Remember those dangling death boxes which you used to see behind food counters in food markets? You know – the hanging cage things with a UVB light inside them which attracted pesky insects to their doom. Well, some very smart individuals have realised that the same technology in hand held form may be used as a high quality deterrent (we use the word “deterrent” in much the same sense that the governments of First World countries talk about nuclear submarines) against all types of flying annoyance. The battle for the summer season night has just been accompanied by the weapon to end all weapons, the Doomsday Device of the insect community – the electronic fly swatter zapper. It’s compact, you can hold it in your hand, and it’s made to provide a deadly dosage of electrical power to any bug which you swat with it. All you need to do is arm it (it looks like a small tennis racket, and it has a little button on the handle that charges the “strings”), swat it, and listen with barely concealed glee to the crackling sounds of some other airborne biting thing biting the very last thing it will ever taste. A perfectly charged expanse of electric mesh. One well aimed slap from this bad boy and you will get all of the serenity you would like.
Put that way, the electronic fly swatter zapper appears a lot more like a toy created by a vicious minded kid than a real piece of equipment. It’s not – a toy, that is – though it has to be declared that the fulfillment acquired from playing Angel of Death to nature’s most irritating critters is rather large. There is, needless to say, a genuine electric charge involved here: so, fun though it may be, your bug zapper is no tool for the kids in the household. A direct hit from one isn’t going to cause anyone any lasting damage (unless they’re a fly) but it still won’t be pleasant – and the last thing you need, if you’re searching for that evening peace so rudely shattered by mosquito wings, is an electronic fly swatter zapper incident involving an inquisitive, rapidly followed by a screaming, kid. Keep the thing well out of reach and use sparingly (preferably when the kids are not around, which really should be fine at night) and you are going to enjoy a long time of fun, er, effective insect zapping, as a result. This summer time, your garden is actually yours.
