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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
Depending on which hemisphere of the Earth you're currently reading this from, summer is finally starting to fight its way to the surface. For the more "green" of our readers, that can mean it's time to start making plans for summer gardening. But as anyone who's ever planted something edible can tell you, garden pests such as squirrels are fantastically effective at turning all your hard work into a wasteland. Finding ways to keep them away from your crops can be a full-time job, but luckily it's a job nobody will mind if automation steals from humans.
[Peter Quinn] writes in to tell us about the elaborate lengths he is going to keep bushy-tailed marauders away from his tomatoes this year. Long term he plans on setting up a non-lethal sentry gun to scare them away, but before he can get to that point he needs to perfect the science of automatically targeting his prey. At the same time, he wants to train the system well enough that it won't fire on humans or other animals such as cats and birds which might visit his garden.
Source: https://hackaday.com/2018/04/30/training-the-squirrel-terminator/
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 02 2018, @02:39PM (8 children)
Or, you know, have dogs. We have a garden every year and the dogs are extremely effective at keeping the squirrels away and have been trained not to disturb the plants themselves. The only downside is that they provide you will love and affecti.... oh wait.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Snow on Wednesday May 02 2018, @02:49PM (5 children)
You forgot the backyard full of dog shit. That's a definite downside. Especially in spring when you have shit that has fermented all winter long. Sometimes it turns white and appears to grow hair.
There are parts of having a dog I miss, but requiring shoes in the backyard is not one of them.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Bean Dip on Wednesday May 02 2018, @03:02PM (2 children)
Just train them to poop in the neighbor's yard. That's what my neighbor does.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday May 03 2018, @12:10AM (1 child)
Huh... does your neighbour poop into your yard or just trains his dog to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 03 2018, @04:33AM
How else do you train them?
Seriously though, I caught my neighbor trying to teach his dog to defecate in my yard. Asshole.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday May 02 2018, @05:51PM
Yeah, my dog would definitely pee all over my plants, then trample them for added measure as he was chasing the squirrels.
Also, your dog's poop shouldn't be turning white anymore. [reddit.com] Might want to have that checked if it's still occurring.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Wednesday May 02 2018, @08:38PM
If you truly area gardener, you would realize that dog shit is also know as free natural fertilizer.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 02 2018, @02:50PM
dags = data acquisition guys/gals (slang for computer techs, from car racing). While they are typically not well paid by their racing teams, using dags for squirrel control might be overkill?
We tried a sprinkler with built-in motion detector. When it worked, it did a passable job of keeping the suburban deer out of the flower garden. It was an earlier model of this, https://www.walmart.com/ip/Digoo-DG-AK7-Garden-Patio-Water-Sprinkler-Animal-Deterrent-Repellent-Repeller-ScareCrow-PIR-Sensor-Motion-Activated-Solar-Power-Auto-rotation-360-Spr/324020230 [walmart.com] but it seems there is now more than one supplier.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday May 02 2018, @03:01PM
make your neighbors hate you because of all the innane barki.... oh wait.
🌻🌻 [google.com]