Abstract:
An electroshock wand for safely and humanely stunning and capturing aquatic creatures is provided. The electroshock wand has a body, an anode member, and a cathode member. The anode and cathode members are attached at or near the electroshock end of the body, with the anode and cathode members being axially spaced from one another. The anode and cathode members create an intense and localized electrical field between one another that momentarily stuns a target organism. The target organism, once stunned may then be collected. This device offers a nonlethal method of capturing invasive species and removing them from specific environments.

Description:
FIELD 
     The present application relates to a wand that delivers an electrical charge to stun aquatic creatures to facilitate their capture. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Backpack electro-shocking or electro-fishing devices have been used in the prior art for stunning and sampling fish. These devices typically impart a series of electrical pulses between an anode and a cathode that momentarily paralyze a fish caught in the electrical field. These devices are designed to allow fish to be stunned without causing any injury to the fish. A fish will typically fully recover from the momentary stun received within moments. An example of such a device can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,668. 
     SUMMARY 
     There is provided an electroshock wand for aquatic creatures consisting of an elongated body, an anode cable, and a cathode cable. The elongated body has a handling end and an electroshock end. The anode cable extends to an anode member through the body from the handling end to the electroshock end. The cathode cable extends to a cathode member through the body from the handling end to the electroshock end. The cathode member extends outwardly from the body and is axially spaced from the anode member at the electroshock end. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  labeled as PRIOR ART s a side elevation view of a conventional electro-fishing device known in the prior art. 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevation view, partially in section, of an embodiment of an electroshock wand. 
         FIG. 3  is a side elevation view of an electroshock wand being used to capture an aquatic creature. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An electroshock wand for aquatic creatures generally identified by reference numeral  10 , will now be described with reference to  FIG. 1 through 3 . 
     Structure and Relationship of Parts: 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a conventional electro-fishing device  12  is shown in order to illustrate the principles of electro-shocking. Electro-fishing device  12  consists of a pole  14 , a backpack  16 , an anode  18  and a cathode  20 . Anode  18  is attached to a shocking end  22  of pole  14 . Cathode  20  extends downwards from backpack  16 , where it enters below a water level  24  around an operator&#39;s feet  26 . Backpack  16  contains a power source (not shown), which is usually a twenty-four volt battery used to provide electrical energy to electro-fishing device  12 . The power source is connected to anode  18  through an anode cable  19 . Anode cable  19  runs through pole  14 . When electro-fishing device  12  is activated, conventional current  28  flows from anode  18  to cathode  20 , creating an electric field  30  that momentarily stuns fish or other wildlife contained within. Arrows  32  illustrate the flow of electrons from the cathode to the anode. Because of the large distance between cathode  20  and anode  18 , electric field  30  may be weakened or dispersed by the presence of various obstructions. Typical obstructions in an aquatic environment may include thick aquatic vegetation  34 . Because of this weakening, the strength of electrical field  30  may be insufficient to properly stun small aquatic or semi-aquatic creatures (not shown). 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , electroshock wand  10  has numerous advantages over the prior art. Because anode and cathode members  62  and  68 , respectively, of wand  10 , are located a much shorter distance apart than anode and cathode  18  and  20 , respectively (shown in  FIG. 1 ), of electro-fishing device  12 , the electrical field created by a discharge of electrical energy of similar size will be much stronger using electroshock wand  10 . The increased strength of electrical field allows wand  10  to be used effectively in environments full of thick vegetation or obstructions where the electrical field of prior art devices is normally reduced below an effective level. In addition, the electrical field created by wand  10  is more localized than one created by electro-fishing device  12  (shown in  FIG. 1 ), allowing wand  10  to deliver a stunning effect to a more specific and accurate area. This ensures that only the organism of interest targeted by wand  10 —bullfrog  86  in the example above—is effected by the electroshock imparted by wand  10 , leaving adjacent or nearby organisms undisturbed. It also means that less electrical energy per pulse can be used to create the electrical field, allowing battery power to be conserved and runtime to be extended. Furthermore, because the anode and cathode members  62  and  68 , respectively are a fixed distance apart, the electrical field between them is more consistent. This means that the electrical energy used per pulse doesn&#39;t require much adjusting. This can be contrasted with anode and cathode  18  and  20 , respectively (shown in  FIG. 1 ), of electro-fishing device  12 , where the distance between anode  18  and cathode  20  can vary depending on how an operator holds pole  14 . This means that for electro-fishing device  12  to create a consistent electrical field, either the power used per pulse must be constantly adjusted to compensate for a change in distance between anode  18  and cathode  20 , or anode  18  must be manually held (via pole  14 ) at a certain distance from cathode  20 . Finally, because both of anode and cathode members  62  and  68 , respectively, are located at electroshock end  60  of wand  10 , wand  10  can be used to stun target organisms that are a distance away from operator  78 . This can be contrasted with electro-fishing device  12  which can only stun organisms that are near operator&#39;s feet  26 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , anode and cathode cables  54  and  56 , respectively, exit body  52  from handling end  58 , where they may be attached to a power source  72 . Anode and cathode cables  54  and  56 , respectively, may both be contained within a cable casing (not shown) for ease of use. Power source  72  may be provided in the form of a battery  74 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , Battery  74  may be contained within a backpack  76  to be carried by an operator  78 . Battery  74  may be, for example, a twenty-four volt battery known in the art to power electro-shocking devices. Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , controls  80  may be provided on body  52  that are used to activate or deactivate electroshock wand  10 . Alternatively, controls  80  may be provided as a part of a unit (not shown) separate to body  52 , such as a hand-held device (not shown), or as part of backpack  76 . In addition to activating/deactivating wand  10 , controls  80  may also control various parameters of wand  10 . Examples of such parameters include the intensity or pulse rate of the bursts of electrical energy released from wand  10 . In the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , controls  80  are provided as a switch  82 . 
     Electroshock wand  10  may be provided as a standalone unit as shown in  FIG. 3 , or as an addition to an existing electro-shocker unit (not shown). Electroshock wand  10  may also be created by modifying existing electro-shocking equipment, such as electro-fishing device  12  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Operation: 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , electroshock wand  10  is being used to stun and capture an aquatic creature  84 . Aquatic creature  84  is shown as a bullfrog  86 . The example of bullfrog  86  is intended for illustration only and it should be understood that wand  10  may be used in a similar fashion to stun and capture any type of aquatic or semi-aquatic animal. 
     Bullfrog  86  is first visually spotted and identified by operator  78 . Operator  78  then cautiously approaches bullfrog  86 . Anode member  62  is then positioned underneath or adjacent bullfrog  84  with cathode member  68  extending into the water. Controls  80  are used to activate an electroshock between anode member  62  and cathode member  68 . When electroshock wand  10  is activated, an electrical field (not shown) is created in the water within the vicinity of cathode and anode members  68  and  62 , respectively that momentarily stuns bullfrog  86 . A typical electrical stun will stun bullfrog  86  for a period of thirty to sixty seconds, during which bullfrog  86  can be collected safely. Wand  10  may be deactivated before collection and after stunning bullfrog  86 . Bullfrog  86  may be collected by scooping bullfrog  86  out of the water using closed end net  66 . Alternatively, other methods of collecting bullfrog  86  may be used, including using a separate net (not shown) or an assistant&#39;s hands (not shown). Because the electroshock received by bullfrog  86  is only enough to stun, no damage is done to bullfrog  86  and it is able to fully recover from the effects of the electroshock within moments. In this way, electroshock wand  10  may be used as a humane and non-lethal means of capturing specific species of animals. 
     It may be advantageous to use wand  10  to capture aquatic creatures  84  of interest at night, using a light source  88  with wand  10 . Many aquatic creatures  84  may be nocturnal, and therefore more accessible at night. Light source  88  would be used to aid with visually spotting and identifying the target species. 
     Advantages: 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , electroshock wand  10  has numerous advantages over the prior art. Because anode and cathode members  62  and  68 , respectively, of wand  10 , are located a much shorter distance apart than anode and cathode  18  and  20 , respectively (shown in  FIG. 1 ), of electro-fishing device  12 , the electrical field created by a discharge of electrical energy of similar size will be much stronger using electroshock wand  10 . The increased strength of electrical field allows wand  10  to be used effectively in environments fill of thick vegetation or obstructions where the electrical field of prior art devices is normally reduced below an effective level. In addition, the electrical field created by wand  10  is more localized than one created by electro-fishing device  12  (shown in  FIG. 1 ), allowing wand  10  to deliver a stunning effect to a more specific and accurate area. This ensures that only the organism of interest targeted by wand  10 —bullfrog  86  in the example above—is effected by the electroshock imparted by wand  10 , leaving adjacent or nearby organisms undisturbed. It also means that less electrical energy per pulse can be used to create the electrical field, allowing battery power to be conserved and runtime to be extended. Furthermore, because the anode and cathode members  62  and  68 , respectively are a fixed distance apart, the electrical field between them is more consistent. This means that the electrical energy used per pulse doesn&#39;t require much adjusting. This can be contrasted with anode and cathode  18  and  20 , respectively (shown in  FIG. 1 ), of electro-fishing device  12 , where the distance between anode  18  and cathode  20  can vary depending on how an operator holds pole  14 . This means that for electro-fishing device  12  to create a consistent electrical field, either the power used per pulse must be constantly adjusted to compensate for a change in distance between anode  18  and cathode  20 , or anode  18  must be manually held (via pole  14 ) at a certain distance from cathode  20 . Finally, because both of anode and cathode members  62  and  68 , respectively, are located at electroshock end  60  of wand  10 , wand  10  can be used to stun target organisms that are a distance away from operator  78 . This can be contrasted with electro-fishing device  12  which can only stun organisms that are near operator&#39;s feet  26 . 
     In this patent document the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements. 
     It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope defined in the claims.