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I don’t know if you have ever used a handheld, indoor bug zapper, but I think that they are wonderful. I’m talking about the handheld type that looks like a child?s plastic, toy tennis racquet. They come in two basic sorts. I prefer the rechargeable bug zapper, because batteries end up up costing more than the indoor bug zapper itself, although you could always buy rechargeable batteries, but then they are pricey as well.

My wife and I like to spend time in the garden. We meet friends there, dine there and in general loaf about outdoors, as do most folks around here, when they are not working. Besides, it’s far cooler outside than indoors. A comfy chair, some snacks, a cool drink and a book or a friend and life does not get much better. In fact, it?s idyllic.

That is until about six or seven o’clock when the first squadron of mosquitoes have judged that the sun’s rays have lost enough strength that they will not evaporate and they come out looking for blood. Some evenings are worse than others, of course. Normally, the mosquitoes are pretty bearable, especially seeing as I have discovered the indoor bug zapper. (I don’t know why it is called an ‘indoor bug zapper’, it is equally as effective outdoors as in).

It’s not that I like to slaughter things, but I find it hard to have compassion for mosquitoes. Nevertheless, I do get a certain amount of enjoyment from seeing and hearing mosquitoes and other bugs literally blow up with a flash and a spark as they come into connection with the electric and ground wires of the indoor bug zapper. These electric bug zappers can pack quite a charge, particularly if the batteries are new or the pack is completely charged.

The other day, I discovered a novel use for my handheld, indoor bug zapper. I’ll tell you how it came about. I was in the garden, as normal, and my bug zapper was close at hand as the first wave of mosquitoes was expected. I had my book in one hand and the bug zapper on my lap, when my wife asked me to go to the store for her. No problem, therefore, I set off on the five minute walk.

I was half-way there when I realized that I had the indoor bug zapper in my hand, but it was not worth taking it home and beginning the journey again. Anyway, on my return trip, I had my small bag of groceries in one hand and the indoor bug zapper in the other, when a local tyrant of a dog came running out of a garden right for me. This has occurred often and, although he has never bitten me yet, it is quite intimidating. He stood there glaring at me with teeth bared and his ‘pack’ of sundry neighborhood pals came out to surround me and join in.

I don’t actually know what the best course of action is in this position. I have tried holding my ground, but the intimidation just continues and I have tried to continue walking, but he gets frighteningly close sometimes. This time, I all of a sudden lashed out with the indoor bug zapper and just caught him on the nose. Well, I’m not sure if it hurt him, it did not seem to too much, but it gave him a very nasty shock in more ways than one, I can tell you! He jumped about four feet into the air as if he were on a pogo stick and then fled for all he was worth with all his friends following him. It was very gratifying after six months of aggravation from this dog.

Anyway, I don’t take my indoor bug zapper everywhere with me, but I will in future, if any more local dogs bother me. I know it works a treat. I have seen that one since, but he keeps far away from me and doesn’t utter a sound. I think I would take my indoor bug zapper with me, if I were wandering in an unknown part of town or the park nevertheless.

Have you ever used an indoor bug zapper? If you haven’t, or if you are interested in getting an indoor bug zapper, just click one of the links to our website or blog.

Some of the most common indoor bugs we see all over the world are flies, spiders, fleas and beetles. No-one likes to see insects indoors, so most people will go to almost any extremes to get rid of these common indoor bugs. The less common indoor bugs may be woodlice, earwigs, scorpions and millipedes or centipedes, although they are no less wanted.

No matter where you are in the world, it can be very difficult to keep these common indoor bugs outside, unless you go to the extremes of keeping all your windows and doors shut all of the time, which is quite impossible. I now live in Thailand and I know for certain that this is not an option.

So, just what can you do about it? Well, let’s deal with all the flying bugs first, because of all the common indoor bugs, I think they are the most obnoxious indoor bug. They are very irritating, buzzing around your head and mosquitoes and other flies can create painful sores and besides that, all flies carry disease. I cannot bear to see them strutting about on food, knowing that they have probably just come off some dung heap somewhere and now they are spitting on my food to taste it with their stinking feet!

My first line of defence is fine-mesh door and widow screens. They are not dear and can be fitted retrospectively to any window. My window meshes slide, so they will protect only one half of the window at a any one time, but I do not find that a problem. You can still set up cross-winds, by opening two or more windows at opposite ends of a room. I just love to see the flies on the mesh trying to get in by day and the mosquitoes doing the same by night. At night, it is wise to turn on as little light indoors as possible so as not to draw these common indoor insects.

My second line of defence is natural predators – lizards, like Geckos (Jin Jok, in Thai). Some people don’t like them in the house either and I can’t say that I’m all that keen on them indoors myself, but they are difficult to keep out and they do consume hundreds, if not thousands, of indoor bugs every day. I particularly like to see them lying in wait on the outside of the mesh, ready to pounce on any bug trying to wriggle its way through the wires.

My third line of defence is an indoor bug zapper. You know, the electric, handheld bug zapper that looks like a toy tennis racquet. The come in two forms: battery and rechargeable kinds. They are brilliant at catching and destroying any flying indoor bug. The bug literally explodes and vaporizes on contact with the fully-charged wires of the indoor bug zapper. If you haven’t tried using one, you really should. They are most satisfying. These three defences keep our house quite much free of flying insects.

The crawling common indoor bugs are less of a problem really. Door screens on springs will keep 99% of them out and the Geckos will help too. Spiders can get in fairly very easily, but then, I don’t mind them too much as long as they keep out of my way, as they eat other bugs too. They are on our side really. However, for those who can not bear to trap them and throw them outside, the handheld indoor bug zapper works well on spiders too.

Fleas can be a problem, if you have cats or dogs, but then if you wash or dust the animal once a month, you should be able to keep those common indoor bugs under control quite easily. However, there are two final methods that we use. Every week, before we go out for the day, we spray every room with fly killer and every six-months we spray any rugs or carpets with an insect killer containing permethrin, which will survive washing and vacuuming for that long without losing its ability to kill common indoor bugs on contact. If you follow these measures, you should be able to keep your home or office quite free of the most common indoor bugs and any less common indoor bug as well.

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