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Fake owls, rubber snakes, water cannons...gardeners will try just about anything to keep animals away from their prized food crops.
For the sake of brevity, we're not going to talk about applied repellants here. You could fill a book discussing the effectiveness of various homemade or chemical remedies designed to keep Bambi at bay.
Instead, we'll take a look at some current products on the market intended specifically for scaring birds and other creatures from your garden. Most of us love these animals and welcome them to our gardens, of course. But sometimes, birds and animals can become overly destructive to landscape plants and completely wipe out fruit and vegetable harvests. So what really works?
The first and most traditional form of is, of course, the beloved scarecrow. Nowadays, scarecrows are viewed merely as whimsical garden art, since their bird-scaring abilities have proven to be somewhat limited.
We've all seen the bobbing-head plastic owls which became very popular several years ago. Until, that is, everyone discovered they work about as well as scarecrows. Ditto for rubber snakes. (There is a $60 fake owl with outstretched, flapping wings that works somewhat better, however.)
The problem seems to be that birds, especially, are probably a little smarter than we give them credit for. (Remember when it was an insult to call someone a "birdbrain"?) Well, many birds quickly figure out that since that plastic owl or rubber snake isn't actually doing anything, such as attacking and devouring them, the present surroundings must be safe. In short, they get used to pretty much whatever stationary object you put out.
The key word here is stationary, however. Therefore, the most effective creature-scaring methods are the ones that involve constantly moving objects. Here are a few:
Terror Eyes Balloon (shown above) - This is a large orange vinyl balloon which bears the frightening face of a falcon. It moves constantly in the wind and is said to work pretty well in deterring small creatures. NASA apparently uses these to keep wild bird flocks away from the space shuttle launch areas.
Foil Tape (and Other Shiny Objects) - Another good option is iridescent foil tape strips. Some types are even printed with a crocodile-like pattern to mimic reptilian predators. Basically, though, it is the flashing that scares animals and birds. Many gardeners report similar good results with old compact discs tied to a string, or foil pie pans mounted on sticks. Again, movement is the key. An added bonus with the foil tape is that it sometimes makes a rattling sound in the breeze which also scares approaching creatures.
Motion Detected Sound, Air, Light, or Water Blasters - These contraptions aremore elaborate and expensive, but still one of the best tactics. About $100 will get you the Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler, which releases a harmless, three-second pulsating spray of water. The combination of the sudden noise, movement, and water frightens animals away. (The day will inevitable come, however, when you will walk in front of it yourself and get doused. Don't say I didn't warn you.)
Conversely, some of the sound blasters designed for chasing geese will simulate gunshots, coyote howls, hawk squawks and other predator noises. Think about that before you get one, though...do you really want to be awakened by the sound of gunfire in the middle of the night? Other sound devices will simulate the distress call of several different bird species. Still others are ultrasonic and cannot be heard by humans at all.
Laser Blasters - If you've got $1300 to burn, you can get a laser beam. This is more for professional and commercial use, obviously, but it is apparently quite effective. The green laser light flashes and scans in differing patterns to scare and temporarily disorient critters.
To sum up: keep in mind that movement is the key. Harmlessly startling the unwanted visitors is your main goal. And, no matter what device you decide to use, you will need to relocate it periodically to keep the offending animals on their toes...and off of your property.
About Tamara Galbraith
I am an avid organic gardener and certified Master Gardener for Collin County, Texas (that's North Dallas).
Despite those lofty titles, I still manage to kill stuff on a regular basis. My gardening experiences are periodically chronicled on my blog at: http://can-u-dig-it.blogspot.com
Posted by Lanqueen1 (from Gulfport, MS) on May 16, 2008 at 12:25 AM:
So far, my 59 cent shiney plastic toy pinwheel is working well. I also purchased a much larger version of the same thing from "Big Lots" that looks like a big flower, and also spins whenever there's a breeze. The larger one is protecting corn and the smaller one is near my strawberries.
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Posted by TexasTam (from Plano, TX) on May 16, 2008 at 11:10 AM:
Those pinwheels look so pretty too. Thanks for the tip...I'm headed to Big Lots!
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Posted by saintjodi (from Sallisaw, OK) on May 20, 2008 at 7:17 PM:
You bet those Pin Wheels work......the deer just love my baby maple trees; came out 1 morning and all the leaves on 1 of my maple babies was totally gone plus all the tender grape leaves off my newly planted plant. So off I went and bought 6 pin wheels and 'planted' all of them by my maple trees and grape plant. I also cut Irish Spring soap in half and layed it at the base of all my pin wheels. Haven't missed a single leaf since.....knock, knock :-) Both my grape plant and the maple tree are leafing out again.
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Subject: dangling mirrors
Posted by ivesco (from Monterey, MA) on May 12, 2008 at 4:50 PM:
I've had some success with the strings of little circular mirrors that hang on plastic "thread" and are sold at some garden centers. They don't clash with the garden.
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Posted by TexasTam (from Plano, TX) on May 13, 2008 at 10:37 AM:
I've used old CDs dangled on strings - they work pretty well too and don't look as tacky as you might think. : -)
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Subject: Water Scarecrow
Posted by KaperC (from No. San Diego Co., CA) on May 12, 2008 at 4:25 PM:
Ours was much less than $100 - more like $60 I think. Not sure how it's working on the egrets, but it does scare crows off the pond and we get entertainment out of it, too! If it doesn't work, we'll have to string fishing line across the pond and see if that works.
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Posted by TexasTam (from Plano, TX) on May 13, 2008 at 10:36 AM:
Glad you saved some cash on yours. The online retailers I looked at must have been a little high-endish - I thought $100 was a bit much for such a device.
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Posted by KaperC (from No. San Diego Co., CA) on May 13, 2008 at 12:45 PM:
If it wasn't so important, we wouldn't have purchased it at all. The egrets scare our parrots to death, because they fly in towards the windows of the house. With that wing spread, it looks like an airplane coming in! We originally built the pond with water fowl in mind, but didn't realize some of the problems we would have (we were prepared to lose fish).
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Subject: Question on "Terror Eyes" balloon
Posted by tucsonjill (from Tucson, AZ) on May 11, 2008 at 12:47 AM:
Great article, Tamara--very useful information!
I'm wondering about the "Terror Eyes" balloon. Did any of your research indicate that it was effective against small rodents, like ground squirrels? I had a terrible problem last year (although the rubber snake coiled around the tomato plant did help, and am hoping not to have to spend another small fortune in deterrents again this year. Would love a balloon that would do the trick--if it works.
Thanks!
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Posted by TexasTam (from Plano, TX) on May 12, 2008 at 10:56 AM:
Great question Jill. I'm afraid I've no idea how the balloon would work for squirrels, though. It seems to be marketed mainly for scaring birds. Theoretically, it should work...the squirrels in my yard always run for cover when our neighbor hawk appears!
Glad to hear the rubber snake trick worked for someone... : )
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Subject: Sound Blaster
Posted by Dulcigarden (from Lowell, MA) on May 10, 2008 at 10:57 AM:
I Love the sound blaster idea, but just for the squirrels and the kids next door. LOL They are both pretty destructive to both my flowers, grass, seedlings and tomoatoes later on. All the running, yelling, stomping and digging would be minimized. Ok, ok I admit my 2 kids also will need some scare tactic, but those i can more easily keep track of.
~Dulci
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Posted by boleslaus (from Chattanooga, TN) on May 18, 2008 at 8:49 AM:
A few years ago I had a terrible problem with a bunny. Since then we've acquired four indoor/outdoor cats and three indoor/outdoor dogs. They don't work for aphids or flea beetles, but I've not had a problem with birds or mammals since. Not a solution for everybody, but they DO work.
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Subject: Foil Tape
Posted by irisMA (from South Hamilton, MA) on May 10, 2008 at 10:27 AM:
We found that it doesn't scare the turkeys which take dust baths in our beds & send plants flying. They used a spot at the base of the stake carrying the flashing tape.
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Posted by planolinda (from Plano, TX) on May 10, 2008 at 3:33 PM:
so wind chimes might work too? movement and sound? and they look pretty and the sound is pleasing to us--is that an idea?--another good article from my neighbor!! : )
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Posted by Kelli (from Los Angeles (Canoga , CA) on May 10, 2008 at 8:29 PM:
I've head that that the sight scare things work best against flocking birds, as opposed to birds that are usually found alone or in very small groups. Anyone have any experience one way or another?
Motion Detected Sound, Air, Light, or Water Blasters - These contraptions are more elaborate and expensive, but still one of the best tactics. About $100 will get you the Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler, which releases a harmless, three-second pulsating spray of water. The combination of the sudden noise, movement, and water frightens animals away. (The day will inevitable come, however, when you will walk in front of it yourself and get doused. Don't say I didn't warn you.)
