If you're thinking of buying a Contech motion Scarecrow Sprinkler to use as a cat deterrent to keep cats and dogs (and other animals) away from your yard or garden, this article is a review of the CRO101 model of the Motion Scarecrow and it will explore some pros and cons plus other things you'll want to keep in mind before you decide to purchase it.
First, an explanation of how this particular motion-activated sprinkler works.
The motion Scarecrow is a pulsating lawn sprinkler which starts up suddenly and operates for just a few seconds (rotating back and forth) to spray an arc of water over a thousand-square-foot area. You can adjust the arc to control the area sprayed.
Whenever the motion detector sprinkler detects an animal in its "field of view," its sudden activation of a pulsating stream of water sweeping back and forth for several second startles (and annoys) the intruder.
The Scarecrow is supposed to detect animals in a thousand square foot area and can be used to keep not only cats but dogs, geese, rabbits, and squirrels out of a particular area of your yard. Since the motion-detector works both day and night, it can be especially useful as a repellent against nocturnal animals like deer, skunks, and raccoons.
Because animals (and people) don't like to be sprayed unexpectedly with water, they quickly learn to avoid the area protected by the sprinkler. So if you have people cutting across parts of your yard as a shortcut, or neighbors who walk their dogs to your property to do their "business," then this motion sprinkler may be the perfect deterrent. If they complain, you can always claim it's there to keep stray cats and racoons off your property.
Construction: The sprinkler is made mostly of plastic and has a distinctive, cartoon-looking crow's head for the sprinkling unit. I personally don't like the looks of the crow head but perhaps it helps the animals quickly recognize the unit in "conditioning process."
Even the 17-inch mounting stake is plastic, so do not try to hammer it in if your ground is hard. First, soften the ground with water or hammer a spike or something else into the ground to create a hole so that you can easily insert the stake.
The Scarecrow sprinklers have a manufacturer's two-year limited warranty and, according to the reviews for this and other Contech products, the company has an excellent customer service department.
This cat repellent sprinkler uses a 9-volt battery which you'll have to buy yourself. Each battery should last at least a month or more, but that's determined partly by how often the sprinkler is activated. It's always nice to have extra batteries on hand.
Of course, the unit must be connected to a garden hose which must be left turned on all the time. If you have only one outside faucet, you may want to buy a two or three-way "splitter" connector which screws onto your spigot so that you can attach more than one hose at the same time. That will allow you to use another garden hose without having to disconnect your Motion Scarecrow. .
In my own case, my faucet leaked slightly whenever I used my garden hose so I had to get a new washer for the hose before being able to use the Scarecrow. Actually, I also ended up having to wrap the end of the hose connector with plumber's Teflon tape which you can find at plumbing supply places, Home Depot or Lowe's. But this leak was a problem with my hose and faucet, not the sprinkler, itself. Just be aware that before leaving your Scarecrow turned on for extensive periods, you'll want to make sure you have no leaks in the hose itself, or where the hose connects to the faucet or to the sprinkler.
Of course, except when it's activated, the sprinkler is not supposed to be using water. And when it is activated, it uses only about a cup of water. So even in areas experiencing water shortages using your motion activated sprinkler should not be a major drain on your water resources. In any case, you may want to make sure that you position your Contech Scarecrow so that when activated it's actually watering your garden at the same time that it's scaring off animals.
If you have a large yard, you may want 2 or even 3 of these units. Figure out where you can strategically place them to give you the most protection with the fewest number of sprinklers-perhaps at the natural entrances into your yard or garden area. I'd recommend getting just one unit to start with to make sure it meets your needs. If you buy more, you should know that the multiple units can be hooked up "in series" with hoses running from one unit to the next so that you have to connect only the first hose to your faucet. Just remember to check the hoses regularly for leaks. And remember to turn off the water before approaching the units so that you won't end up getting soaked yourself.
The drawbacks of the Contech Scarecrow: If you need to protect an area of your yard that's pretty far away from your outdoor faucet, you'll have to run long distances of garden hose to the Motion Scarecrow. That can be expensive and maybe unsightly. And, if you're running the hoses across your lawn, you'll have to deal with moving them when cutting the grass. A minor annoyance.
Those who live in the northern states or colder climates will have to worry about their hoses freezing in the winter. So your yard may be unprotected during the winter months. But perhaps using the sprinkler during the warmer months to do your "animal training" will be sufficient. When you disconnect the hose, you may want to leave the Scarecrow in place during the winter in hopes that the animals have been conditioned to fear the distinctive crow's head style of the sprinkling unit.
If you live in an area with water rationing or restrictions on lawn watering, you may not be able to use the sprinkler (even though it uses only a tiny amount of water each time it's activated.)
NOTE: In some of these cases where using Contech Scarecrow sprinkler is impractical, you may want to install a similar, motion-detector cat-deterrent called the CatStop Ultrasonic Outdoor Cat Deterrent. It startles animal intruders by suddenly emitting a high-frequency ultrasonic squeal (above the range of human hearing.)
Since these self-contained, battery-powered CatStop units don't rely on water, they can be used year-round in colder climates and can overcome some of the water-shortage problems listed above. Plus, the motion-detector ultrasonic units can be put in areas of your yard where it's impractical to run a garden hose. On the Pros side: the Scarecrow motion detector sprinkler is environmentally-friendly since it humanely deters and repels cats and other nuisance animals without the use of dangerous chemicals, traps, or other devices.
And, if you live in a neighborhood, subdivision, or gated community where fences are prohibited, or your yard is just so large that fencing is prohibitively expensive, unsightly, then this Scarecrow motion-activated sprinkler may be one of your better cat deterrent alternatives.
In summary: If you find yourself repeatedly angry because your neighbor's cats (or other nuisance animals) are ruining your lawn, garden, or pond, then you'll probably find the Contech Scarecrow motion detector sprinkler to be a good addition to your cat deterrent arsenal.
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