Humidity-loving bugs are just as much a part of a Japanese summer as fireworks festivals and barley tea. Dealing with the creepy crawly intruders in your home isn’t always easy, though, especially if you’ve got an aversion to touching them. Sure, you can use bug spray instead of doing the dirty work of squashing them yourself, but you’ll still have to use your hands to pick up the carcass and dispose of it after the poison takes effect.
Luckily, though, your options aren’t entirely limited to sharing your living space with bugs or touching them, in the form of this bug-sucking vacuum gun.
You can thank online retailer Thanko for this handy gadget, called the Bug Vacuum Hunter. Despite being shaped like a flintlock pistol, the product isn’t for firing tiny musket balls at pirate captains coveting your cargo of molasses or ruffians who’ve dared to insult your new knickerbockers, but rather for sucking up bugs into the hollow cylinder that makes up the majority of its body.
Once you press the button on the handle, the Bug Vacuum Hunter, powered by a nine-volt battery, produces enough suction to pull in bugs up to 30 millimeters (1.2 inches) away.
▼ You can replace the nozzle with a solid cap, as this woman has here, to prevent your prey from escaping.
Once captured, it’s up to you whether you want to take the bug out and squash it in a place where the mess will be less of an issue than your carpet or wall, or to set it free to live in the great outdoors. If you’re the type who really hates bugs, we suppose you could also opt to leave the creature in there and set the Bug Vacuum Hunter by the windowsill, letting the heat of the sun slowly cook your captive, but that seems excessively cruel (and gross).
▼ The Bug Vacuum Hunter in action
Since bugs sometimes like to hide in the corners of a closet or cabinet, the item also comes equipped with an LED light to help you track your target in the dark.
If this sounds like just the sort of thing you need in your home’s arsenal, you can order the Bug Vacuum Hunter from Thanko here for 1,280 yen (US$10.40). We’re sure it’s mentioned somewhere in the owner’s manual, but just in case it’s not, don’t forget to strike cool poses before and after capturing the bug.
Source: Thanko
Images: Thanko (edited by RocketNews24)
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