Chikkamagaluru: The coffee growers and farmers who were fed up chasing wild animals have finally invented a user-friendly gun to combat the menace of wild animals destroying crops and posing danger to human lives.

In the recent past, the district has been plagued by monkey menace. Elephants and monkeys together caused extensive damage to crops. In between, a wild tiger hit the headlines as its pug marks were found close to human habitat. It appeared as if animals were gaining upper hand as intelligent monkeys joined hands with gigantic pachyderms and skillful tigers. Confused by their onslaught poor farmers and coffee growers ran out of ideas.

Though a few possess gun licenses, all those affected do not have that luxury. Finally, they devised a new gun where they could chase all those troubling animals at once. The gun is not meant for hunting, but the technology works and served their immediate purpose. They use crackers in the guns and once crackers are ignited, the guns make huge sound which can be heard till a distance of 1 km from the point of firing.

The impact is such that the animals would only be scared and would not suffer any injuries. This devise has been yielding good results as the animals have disappeared from human settlements.

This has come as a huge relief for many farmers and coffee growers who went through sleepless nights. The gun is economical too as the best version costs around Rs 500 only. The manufacturers have not labeled the product nor opted for any certification as they are worried about the other repercussions! Now even the forest department officials are not conducting their routine searches to trace unlicensed guns.

With forest officials and wild animals remaining at a distance with the sound of a cracker, the growers are enjoying their field walks for now.