Review Of The Contech Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler

The Contech Scarecrow motion activated sprinkler can help protect your garden from unwanted pests.

I am sure that you are like most people, spending many hours and many dollars maintaining your lawn and garden. It is understandable that you would not want your creation, befouled by impolite deposits from your neighbors pets, or devoured by the local wildlife.

With a motion activated sprinkler from Contech Electronics, you can safely and humanely deter any unwanted guests from entering your lawn or garden. Deter all animals with no chemicals, traps, or unsightly fencing.

The Scarecrow is a motion sensing sprinkler, capable of detecting movement to a range of approximately 35ft. This translates to an area of protection of 1000 sq ft.

When the Scarecrow senses an intruder, it snaps into motion, emits a sudden blast of water, and makes a surprising noise. These three actions in combination serve as a very effective deterrent for most unwanted garden visitors.

Personal Review

Stop unwanted visitors from using your lawn.

I initially purchased the Scarecrow because the neighbors free ranging dog had the habit of doing his morning habitual in my lawn. This was especially troublesome because I did all my mowing with a walk behind mower.

After talking to my neighbor receiving profuse if ineffectual apologies and promises to keep the dog from wandering into my yard. I decided to take the situation into my own hands and purchase a Scarecrow sprinkler.

The Scarecrow sprinkler was very easy to set-up. When the package arrived, it took only about 10 mins. from package to placement in the lawn. Simply install a 9v battery, attach hose, and step into lawn. There was only some minor fussing to keep the hose connection from leaking. I am happy to report that the Scarecrow sprinkler put an immediate end to the situation with my neighbors dog.

I have since bought a second sprinkler to keep the deer, wild turkeys, and racoons out of my vegetable garden. The Scarecrow motion activated sprinkler has proven very effective in this application as well.

Here are the pros and cons after several seasons of use:

Pros:

• The Scarecrow is very easy to set-up.
• The Scarecrow is inexpensive, especially when weighed against the cost of potential landscape damage.
• Provides safe and humane protection for your lawn and garden.
• No chemicals required, a very improtant factor when you have children and pets running around the lawn.
• The Scarecrow sprinkler effectively deters a wide variety of pets and wildlife including dogs, cats, deer, turkeys, racoons and more.

Cons:

• I was a little underwhelmed by the Scarecrow's all plastic construction, but it works
• It is difficult to adjust the length of spray to cover a smaller area. If you have a small lawn watch out for the sidewalks, or you may find yourself the recipient of some angry complaints from passers by.
• The Scarecrow's female hose coupler does not spin, making it more difficult than need be to attach the hose to the sprinkler.
• The blast from the Scarecrow's spray can cause it to tip rendering the sprinkler ineffectual, requiring periodic adjustment.

The Conclusion:

After several seasons of use I can say that Contech CRO101 Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler does what it claims to do. Given the fact that I have children and pets that use the lawn and garden, I love not having to use any chemicals. This alone in my opinion out weighs any of the Scarecrow's shortcomings. When you add the simple effectiveness of this motion activated sprinkler you have a winner, that I would recommend to anyone.

One thing I found with the Contech Scarecrow sprinkler is that it doesn't discriminate in it's attempts to deter. I discovered this one day while going about my lawn work. Lost in thought about my to-do list I wandered into range of the motion detector and was immediately brought back to reality, by a sudden blast of ice cold water.

This potential hazard can be quickly and easily eliminated by installing the irrigation timer pictured below. Simply install the timer on your faucet and attach the hose to the timer. Since most animal damage occurs at night, or in the case of the neighbors dog about 5:00 o'clock in the morning. I simply set the timer so that the water was on between 8:00 o'clock in the evening and 8:00 o'clock in the morning leaving me free to go about my business during the day with no worries.

Have you tried the Scarecrow Automatic Sprinkler? I would love to hear what you thought of it. Have you tried similar products? What other surefire tactics do you use to keep unwanted guests from your Garden?