A different kind of scarecrow...

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Deer Lodge, Tennessee
Another thread was talking about scarecrows of various kinds. The thing about scarecrows is, they're usually just static objects that don't move.

I got to wondering, how would one of those inflatable dancing men type thingies work, maybe if set up on a motion detector near my garden? One of these, perhaps with a spotlight on the same switch that would light the thing up... I can see how it might scare the deer away, but it wouldn't be there until they approached and it would definitely be an animated type thing, not just a motionless figure. If a radio or tape player got hooked up to the same outlet, I can see how there could be noise associated with the wild movements of "air man".

Dunno, whatcha think? Wild idea? Or might it actually work?

(This is just an example of one possibility. I'm sure there would be others.)

 
Another thread was talking about scarecrows of various kinds. The thing about scarecrows is, they're usually just static objects that don't move.

I got to wondering, how would one of those inflatable dancing men type thingies work, maybe if set up on a motion detector near my garden? One of these, perhaps with a spotlight on the same switch that would light the thing up... I can see how it might scare the deer away, but it wouldn't be there until they approached and it would definitely be an animated type thing, not just a motionless figure. If a radio or tape player got hooked up to the same outlet, I can see how there could be noise associated with the wild movements of "air man".

Dunno, whatcha think? Wild idea? Or might it actually work?

(This is just an example of one possibility. I'm sure there would be others.)

Or almost as creepy and those dancing air people is Billy Bones - you know those skeletons they sell at Halloween. They can move and make noise. If set up on a motion sensor might be kinda fun with or without a garden ;)
 
Actually, I was kinda wondering if something "holographic" might eventually show up, something that would give the appearance of being real, and perhaps scary to whatever it is you're trying to scare, but have no actual substance at all, just light and the appropriate sound to go with. Haven't seen that one yet, though.

There are lots of holiday kinds of things. The ones that just blow up and sit there, I would fear, the deer and other wildlife would probably get used to and eventually learn to ignore. I guess the reason those crazy stick people thingies got my attention was that they seem to move rather wildly and randomly.
 
Or... thinking way more low-tech, I had even wondered if there would be something that could be put onto a model railroad track in such a way that it would have some interesting movements as it started and stopped going around a path around the garden, perhaps even resembling a person working. Appropriate sounds could be added easily.
 
I see those dancing flapping things around her in orchards to scare away birds.
How about a motion-activated sprinkler?
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I see those dancing flapping things around her in orchards to scare away birds.
How about a motion-activated sprinkler?
31tUaLSaY5L._AC_.jpg

Probably a good solution where water is easy to come by. Though we do get a good bit of rain here annually, there are parts of the growing season when water is kinda scarce and I wouldn't wanna waste it. I don't have a well, city water is stupid expensive, and my irrigation pond doesn't have a source that will keep it topped off in dry weather. (I think it's just rainwater catchment but it's possible there is a small spring that feeds it. Either way, it goes down significantly in the dry parts of the summer. Don't wanna threaten the fish that live there.)

As it is, I'm moving towards putting more stuff under cover. Don't know if I'll ever get it all under cover or not but my second tunnel, a 30' x 96' is supposed to arrive tomorrow. :)
 
Neighbors will be a problem if the lights & sounds are to invasive.
My nearest neighbor is 800 to 1000 feet away, but sound travels.
 
I was thinking of at least ordering motion lights for our garden. A motion siren might be better.

Hmmm... That got me to wondering. If the motion lights were hooked up to a device that would shine lights on a silhouette such that the lights came on in a sequence such to make it appear that the silhouette was moving and then a sound, kinda like a growling dog or something, I wonder if it would be more "scary"? The deer around here seem to be getting more bold. Then again, that wouldn't work so well in the daytime, and early morning seems to be the time they're being chased off around here. Chased 'em out of the strawberry patch yet again this morning. (And it's rainy all week so the stinky pee stuff would just wash off.)
 
Neighbors will be a problem if the lights & sounds are to invasive.

It would have to be like gunshots and pyrotechnics for them to even notice. Closest is between 1/4 and 1/2 mile away and if he didn't have his hearing aids in, he's nearly stone deaf. Plus, lots of trees in between us such that we really can't see over there. I think we probably hear his dogs more than he'd ever hear us. (He has sheep and has a couple of very BIG dogs that protect said sheep. And they will kill coyotes and such, which we do have here. I do sometimes wonder if a good dog would be an asset around here. Biggest problem, how to keep him/her home and not go wandering off. Too much property to fence the whole thing substantially enough to keep a dog in (or out) let alone deer. Possible, yes, practical, no. But that's another subject...)
 

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