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Deer "Scarer" Speaks Their Language
Speak their language and deer listen. That’s the premise behind a couple of new deterrent products from Bird Gard, LLC. After a decade of research with the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a couple years of testing in orchards, vineyards and landscaped areas, Deer Shield was put on the market last year.

    The basic model for backyard gardeners has a motion sensor and speaker to protect up to 1 1/2 acres. When a deer approaches within 75 ft., the sensor activates a digital recording of a deer sounding alarm, with hostile and territorial calls. Any deer in the area will instinctively flee.

    “Deer are habitual. They like traveling in the same patterns. This is a behavior modification device that causes them to change their travel and feeding patterns,” explains Rick Willis, marketing manager for Bird Gard.

    The $250 unit can be powered by 110-volt power or a standard 12-volt, which will power the unit for several months.

    A Super Pro model covers up to 6 acres with four speakers set every few hundred feet that blast out the deer calls in a random pattern. It works because deer understand the language and it makes them afraid, unlike cannon sounds used in the past, which birds and wildlife adapt to.

    “It’s creating a defensible line,” Willis says. “We’re keeping the deer a great distance from the crops.”

    For example, a pear grower in Oregon had problems with deer coming from a nearby wooded property. Speakers were set in a line along the orchard, and the deer changed their travel patterns and stayed out of the orchard.

    The Super Pro model can have up to 4 speakers ($800 for four). An optional solar panel (starting at $150) ensures continuous power without the hassle of checking batteries.

    “Anyone who buys it has a year to determine if it’s satisfactory. If not, we refund every cent of the purchase price,” Willis says.

    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bird Gard, LLC, 270 E. Sun Ranch Dr., P.O. Box 1690, Sisters, Ore. 97759 (ph 888 332-2328; www.deershieldtech.com).


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2012 - Volume #36, Issue #3