How to detect wild animal pests in a windy garden?
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The trouble with these consumer devices is that it's very hard to know what it is that you're getting. No datasheets. Nonetheless, I'd say the minimum features are a frequency knob that encompasses a frequency range well outside human hearing (I don't want to be annoyed by hearing it), weatherproofing (preferably IP66 or better), a large mini solar panel (I've seen some with solar panels that seem just too small), and advertising on the box which claims that the device will rid the type of pest you want excised. That still leaves one vulnerable to being scammed, though, so I filter that list by picking the ones that have both the best reviews and a large number of reviews by verified purchasers.
On top of that, it probably means getting about three different ones made by different manufacturers so that hopefully at least one will actually do the business!
Wish there was an easier way.
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So, I ended up ordering this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072LW4VWV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I'm a bit disappointed that it's only rated IP44 and not IP66 or better, but with luck it will be good enough as the near-term solution. The amazon reviews of it are encouraging that it will do the job. -
There are quite a number of products on the market which are advertised as pest "repellers," and literally all they do is blink an LED at a fixed interval all night long.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KBAIGQO/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1JF0FEJIRJQ6IThe funny thing is: their amazon.com ratings are almost as high as the ultrasonic device that I ordered. Makes me wonder whether any of this stuff actually works at all, or whether by the time people receive their orders the pests have moved on to greener pastures and so consumers wrongly conclude that their newly purchased repellers are effective.
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Actually flashing light into eyes of a night mammal could indeed blind it temporarily as the eye takes time to go back to "low light" mode, not to mention being exposed to light may give off his position to any nearby predator. Anyway cats don't seem to be bothered but maybe something else is more susceptible to these kind of disturbances
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I think a "sure fire" scare tactic would be to have an RC car race out and make a rukus near wherever animal activity is detected. If it could actually chase after the animal, then even better. It would require a whole different level of sophistication, but it's no longer pure science fiction either.
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It might be time to level up :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPgqfnKG_T4@mfalkvidd - this is gold! Love the Sentry water gun idea!
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@sundberg84 said in How to detect wild animal pests in a windy garden?:
@gohan, @NeverDie - I just love the way this project evolves RC Cars and blinding leds... wonder where its going to end!
Oh, we've barely scratched the surface. That's why I'm hoping other people will add some ideas to the brainstorm. The more the merrier!
I kinda like the idea of having a jack-in-the-box fire off in the vicinity. That's sure to scare the bejeasus out of whatever critter wants to munch the plants. It would have to be able to re-arm itself automatically afterward though, because re-arming it manually would get tiresome in a hurry.
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@sundberg84 said in How to detect wild animal pests in a windy garden?:
@gohan, @NeverDie - I just love the way this project evolves RC Cars and blinding leds... wonder where its going to end!
Oh, we've barely scratched the surface. That's why I'm hoping other people will add some ideas to the brainstorm. The more the merrier!
I kinda like the idea of having a jack-in-the-box fire off in the vicinity. That's sure to scare the bejeasus out of whatever critter wants to munch the plants. It would have to be able to re-arm itself automatically afterward though, because re-arming it manually would get tiresome in a hurry.
@NeverDie - How about something like a water pistol directly connected to a water hose? Maybe a bit to much water and a couple of false triggers and the plants will get enough water so survive a year... or drown.
Controller: Proxmox VM - Home Assistant
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - W5100 Ethernet, Gw Shield Nrf24l01+ 2,4Ghz
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - Gw Shield RFM69, 433mhz
RFLink GW - Arduino Mega + RFLink Shield, 433mhz -
@NeverDie - How about something like a water pistol directly connected to a water hose? Maybe a bit to much water and a couple of false triggers and the plants will get enough water so survive a year... or drown.
@sundberg84 said in How to detect wild animal pests in a windy garden?:
@NeverDie - How about something like a water pistol directly connected to a water hose? Maybe a bit to much water and a couple of false triggers and the plants will get enough water so survive a year... or drown.
That's almost the current situation with the motion activated sprinkler (see photo in OP). To the designer's credit, it's a very aggressive sprinkler, not one of the lazy, slow moving types we're all familiar with.
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I oder the LIGHT IT by Fulcrum 20034-104 Motion Sensor Porch Light from https://stoppestinfo.com/372-best-raccoon-repellents.html .
I used it during one month and it work well, using the light like a repeller from raccoons. So i hear about one more way it is a water repeller, but still don't know how it work (i mean good or not))
Any suggestion? -
I oder the LIGHT IT by Fulcrum 20034-104 Motion Sensor Porch Light from https://stoppestinfo.com/372-best-raccoon-repellents.html .
I used it during one month and it work well, using the light like a repeller from raccoons. So i hear about one more way it is a water repeller, but still don't know how it work (i mean good or not))
Any suggestion?@Richard-Johnson said in How to detect wild animal pests in a windy garden?:
I oder the LIGHT IT by Fulcrum 20034-104 Motion Sensor Porch Light from https://stoppestinfo.com/372-best-raccoon-repellents.html .
I used it during one month and it work well, using the light like a repeller from raccoons. So i hear about one more way it is a water repeller, but still don't know how it work (i mean good or not))
Any suggestion?This thing actually did seem to work quite well:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072LW4VWV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=wwwmysensorso-20
Scared the skunk away at least a couple times. The one I bought from aliexpress was total junk though.The water repeller thing may have helped. it's hard to know really.
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@gohan do not judge anything by how it bothers cats. In my experience the only thing that bothers them is if you dont feed them or if you throw away their cardboard box.
The rc car would should work for most critters, really anything that makes a sudden motion should.
Side note raccoons are the only animal less bothered by people than cats.
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Nice topic.
I was gonna to say, thought it may seem Overkill, that you could setup a small zone minder system with a cheap night vision camera pointing downwards as high as possible.
Then zm allows for setting up virtual fences by drawing on the camera image, and if anything changes in the region (with configurable threshold) it fires a trigger or alarm.
You could start the sprinklers.I would like to have a domoticz integration plugin.
