Mr. Pete Collins

                                      Aviation & Management Consultant (retired)

I bought the wand in November when the common house fly was in abundance. Pointing the wand directly at the fly, although it did not startle them, after a few seconds, they flew off and didn't return for several hours. Perfect when we had friends for Boxing Day lunch. The wand also works with wasps. We are inundated with both the common wasp and the Paper Wasp (with the long dangly legs). The Cicada Wand will deter the Paper Wasp when looking for a nesting site, normally in July and August. Again, the wasps are not startled but tend to fly off and not return. The common wasp that patrols along the ground see it as a threat and attack as they are a more aggressive species. However, there is still an element of deterrence to return once the wand is turned off. Having worked in Aviation I fully understand the danger of bird strikes on all types of fixed and rotary wing aircraft ( You only need to watch the film "Sully" to understand the dangers ). I pointed the wand at two approaching pigeons roughly 200 metres away and both birds immediately took evasive action to escape the beam. I've repeated the experiment and have had the same response. I can see a real positive application for the aviation industry as bird strikes are normally with birds heading directly towards the aircraft engines and intakes. As for Cicadas, it does what it says on the tin! This piece of technology does no harm to insects or birds but merely deters them. Perfect.