When we first saw this product on the top sellers list at Amazon.com, we though how nice it would have been to have this at our former home in Minnesota, where we had a large garden that was getting eaten up by deer and raccoons.

Using the Contech Electronics CRO101 Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler is a friendly and humane method for deterring deer, dogs, cats, raccoons and other wild critters from eating your outdoor plants and vegetable gardens. The Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler uses a battery operated motion detector to detect the presence of animal pests, and then unleashes a surprise spray of water, which send them running.

If you spend a lot of time in your garden, and you live in an area with lots of wildlife, you probably understand how upsetting it is when you put in all of the work, but local wildlife does all of the harvesting. We had a serious problem with raccoons raiding our vegetable gardens and deer feasting on our hostas. We lost several trees in a fruit orchard because deer would strip all of the young apple branches every springtime, until the trees looked like skeletons. We tried standard animal repellents, but they only worked until the next rainfall and we were concerned about using some of these chemical on our food.

When the ScareCrow’s motion detector detects an animal it instantly releases a brief and startling burst of water. Animals quickly learn to avoid your yard and the area near the ScareCrow. This can also be used to protect fish pond from herons and raccoons who eat your fish. This beats the use of fences, chemical sprays and other deterrents.

The ScareCrow’s motion detector is powerful enough to guard an area up to 1000 square feet of coverage with a single sprinkler. Scarecrow sprinklers can be linked in series to guard larger spaces. The ScareCrow does not require special tools. It runs on a standard 9 volt battery (not included). The package includes the sprinkler, mount and motion detector. It also includes a 2-year limited warranty.