Scarecrows of another name

Last fall, one of our native belted kingfishers discovered two elements on Cascade Estates Drive that undoubtedly made it think it had died and gone to heaven: Mary Smith's pond, and the goldfish therein.

Mary, being a person of considerable quilting and sewing talents, coupled with her native instincts, created a scarekingfisher the likes of which no one has ever seen before. Just because the surface of the pond froze over, and said kingfisher left the country, doesn't mean it didn't work.

We're all familiar with the illustrious scarecrow, that stack of sticks, canvas, old clothing and anything else that will scare crows out of the kitchen garden. Mary's creation goes beyond that when it comes to scaring wildlife from damaging or eating crops and things like gold fish; it reminds me of what Art Linkletter went to to protect his rice plantings in Australia in the '70s.

Linkletter thought he could save the world from starvation with a new breed of long-grained rice, and leased thousands of acres in Northern Australia in which he would raise his crops. Then, tens of thousands of native magpie geese found his rice paddies. Sure, he tried scaregeese, but that was a dismal failure. "Been there done that," the geese cackled, and went on plundering the rice paddies.

"Help!" Linkletter shouted, and the U.S. Fish & Wildife Service came to the rescue; the biologists set random explosive charges. (Mary probably thought of that, but what about the neighbors...?) Hah! The geese memorized the "random" explosive sequences and would take to wing just before the "Bang!" then settle back into rice paddies and continue feasting.

Linkletter kept at it, changing sequences and introducing new scare tools, but when hundreds of non-native water buffalo found his rice paddies, he threw in the towel; who ever heard of a scarewaterbuffalo?

Henry Hartshorne, in his 1881 book, "The Encyclopedia of General Information," gives the following advice:

"The most effectual method of banishing them (birds) from a field, as far as experience goes, is to combine with one or other of the scarecrows in vogue the frequent use of the musket. Nothing strikes such terror into these sagacious animals as the sight of a fowling-piece and the explosion of gun powder, which they have known so often to be fatal to their race.

"Such is their dread of a fowling-piece, that if one is placed upon a dyke or other eminence, it will for a long time prevent them from alighting on the adjacent grounds. Many persons now, however, believe that crows, like most other birds, do more good by destroying insects and worms, etc., than harm by eating grain."

Great ideas, but they didn't work for Mr. Linkletter.

Anyway, if you visit the Sisters Library you'll find hundreds of scarecrow works, however, what you won't find is anything like Mary's scarekingfisher. But, she may have opened the door...

Can you imagine a scaremuledeer? Would it look like a camo-dressed archer mannequin standing guard over your kitchen garden with arrow notched? How about a scarecat under the bird-feeder that resembles a Pekingese with six-inch teeth? Such scaredevices might even work better than Havahart's motion-activated sprinkle and light

system.

How about a scarewoodpecker? That may be the way to stop those male white-headed woodpeckers and flickers from making holes in the siding hoping to create a new home for mom and the family; the rubber owls are useless.

America is noted for her entrepreneurs who dream up new businesses and ways to make a living. If you would like Mary to craft a scare-animal of any kind, just send me an email at [email protected]