Raccoons learned how to bypass the device

I have a tangle with two raccoons digging up the backyard lawn stops at our pond and waterfall were destroying all the plants, muddying up the water, and doubtless traumatizing the goldfish. I came upon one Scarecrow within the space where they have been digging at the lawn. I conjointly came upon a security camera to look at them.

At first the Scarecrow worked. Not too long when I put in it, I happened to be awake at 2am and heard the sprinkler burst off, therefore i glanced out the bedroom window blinds and need to see the biggest raccoon provides it another go, with the opposite 3 somewhat bit back betting on like some comical cartoon characters. As soon because the one raccoon got close to the waterfall, the sprinkler went once more and that they all scattered. a number of the juvenile raccoons simply cannot believe that scary issue remains there in order that they come many times per week however our pond remains undisturbed.

What would build this nice product even higher may be a built-in timer. I favor to have the motion/infrared detector off throughout the day that the birds and alternative critters will use the pond, and it is a little bit of a chore to travel out there each morning and evening. nowadays though I solved that downside. I had a spare 9volt AC adapter lying around, and therefore I hooked it up to a weatherproof timer (the one i take advantage of for vacation lights), ran some low-voltage wire out to the Scarecrow and hooked up it to the battery terminals. currently the Scarecrow is on solely from midnight to 8am -- perfect! it'd spray them and they'd run away.

After many nights, however, the raccoons learned the way to bypass the device. The Scarecrow works by shooting a three second burst of water followed by an eight second delay before another burst is fired off. The eight second delay is constructed into the device so as to present the spray pattern a way of randomness to the animals.

When the raccoons would visit my backyard, they'd trip the motion sensor on the device, run out of the spray zone, wait out the three second burst of water, and then run into the lawn space i used to be attempting to guard throughout the eight second delay. Once they were within the space i used to be attempting to guard, they created very little body movement as they were digging away so the Scarecrow's motion detector could not detect them. I even had the sensitivity dial on the device cranked up to the very best setting and it would not trip. I ended up returning it.

I still provides it three stars though as a result of i prefer the concept of a motion-activated water sprayer for intruding animals and that i will see it operating against birds or less tenacious animals than raccoons. :) The eight second delay ought to be faraway from the device, however.