Their Laughing Stopped When He Finished His Trap

Everyone Had Their Doubts

All of the neighbors had their doubts about his contraption. It was an ugly thing that they didn’t think would work. Only he knew that it would pay off when he was finished making it.

Pests can be a real problem across the globe. But there’s on above all the else – mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are the most irritating pests on the plant, but one man knew just how to deal with them.

Nature Lovers

Tim Jarvis was a family man living in the countryside with his beautiful wife and kids.

They loved the fresh air of the countryside but there were few pests that really got on their nerves. Tim would stop at nothing to get rid of the annoying guests.

Searching For Solutions

Tim started slowly with small hacks he found on Google.

He first wanted to address the mosquito problem. He made a few traps that looked out of MacGyver. But he’d only find that the answer to the problem was in his fridge all along.

Easy Hack

He found an easy hack to do with soda bottles on the internet and it worked wonders.

He put them up around his house and low and behold the mosquito problem seemed to just disappear! Plus his chickens got tasty snacks too. The next invader was quite a painful one.

More Problems

Tim yelped out in pain and slapped the back of his neck. Tim felt the pain on his neck and knew all too well what it was – a horsefly

He hated horseflies with a passion. Anyone who has been on a wrong end of a horsefly bite knows the pain that it brings. He had to make a specialized method for these pests.

Sudden Solution

Tim went between the planning face on his computer to the building phase in his workshop, trying to get the best trap that would put a stop to their painful bites.

Then he had a eureka moment when one horsefly slammed against his window and fell to the ground. He got to work created the best contraption for getting rid of them. But everyone else would think he was crazy.

Bigger Than Expected

The contraption wasn’t exactly small.

Tim had to build it in smaller pieces so that he could assemble it on his well-looked-after yard. He knew how much pain and misery he and his kids were in, he had to do this.

Multi-faceted Problem

He knew that one trap wouldn’t take care of every insect pest.

Mosquitoes loved the wet weather, but he had already dealt with them. He knew exactly what horseflies liked, humidity. They also loved the warm sun and to their detriment – dark colors. He devised his best trap yet.

Putting It Together

It looked like a trough lined with bin bags and filled with murky water.

Tim assembled the contraption on his front lawn but the real interesting part was the perspex in the middle of the trough. He labored over it and then went back inside. The next day he checked back on it and was in disbelief.

Hard Work Paying Off

It had worked!

The idea was the black garbage bags would attract the horseflies, and then they would run into the plexiglass and fall into the water – the key being that Tim had to make sure the glass was always clean and therefore invisible to the flying monsters. The collection that had accumulated over the past hours was astonishing.

People Asking

Just to think, all of those little guys would have been flying free and tormenting his family!

But the best part was still to come. The neighbors noticed that the trap was doing its job. One of them sheepishly came up to Tim, apologized for his rude comments about the “eye sore” and asked Tim to show him how to make his own.

Sharing It With Everyone

Tim wasn’t going to keep this revelation to himself.

So, he went one step further and uploaded the idea onto the internet. It wasn’t long until the post exploded and people from all over the world (at least the ones that had problems with these kinds of bugs) showered him with praise and thank yous. Here is where Tim had another lightbulb moment.

Going Online

There was clearly a demand – but not everyone was handy.

He rushed to patent the design and refine how it looked. Online sales were now the bread and butter for so many companies, so why not cash in on a small part? The orders came flying in and soon Tim’s workshop became more than a place to putter.

Family Business

The best part? It got his kids involved in ways he would never imagine.

They learned more about construction and begged to help him with their new “secret weapon.” They even gave their own “marketing” ideas and experimented making their own traps. And to think, it had all started with a single bug bite. But what would they do with the money?

Using The Profits

Tim wasn’t charging a lot – just enough to make a fair profit.

The plan was to pay off some bills first. Then, he was going to squirrel away a bunch of it to save for a family vacation. Where? Any place that didn’t have these kinds of bugs!

Not The Only One

Millions of people in the US suffer with bug problems. That’s why there are so many different products on the market. But like Tim, there was another man who took the next step.

Julian Smith had a problem he just couldn’t get rid of until he came up with something inventive.

Huge Stink Bug Problem

Julian had a problem with stink bugs, and it was nothing minor. What started with just a few bugs ended with thousands. Yes, thousands.

Whenever Julian looked up, he’d see at least one bug, and there were even more of them when it was sunny. He had to do something about it. But what could that be?

Thousands Of Bugs

The stink bugs were crawling all over his house. One or two bugs were already a problem, but Julian’s case was severe.

They became an unmissable best that was slowly consuming his home. It wasn’t only unsightly and unnatural. It was becoming a real problem. But what could he do? He’d tried products before.

Couldn’t Get Rid Of Them

It didn’t matter what product Julian tried; he just couldn’t get rid of the stink bugs. It was starting to look like he would just have to get used to it because nothing he tried worked.

However, Julian wasn’t just going to give up that easily. There had to be some way for him to get rid of his unwelcome guests.

Their Introduction

Stink bugs had accidentally been introduced to the US in the 1990s. Since then, they’ve spread across the continent and became a real problem for some folks.

They’re not only unsightly and creepy, but there’s also a reason they are called stink bugs. And they don’t have such a good impression with children either.

A Pest

They were definitely considered to be a pest, and anyone who came across one tried to get rid of them as soon as possible. Julian was no different.

Julian thought he might be able to come up with an idea of his own. Just like Tim did. So he sat down and thought about what he could do.

A Clever Idea

The conclusion he came up with was fairly simple. He took a soda pop bottle, cut off the top, dropped a light in there, and put the flipped top back in.

After that, he stuck it together with tape and concealed the light so the critters would be forced to enter through the bottleneck. It was easy to get into and extremely difficult to get out of.

Worked Like A Charm

He put his contraption out and waited. But when he checked it the next morning, he was shocked. He had caught a lot more of the bugs than he initially thought he would.

His contraption not only worked like a charm, but it was simple to make, which got Julian thinking.

Products On The Market

There were so many products on the market that didn’t work, at least not for Julian. Yet he created something incredibly simple that could draw in so many bugs.

He was sure that there were other people out there with similar problems, so why couldn’t they make use of his solution?

Trying To Sell The Idea

He approached a company with his idea, hoping they would be willing to make it available for everyone. He didn’t plan on making millions out of it, but he would’ve been happy to buy something like it so others would be too.

However, there were a few flaws in his plan.

Skeptical

The company he approached was indeed impressed with the concept, but the looks weren’t very appealing. Because of that, they were skeptical. Who would buy something they could so easily make themselves?

It was a bit of a letdown, but the company didn’t stop there. They put something else on the table.

A Complete Overhaul

The project was handed over to another team who would be responsible for giving it a complete makeover. The team was tasked with finding the reason it worked and creating a better-looking version.

They immediately got to work and what they ended up producing was far more appealing than the original.

Left Speechless

After that, Julian was invited to meet someone. He had no idea what he was in for. But when he arrived at the location, the man he was supposed to meet wasn’t the only one there.

Julian and been invited to meet a man who was willing to produce and sell his product. And a few media outlets were invited too. He was shocked by what he saw, especially when they showed him the new design.

Estimated Sales

The company estimated that they could sell several hundred thousand of the products on the first run. It was more than Julian ever would’ve imagined.

The company not only made Julian’s dream come true. They also gave him a surprise that he would never forget. And they changed the way people would look at him.

Advice From The Creator

During the interview, Julian stated that it “was the first Thanksgiving dinner that I didn’t get ridiculed or laughed at because of ideas that I came up with in the past that failed.”

Julian also said that people shouldn’t let others hold them back and that they should follow their hearts.
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, places, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.