Scaring away a Heron

So ! My Dad has an issue with a Heron, and here I am trying to think of a way to detect, and scare away a Heron when it lands in his pond.

Any suggestions on the lost accurate way to do this? I thought maybe something like a sensor that if something breaks it's line of sight for more than x seconds, then blast something from an outdoor speaker - something of the sort!

Ideas gladly received


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Not sure how you would differentiate between a Heron and anything else that a trigger might detect.

A camera with motion detection perhaps with a mask so that it only detects motion in the specific area? Once you figure that out it should be trivial to connect a speaker to play a sound, but that might not be enough to bother the Heron. I know the ones around the pond in my back yard aren't particularly bothered by loud noises.

Attach RFID tag to the Heron.

Sam.

What is a Heron's natural predator? Alligator? Snake? Maybe some type of decoy in the water to keep it away.


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Attach RFID tag to the Heron.

Sam.

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I'm a little skeptical of the heron's continued avoidance of a sound. they aren't dumb, and after flying off 5 times when a loud noise happens, they might start figuring it out.

This however:



will keep working. Your only problem is if there's regular traffic from dogs, parents, or others you don't want sprayed. I guess Indigo could control the valve that from the spigot to the sprayer, but those Zwave/Insteon water shutoff valves are expensive!

Does Herron taste good? Might have an idea for you for xmas dinner...

I use one of those cat water sprayers that "Different Computers" linked to.
I swapped the 9v battery inside it to a 9v transformer that is controlled from a Fibaro relay module. It stays powered until any of our back doors are opened and stays off until 30 mins after they are closed (we usually leave the doors open if we're outside)
Hope that helps.


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I use one of those cat water sprayers that "Different Computers" linked to.
I swapped the 9v battery inside it to a 9v transformer that is controlled from a Fibaro relay module. It stays powered until any of our back doors are opened and stays off until 30 mins after they are closed (we usually leave the doors open if we're outside)

That is a GREAT idea!

Really good idea and that's what we've gone with for now actually!
Haven't got to hooking up the automation part and my sister got soaked earlier this week... Maybe I'll leave it as it is