To keep animals out of the garden

Has anyone tried the Orbit Yard Enforcer?
It's a motion activated sprinkler that is expandable to utilize more than one sprinkler.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_419999-74985-27629_0__?productId=4363433

https://youtu.be/Wsc_yOJl_Tg

TSHRED wrote:Has anyone tried the Orbit Yard Enforcer?
It's a motion activated sprinkler that is expandable to utilize more than one sprinkler.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_419999-74985-27629_0__?productId=4363433

https://youtu.be/Wsc_yOJl_Tg

I used a cheaper version of that called the Scarecrow last year.  Mine was going off for everything including the movement of plants in the wind and resulted in a large increase in the water bill.  The people who sell those will tell you that the sensitivity can be adjusted, which it can to an extent, but obviously if you turn it down very much it doesn't turn on when/where you need it.  I have read elsewhere too that animals adapt to them.

I tried one of those motion detect water sprayers to try to keep deer out of the garden, and had a trail cam set to watch it.  The first time the deer encountered it, they ran like mad. The 2nd time they encountered it, they jumped a little and then stopped to look at it.  But, the 3rd time they encountered it, they decided it was a good way to get a bath. I called the dealer about that, and they said I had to move it every day or two so they would not get used to it. So, I moved it back to the company I bought it from.

When I first started square foot gardening 25 years ago, I loved how compact the garden was.  But I quickly learned how fast animals could destroy such a small compact garden.  Groundhogs,  rabbits, deer, birds......
So I experimented with various covers.  First I tried the removable chicken wire covers that sat on the 4x4 boxes.  But those interfered with the plants that would  splay over the boxes.  So i tried using pvc pipes to create a hoop house that would span beyond the garden boxes, allowing me to walk inside.    I covered it with chicken wire, assuming I was good.  Nope, I learned that snow will accumulate on chicken wire, and my pvc hoops were crushed in a snowstorm.  PVC pipe is easy to work with, but not very strong.  
I should have removed the chicken wire in the fall, but it is hard to roll it up and store it.  Instead, I discovered game bird netting.  It is a plastic netting used by people who raise game birds.  Great stuff.  It comes in very large rolls, it is durable, and can be taken down in the fall, rolled up and left outside.

Now that's a great idea.

has55 wrote:Now that's a great idea.

+1

It is. And I have a question:

How does it compare to the light-weight bird netting that is an absolute mess to try & re-fold. (We ended up tossing the stuff we got at TSC when it kept getting stuck together & was impossible to fold up. But we DID get 6 gallons of blueberries that year vs. the normal 3!)

AtlantaMarie wrote:It is.  And I have a question:  

How does it compare to the light-weight bird netting that is an absolute mess to try & re-fold.  (We ended up tossing the stuff we got at TSC when it kept getting stuck together & was impossible to fold up.  But we DID get 6 gallons of blueberries that year vs. the normal 3!)

I bought my game bird netting on-line from Cutler's Supply.  I bought their lightweight knitted 1" netting, 25'x50'.   I found it to be very durable and easy to work with.  In the late fall, I remove it from the hoops and roll it up.   And I leave it rolled up on the ground until next spring.   I highly recommend it.

Mikesgardn wrote:

is this PVC or EMT pipes

has55 wrote:

Mikesgardn wrote:

is this PVC or EMT pipes

Those are pvc pipes.