Contech Scarecrow; many uses in the garden!

My previous post was partly about all of the animal pest problems I have here in rural Kentucky. Although I didn't know it yet, as I was writing that post my newest animal problem was beginning. Squirrels are stealing my apples! I surprised one sitting in the apple tree and while running away, he dropped this apple from his mouth:

My previous post was also partly about my new garden gadget, the Scarecrow from Contech. This got me thinking that I remember seeing something on their website called SquirrelStop. Contech has many neat products but Contech Squirrel Stop is a bird feeder that spins rapidly when a Squirrel hangs from it. It would be pretty funny to see a surprised and dizzy squirrel get spun off of a bird feeder. In my case the SquirrelStop would not help. How could I keep the squirrels from eating my apples?

Of course my answer was right in front of me. I was going to wait and use the Scarecrow water sprayer to defend my corn but why not try it out on the Squirrels first? They had already eaten almost all of the apples in the tree closest to the woods, but they haven't touched the next tree yet. I set up the Contech Scarecrow next to that tree but couldn't wait to see if it worked. My daughters were picking tomatoes in the garden so I called them over to the apple tree.

It works!

This is a fun gadget. The apple tree limbs blowing in the breeze do not set it off so I guess it isn't a simple motion detector. It seems to only go off if a living thing approaches. It nearly knocked a poor sparrow to the ground! The range of the detector is pretty far as well. It "saw" me working in the garden 50 feet away. The spray doesn't shoot that far but the noise would probably scare animals away even before they get wet. You can also set the radius on how much it sprays. I've got it trained just on the apple trees, but you could make it spray nearly 360 degrees. If I got one more of these I could probably guard my whole garden. Cool!

Comments

[June 30, 2008 at 10:40 PM]

Let us know how the squirrels fare with your newest plot against them.

Those things look like a lot of fun!

[Diane]

Let us know how it works for you. My neighbor bought one also but he still has problems with the crows. It has helped with the deer though. I bought those big "eye balls" and they have kept the crows out. A sturdy fence and dogs keep the deer out! But now we've got some very young fawns that don't seem to know the rules!!!! :D

[July 02, 2008 at 05:44 AM]

I wonder if it would detect neighbors, haha. I have seen the squirrel spinning feeder and it is hilarious.

You may have success with deterring the squirrels with water. I had a family of them in my roof over hang, I knocked on the bottom till they all ran out and spent the rest of the day spraying them with the hose when they tried to re-enter. It did the trick for me, they moved back into there original home, my neighbors porch.

[July 03, 2008 at 04:15 AM]

that looks hilarious

I bet itd keep the neighbors out of your yard, but not their kids.

the kids would just put on swimsuits and come play.


on the upside the lawn would get watered