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A Dear Scarer Water Feature Install Can Be Simple
A dear scarer water feature can be easy to install in a few easy steps. But before you begin, be sure to have all of your supplies on hand.
You’ll want a deer scarer spigot and a water-safe, submersible pump. Fortunately, you should find them easily at most pond supply stores, nurseries or online. Plus you’ll need a pond or pot where you can recirculate the water for it. Finally you’ll need electricity to drive the pump.
But if you’re lucky, you might be able to procure a system that runs on a solar panel. That’s because these water feature spigots are often small enough to need just a very small pump. However, in some cases, you might want to install a very large spigot. So if that’s the case, be sure to go big on everything!
The First Steps to Install Your Deer Scarer spigot
If you are using a pot, be sure it is sealed and will hold water. If you have a pond with water, you’re already half way there!
And be sure you electrical set up is water safe. In fact, it might be a good idea to bring in a qualified electrician to help with that.
Now that you have your water-filled location and your electrical system in place, it’s time to set things up.
First, choose a spot to locate the pump. If you’re using a pot, that’s easy, it goes in the bottom of the pot. Fit it securely so it won’t float once you fill the pot with water. But if you’re working in a pond, you’ll need to locate the pump securely close to where you want to site the bamboo spigot it self.
Once your pump is secured, attach the spigot to the pump and secure the spigot into the pond or the pot. Exactly how you do this correctly may vary depending on the manufacturer of the spigot. Some will have securing pieces in the kit. Others may need to be weighted with rocks as shown in these images.
Next connect the electrical system, but do not power it up. That’s because you need to be sure the pump is fully submerged in water. So if you’re using a pot, fill it with water. Once everything is connected, secured and the water is filled, you should be good to turn on the pump.
Once Your Deer Scarer Water Feature Begins to Run…
It may take a minute or two for the water to pass through. But shortly after you start things up, water should begin trickling out of the upper spigot to fill the catch below. And once the catch is filled, it will do the “clunk & pour” that these deer scarer water features are known for.
If it doesn’t flow properly, you may need to check your pump for clogs. Or you may find that you need to turn the output of the pump up or down to create the flow you want and need.
These Simple Bamboo Water Features are also known as Deer Chasers or Shishi Odoshi.
If you’re considering adding a deer scarer water feature to your garden, consider a few things first:
- Deer scarers may not actually scare away the deer that live in your garden. Or they might scare them at first but not for long.
- And deer scarers can actually be annoying in some gardens. That’s because they do make deep pitched clunking noises. While some people love the sound, others really do not.
And if you need more help figuring out your water features or how to deal with deer in your garden, sign up to be notified when our training programs are next open for enrollment. That way you’ll be first in line to sign up for our premiere training!
Nice piece on the Japanese deer scarer. Would like to try one of those in the new potager I am putting in; can you tell me the source of the one you got for your mother?
BTW, do you mind if I link to this blog…I find it interesting that we are doing the same kind of online writing on the two coasts. You can certainly link to mine (address above) if you find it of interest.
Best
I purchased the basic parts for this deer scarer from http://www.fallingwatergardens.com/. Please let them know you heard about it here!
I’m so glad to see that other folks are having good luck with homemade deer scarers! I just stumbled across the bamboo version today, but we’ve been using a metal deer scarer all summer with great results. Our garden used to disappear down deer’s gullets on a regular basis, but so far our homemade deer deterrents have been 100% effective. (Though we did turn one off for 45 minutes a few weeks ago and had deer in the garden again!) We may try the bamboo version next year to pretty it up!