Florence]

I don't think the point of the device is to "punish" anyone, guilty or innocent. Its an annoyance to people who can hear it. The purpose is to make the traditional haunts of teenage gangs as inhospitable as possible. I agree with pop80_uk. The people who have fitted one on their house have probably been targeted in the past.

I have a problem with cats in my garden. Have just put a couple of "scardy-cat" plants to deter the cats. I'm not shooting the cats with an air gun. I'm just making the garden inhospitable to cats. Similar thing.

And I'll let you all know whether the plants work at some later stage.

 

[darben]

I have a problem with cats in my garden. Have just put a couple of "scardy-cat" plants to deter the cats. I'm not shooting the cats with an air gun. I'm just making the garden inhospitable to cats. Similar thing.

And I'll let you all know whether the plants work at some later stage.

I've got a cat repeller (like a mosquito for cats), it doesn't stop the cats coming in but they sure don't stick around. It really annoyed me having to buy one as it's a lot of money to spend on trying to stop someone else's pet using my garden as a toilet. Solved the problem though!

If the cats that are grieving you are like the one's by us don't be shocked it they dig the plants up and 'p' on them or worse. I'd also stick the plants in pots which I'd suggest moving around every now and again. They get wise to avoiding annoyances and will find detours around.

 

[Gramaisc]

I have a problem with cats in my garden. Have just put a couple of "scardy-cat" plants to deter the cats. I'm not shooting the cats with an air gun. I'm just making the garden inhospitable to cats. Similar thing.

If you're scaring cats out of your garden, then that is one thing. If you're scaring nextdoor's cat out of their garden, then that is quite another matter.

 

[darben]

I have a problem with cats in my garden. Have just put a couple of "scardy-cat" plants to deter the cats. I'm not shooting the cats with an air gun. I'm just making the garden inhospitable to cats. Similar thing.

If you're scaring cats out of your garden, then that is one thing. If you're scaring nextdoor's cat out of their garden, then that is quite another matter.

I'd disagee if her nextdoor neighbours are so disrespecting of their community that they can't be bothered to house train their cat then tough! I'd even go as far to say that such people shouldn't have pets! Cat faeces amongst being highly unpleasant can spread quite serious diseases.

 

[Florence]

Thanks for the cat related advice, guys. No idea who's cat / cats it is, but walking across the lawn is like crossing a minefield (without the death and destruction).

If teenagers were crapping on my lawn I'd probably go further than a mosquito device.

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

Human rights, respect.....all have to be earned, they are not a birth right.

Actually, I think you'll find that Human Rights are a birth right...

 

[Gramaisc]

Actually, I think you'll find that Human Rights are a birth right...

But not for cats, apparently...

 

[The Stafford Beast]

I disagree with the concept of the mosquito devices because of the innocent people who are affected by the noise.

My neighbour has a cat 'mosquito' to stop my cat being anti-social to the birds in his garden. It only goes off when my cat walks past the sensor, which is good, as I can just about hear it myself.
I suffer from Tinnitus from time-to-time. I had a hearing test once and they said my hearing is above average, despite the Tinnitus.
Gramaisc and Florence will disagree with me, although in pubs I tend to hear everything, where the background noise drowns out the people's voices I'm trying to listen to. You'd think I'm hard of hearing!

Regarding pitch/noise generator computer programs - try and find out if your speakers are high enough quality to generate the extreme frequencies you're trying to play. Sometimes if you have cheapo speakers, you may hear the pitch, but it is actually lower/higher than it supposed to be as the speaker cannot produce it. Sometimes the sound goes out of phase and reverberates at a frequency possibly an octave higher/lower.

Is there such thing as an adult version of the deterrent which could be used to disperse crowds at riots etc? Also still as questionable, surely it would be worth inventing as an alternative the police could use instead of causing deaths (such as at the recent G20 protests).

 

[tek-monkey]

Yeah, but how would a cop hit you with one? You're ruining their protest fun, which is probably aganst their human rights!

 

[Rikki]

Thanks for the cat related advice, guys. No idea who's cat / cats it is, but walking across the lawn is like crossing a minefield (without the death and destruction).

If teenagers were crapping on my lawn I'd probably go further than a mosquito device.

I know how annoying this is I have exactly the same problem. Made worse by the fact I frequently see next doors cat stroll over purely to do it business.

 

[Gramaisc]

I know how annoying this is I have exactly the same problem. Made worse by the fact I frequently see next doors cat stroll over purely to do it business.

I believe that the material in question still belongs to the cat's owners and, therefore, perhaps you should be returning it to them. Keeping it may constitue 'theft by default'. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Rikki]

This has occurred to me, I doubt the neighbours would see it that way though.