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Photo Credit: Contech Inc.

Motion-activated animal deterrents like the ScareCrow® can keep your garden free from critters as small as squirrels to ones as large as deer.

Every garden has them – pests. And they come in all shapes and sizes. From small and slimy slugs to hungry four-legged Bambis and everything in between. While you can find an endless array of chemical deterrents on the market, that’s not always the way home gardeners want to go. Thankfully there are other methods to keep pests at bay – and the best part is that once they’re installed, you can set ’em and forget ’em.

One easy way to get unwanted furry visitors to leave your garden is to frighten them away, and the ScareCrow® might be able to help. This motion-activated pest deterrent is designed to sense any-size animal on the ground, from deer to squirrels. Once detected, it uses a short burst of water to keep the approaching critters away. The product attaches to a regular garden hose and is pretty water wise – each spray only uses about 2-3 cups-worth of water.

One ScareCrow can cover about 1,200 square feet (45 feet wide and as far as 33 feet out), and more than one can be connected in a series to cover more space.

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CatStop™ reportedly scares off felines with sharp sounds that only they can hear.

Hook your ScareCrow up and turn it on, and it’ll work 24 hours a day for up to 4 months on one battery, the manufacturer says. (Just don’t forget to turn it off when your family or pets are out in the yard, or they might get soaked!)

If you’ve got a problem with cats (kitties digging in your garden, using the kids’ sandbox as a litter box, ripping apart your catmint, spraying your yard, etc.), then you might consider a product like CatStop™. This automatic deterrent detects movement of nearby animals and emits an ultrasonic burst of sound that only feline foes can supposedly hear. (It reportedly doesn’t affect other animals like dogs because the frequency is set at a level they can’t hear.) The sound covers about 280 square feet, and the deterrent is said to last about 6 months in the yard on one battery.