Do Scarecrows Work? How to Protect Your Garden From Hungry Birds and Critters

The traditional idea of a scarecrow is to put a dummy or mannequin in a field to scare off birds trying to raid your garden. In reality, those things are far more likely to scare you rather than birds. (Is it just my imagination, or did that scarecrow just move?)

Birds are smart. They get accustomed to things in their environment that don’t actually hurt them. So don’t be surprised if a stationary scarecrow after a while just becomes a very convenient perch so the crows can see you coming from a mile away. But don’t give up! There are lots of ways to scare off birds and other invaders from your garden. We’ve made a list of some of the most effective ways to repel garden pests. Try them and see what works for you.

Light and Movement

Light and movement are some of the key ingredients of a successful bird-and-critter scaring strategy. A cheap and easy solution is to tie old CDs or DVDs with string on your plants. As the wind blows on them, the sun will glint and reflect in unpredictable ways, confusing and frightening wildlife.

Faux Predators

Instead of making a human-shaped scarecrow, why not one that looks like the actual predators feasting on birds in your area? You can buy kites that look like raptors and suspend them above your garden so that they move in the sun. Whether looking directly at the object or at its shadow on the ground, birds and ground-based pests like rabbits will think it’s a hungry predator and stay away.

Fly Your Favorite Flag

If you don’t want to litter up your yard with CDs or fake birds, you might like the visual aesthetic of flags better. Experiment with different colors and patterns. Any of them will create movement and, on an especially windy day, sound that can frighten animals on the ground or in the air.

Balloons

Balloons are another possibility. These are more problematic. Actual helium-filled balloons won’t last long before they’ve lost their lift. And burst balloons, if not cleaned up, are not great for the ecosystem. Try to find something actually designed for this purpose. But, if you don’t know what to do with those leftover birthday balloons, well, this could be a solution for a week or so—which might just be enough for you to get a strategic harvest in.

Wind Ornaments

The sky’s the limit when it comes to wind ornaments. They come in all shapes, sizes, and price ranges. Even a simple pinwheel might do the trick. An advantage of a cheap solution like this is that they’re easy to move to another location from time to time to create that added element of unpredictability that will keep your varmints from getting too complacent.

Anti-Bird Spikes

Ultrasonic Repellers

These are for underground pests like mice, gophers, or moles. They’re sonic devices, often solar-powered, that emit a high-pitched noise at a frequency that can cause discomfort to pests and drive them away. It is an easy, long-term solution that doesn’t involve traps, chemicals, or dispatching furry animals yourself. Research is ongoing for sonic devices like this that can actually distinguish pest birds from those that are harmless and issue a loud sound when appropriate.

Nighttime Predators

Above Ground Ultrasonic Repellers

Ultrasonic repellers are available not just for underground pests but for squirrels and other above-ground creatures as well. You may be wondering whether they bother pets. That’s a very good question because there are ultrasonic devices that activate when dogs bark to discourage them from making noise. Devices designed for rodent pests are at a frequency that dogs and cats can hear, but it does not seem to bother them. If you have pet rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, or other rodents, do not use one of these devices as it will cause them distress.

Urine Repellants

People-Friendly Scents

If you don’t fancy the idea of your yard smelling like a zoo, do some quick research on the pest you’re trying to eliminate online and discover some of the natural scents you can disburse that will make your yard smell nice to you, but stink to those unwelcome guests. Depending on your climate zone, you might consider planting some of these, or buying them in powdered or liquid form to spray, diluted in water, around your property. Examples include peppermint, cinnamon, eucalyptus, lavender, sage, marigolds, basil, mint, and many others. Using these can help make sure the guests who come back to your property again and again are the two-legged kind.