Contech CRO101 Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler
by Contech
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List Price: Our Price: $34.99 You Save: $25.00 (42%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Contech CRO101 Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler
Customer Review: Take That You Waskally Wabbits
Summary: 4 Stars
This isn't the perfect solution to those pesky wabbits in my yard but it's a good deterrent. It works as advertised but there is a learning curve to its set up location & sensitivity if you are planning on using it in an area where people are present or cars drive by.
I bought it to protect my newly planted yard but I found that I was also protecting my neighbors driveway from that pesky car that wanted to park in the driveway. Sensitivity and distance has been re-set but the neighbor still isn't talking to us.
I especially like the fact that the distance and radius of the spray are easily set and you don't have to be a irrigation expert to opperate it. The down side on our small lot was finding a location where it wouldn't be set off by cars or people. After trial and error, I think that we've finally got it. It has a default so it won't go off every 8 seconds if you are 'Scare Crow challenged' and don't get the settings right at first.
Cost is probably the bigest deterrent to purchasing but its price is much higher in retail stores. I am planning on getting my moneys worth though as it will move to the back yard garden when the new front is established. It would be nice if the 9volt battery was included. There's nothing more dissapointing than getting a new toy and having to wait to use it.
And be prepared for neighborhood kids on a hot day ;-)
Customer Review: Fantastic for keeping cats out of tree with baby birds.
Summary: 5 Stars
Every year we have Blue Jays try to raise a nest of babies in the maple tree that our patio is built around. The problem is that we have 16 cats. Over the years we have devised different things to keep the cats from climbing the tree when the babies hatch and they hear them chirping. Some years we have been successful and the baby birds have made it to adults and other years we have not. I was dreading it when they started a nest this spring. I decided to get on the internet and see if there wasn't something out there that would keep the cats out of the tree. I found the Scarecrow. The absolute PERFECT solution. Cats don't like water. I pulled over a tall, rolling trash can,(so it would be up off the ground enough not to see the dogs go by) plopped a 2cf, unopened bag of potting soil on the top and stuck the stake, with the Scarecrow on it, into the bag. I hooked up my hose and turned it on. I haven't had ANY of my cats try to go up that tree. I've seen them laying in a chair on the patio looking up at the nest, but they have not messed with the birds. I could go to work during the day with peace of mind, knowing the birds were safe. I am happy to report that we just watched all 4 babies fledge the nest. Now this Scarecrow is going to duty in my flower garden keeping the cats from using it as their bathroom. I HIGHLY recommend this item!!!Customer Review: Finally! No deer...
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and I have a large perennial bed in our wooded lot, and we love collecting and growing hostas. Unfortunately, the neighborhood deer passed the word to each other that the salad bar was open, and goodbye hostas whenever we left town for more than a few days. I've tried everything except fencing, but given a choice between a fence and no hostas, well... I'm sorry, hostas. Two years ago I read about the Scarecrow, so I ordered three, bought a bunch of new hoses, and set them in place in a triangle that covered every approach. Voila! We now have hostas. As soon as the last freeze on year #2, I was quick to re-place the Scarecrows, and we now have a beautiful bed of hostas, growing like they should - instead of stalks nibbled to the ground. I'm a tough reviewer, but this product works. Sure you have to remember to turn the water off if you go in there weeding, but if you forget, getting wet is not the worst thing in the world. When activated (infrared, not just motion), the spray only lasts a few seconds, so it's really not a big deal. If you are fighting deer, forget powders and sprays because believe me, I've tried them all with zero success except emptying my wallet. Unless you are prepared to provide human urine every other day (I'm not, but it's the best repellant), Scarecrow will keep your salad bar open to you - but not your furry friends.Customer Review: Review of Contech Scarecrow
Summary: 5 Stars
My home is at the edge of a parkland forest, and there is a severe problem of deer encroaching and eating the flowers and shrubs. For over a decade I have tried many approaches to repel the deer, including barricades, taste and odor repellents, electrical shocking devices, noisemakers, and sprinklers. The most successful repellers are those that use infra-red motion sensors to frighten the deer by suddenly flashing a light, making a sound, or squirting them with water. However, all of these electronic devices, except for the Contech Scarecrow, suffer from problems of short battery life and unreliability. The Scarecrow is the only such device I know of that seals all of the electronic circuits in a solid block of cast plastic to keep out moisture, insects, and fungus. It operates reliably, day and night, in all kinds of weather. I bought my first one almost ten years ago, and currently have four of them at work in my yard. The purchase cost is more than other deer frighteners, but they last so long that they are cheaper in the long run. Sometimes "false alarms" are caused by sunlight reflected from moving foliage, but this can be eliminated by turning the Scarecrows off in bright sunlight. You have to remember to turn each Scarecrow off before mowing or gardening in front of it, and you can't use the Scarecrow when the temperature is below freezing.Customer Review: Not for short critters
Summary: 3 Stars
The first problem I had was with the leaking pass-through cap. I covered the threads with thread tape to fix that, but that really should not have been necessary. (Minus one star, since most people will not have thread tape.)
The next problem was that the water shoots too high in the air. I wanted to aim it at the base of some bird feeders which a raccoon raids every night (climbing over the raccoon baffle), but it was going over the entire feeder from about 10' away. (Minus one star.)
Next, I tried moving it to a flower bed where an armadillo often digs, but even putting it on the downhill edge of the bed and slanting it down as much as I could while still being able to get the stake into the ground, the spray was still too high and WAY too long. (Minus one star for not being able to scale down the spray distance to below 15'.)
On the positive side, the device uses an infrared sensor, meaning that it keys on moving heat, so that branches blowing in the wind should not set it off. (Add back one star, since the cheapy alternative would have been a simple motion detector.)
I'm hoping that having the spray go over the armadillo's head, plus the noise, will be enough to scare him off, but I would have preferred to have it actually hit him with a direct blast of water.