Ask Annie for July 2, 2003
Dear Annie,
I live in an area of Mineral that is hit hard by thieves. Summers are the worst. After six years here, everything I own is locked up, sealed up, put away, chained down, but still, thieves come back on the prowl when they need more meth. In the past five years, I have lost a riding mower, two chain saws, numerous tools, and my mailbox! I have a dog, guns, and an alarm system. All three will probably be stolen this summer. However, your column provided me with an unexpected deterrent. I purchased several of those scarecrow motion detecting water squirting devices to keep the deer and elk out of the woodsy garden area I've planted at the approach to my house. One morning, after a night when the dog barked continually and I knew something was up, I could tell that someone had tried to take the chainsaw carved bears I have out there (chained down, but in the dark and the with the haze in the thieves' minds, they couldn't tell,) but the scarecrows had gone off and sprayed them to the point where they left. Just by coincidence, the area the person's boot tracks are in the most is where I planted new shrubs the deer were feasting on, so I pointed two scarecrows right at it. Their instructions say the blast of water can shoot 150 feet. I get a kick out of imagining the criminal's surprise when the bear he grabbed wouldn't let loose of its log, and he got shot with two powerful sprays of water to boot! Now if only I could get that dog to bite!
(No Name, Mineral, WA)
Dear No Name,
I'm glad to hear your scarecrows frightened more than just deer. Thanks for writing.
Annie
Please write to: Annie, P.O. Box 1084, Eatonville,WA 98328E-mail: letters_annie@hotmail.com