A Year of Blogging: July 3, 2011

July 3 is 'Build a Scarecrow Day'. It might seem a little odd to hold this day in the summer, because Scarecrows are popular fall decor. But this is the time when gardens are starting to produce fresh fruits and veggies, flowers are in full bloom, and pesky animals get into your garden. So this is the time you really do need a scarecrow. There were several things celebrated today, but I chose Build a Scarecrow day for my friend, Annie. Last week she built her own scarecrow to keep the deer out of her flowers. It was this very stylish, almost sexy headless woman. It was very pretty, but the consensus among her friends was she needed a little more to keep the deer out of the garden. When we were children, my dad strung aluminum pie tins on rope around the garden. You have to put them close together, so that when there is any kind of breeze they clang against each other. The noise helps scare off critters. When I was looking online to see how to build a scarecrow, this was actually one of the things suggested. Apparently, it does double duty. The noise scares off animals, but they also see their reflection in the tin and that scares them off too. If you are building a scarecrow, it is important to remember a body is not enough. You need to have something that creates movement, noise, and perhaps reflects light. You could use ribbons or streamers for the movement- anything that will blow in the wind (just make sure to secure it so it doesn't blow away!). For noise, try jingle bells, chimes, or the good old pie tins. You might also want to string soap around your scarecrow- the scent will drive off animals too. Annie suggests Irish Spring. Using smelly old clothes will help too. Don't use the nice clothes you just took out of the dryer. The smellier the better. If the scent of human is powerful, it will keep deer away. You can also place human hair around your scarecrow- it will keep the animals away. But you have to replenish the hair frequently so it smells 'new'. Likewise, you should move your scarecrow periodically. If it is always in the same spot, the deer will know it's nothing that will harm them. If you do have deer in your yard and don't want to build a scarecrow, there are some other things you can try: ~hang mobiles from trees- but it should be something unpleasant to listen to that will keep the deer away ~hang old wine bottles upside down on a post (if you have a fence, maybe hang one on each fencepost). The hope is the deer will rub against it and find your yard undesirable. ~you can also use motion activated lights- electrical or solar. Thankfully, I do not have deer entering my yard. We had a problem with bunnies a couple of years ago. They got into the garden and ate the new leaves off all the pepper plants. I did an online search trying to figure out how to get rid of bunnies (without trying my neighbor's method of shooting them), and the number one answer was 'get a beagle'. So I turned the beagles loose on the bunnies. The bunnies got away, and the beagles were able to do a little hunting. Everyone was happy! From what I've read, the key to keeping critters out of your yard is the element of surprise- so make sure to change things up every once in a while!