How would you like to spend your summer trapping mosquitoes? That's exactly the job that two county employees near Stroudsburg, PA get paid to do. If you can't deter the mosquitoes, round 'em up instead. The job has it's downfalls though. They get eaten alive.

'"You can walk in the woods and have 20 on you," said Judy Cherepko. "We are probably the most chewed up people in the county."'

Judy Cherepko and Mike Pula spend most of their day setting traps for those annoying mosquitoes. Dry ice, fans, and battery-powered units suck in the pesky insects. One trap caught a many as 1300 mosquitoes this season.

Mosquitoes are sent to the state Department of Environmental Protection to detect if they carry the West Nile virus.

The fearless pair also spend their time spraying insects for periods as long as four to five hours. They're not afraid to warn about the hazards mosquitoes can cause either, or good mosquito prevention techniques.

'"If we see tires at somebody's house we'll stop and ask them to clean it up," Cherepko said.'

Repellent Review gives a thumbs up to these two County workers. Without them and others who work on controlling our mosquito population, we'd be getting bit that much more.

A friend of the Repellent Review, Denise, informed us of a bug repellent she recently purchased and tried out; the Racquet Zapper.

Denise took the racquet zapper on a recent hike, and let us know how it faired against those annoying, buzzing pests.

RR: So Denise, what exactly is the racquet zapper, how do you use it, and how much did this bug repellent cost you?

Denise: The racquet zapper is a bug repellent that's shaped like a tennis racquet. It runs off a couple of AA batteries. The batteries charge an electric grid. The grid is triggered by a button you press. It electrifies, and you swing at the insect thats bothering you, and it zaps it dead. I picked mine up for less than $10.

RR: Sounds like fun. Does this electronic insect repellent work?

Denise: Oh ya. It's fun. We all tried it out along the hike. (There was a group of five people along). It worked ok on bigger bugs, but was worthless on smaller ones like gnats. You had to make sure the bug hit the grid, and not the outside of the racquet, or it wouldn't kill it. It seemed to work well for mosquitoes. I've also used it at home against flies. It's more fun zapping them, than hitting them with a fly swatter. The batteries did run out quicker than I thought they should though.

RR: Denise, would you recommend the Racquet Zapper?

Denise: It's really entertaining for a bug repellent. We were laughing on the hike, and looking for bugs, instead of trying to avoid them. It works ok. A good coat of mosquito repellent would probably work just as well. If you're looking for a fun gadget to play with, I'd recommend it, but because the batteries run out I probably won't be using it on a regular basis.

RR: Thanks Denise! It seems bugs sometimes can spark a little fun. Repellent Review gives the Racquet Zapper an A for entertainment value, and a C+ for effective value. Unless you keep a fresh supply of batteries around when you're outdoors, you'd be out of luck when this bug repellent loses it's juice. The Racquet Zapper is available online.