"Motion-activated sprinkler"--- my new weapon against 4-legged garden vandals---
Got it set up and running, but think it needs some "fine-tuning" yet---
I have been engaged in a battle against ground hogs and perhaps rabbits,
who devoured almost all of my garden in 2023 (due to drought, I think---
they ate everything but corn and tomato plants while the plants were small--
and even chewed on some of the tomato plant leaves, which are toxic--
ate all the young cucumber plants, expanded green beans, peppers and HOT peppers--
before the plants were fairly started--- I had nothing left that year
but some tomatoes, and corn which I neglected out of depression which never amounted to anything)
Last year I had some sunflower plants which I raised well above ground,
until they were nearly three feet tall--- and once I finally planted them in the ground,
the groundhog took them all down, one day at a time, even though I had STAKED them---
and I never saw the f***** in the act, but I knew who did it...
(Only one of these sunflowers had started the actual flower,
but it seemed to have acquired a taste for the leaves alone...)
thus I had a big grudge against that animal (who came from a colony next door,
which also extended into my own back yard... and front porch)
So this year I had resolved to kill it as the last resort
(I had tried all other remedies already--- marigolds, putting ammonia-saturated cotton-balls down its holes,
live-catch traps, which caught one of the young ones, but no one else thereafter...)
so upon advise of some online friends, I purchased a Crossman air rife/pellet gun,
slightly under .22 caliber, along with some "expanding" pellet ammunition,
stalked and finally shot the animal, through one eye, I think--- but it didn't die---
Just looked confused and not quite sure where its holes were, and perhaps visually impaired,
but managed to retreat to one before I could put a second shot into it.
I became rather depressed over this, as it was not my aim to inflict suffering on the animal,
but hoped that it had gone into its hole to die. It was a rather bloody scene...
One week later I finally saw it again, but I was on my way to the first bathroom trip of the morning,
and when I came back it was gone. It saw me in the window above, it seems, and beat a hasty retreat.
I was not able to observe any of its behavior at the time....
That was more than a week ago, and haven't seen it since... so either it finally died,
or has just learned to stay the hell out of my backyard! lol
So I was searching on Ebay for a video camera which might alert me to when
these animals were in my backyard, and discovered the "motion-activated sprinkler"
completely by accident--- but THIS seemed like a better solution,
and would work 24 hours a day, without me trying to play "Rifleman"
in another bloody scene!
Also saw a rabbit back there very early one morning, with its nose in my chive patch,
which was the only plant back there at the time, and they don't particularly like,
rabbits have been the scourge of my okra patch in the past, even dug under a cage to get to them---
so I did contemplate shooting it, but I had already ordered the motion-activated sprinkler at the time,
so I didn't try to kill it.
Hoping and thinking that this sprinkler will solve my problem---
seems like the noise it makes when it starts up would be enough to scare away either animal--
(the groundhog was alert even to the sound of me opening my back window)
let alone being sprayed with water--- never seen either one out in the rain...
"Live and let live--- just stay the hell away from my garden
and we may both live in peace! " )
Wish I'd discovered that sprinkler before spending money on the air rifle and ammo,
the sprinkler was much cheaper also... $25 delivered on Amazon, as opposed to nearly $80 for the other...
(and yeah, I don't usually buy off Amazon, but it was the cheapest option in this case)
"Aqua Joe Pest Deterrent Sprinkler"
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