You find out overnight. The new seedlings are gone, there are claw marks down the lemon tree, something has been through the compost again, and the roses have been stripped to stems. Fencing the whole yard is not happening, and nobody wants to be out there at two in the morning with a torch. This sits on a stake at the edge of the bed and watches that patch for you. When something crosses in front of it, the motion sensor fires and the unit answers with an ultrasonic tone, a burst of flashing white light and an alarm — on whichever setting you have chosen for whatever keeps turning up. Then it drops back to standby and waits.

Why It Stands Out

• Five Tuned Settings — Three ultrasonic bands, a light-only setting and an all-at-once setting. A possum repellent tone is not the same tone that moves a cockatoo along, and this lets you pick.
• Motion Triggered — A PIR sensor watches for movement and the unit stays quiet until something crosses it. Nothing runs all night for no reason.
• Light as Well as Sound — A bank of white LEDs flashes with the tone. For a nocturnal animal the sudden light does as much work as the sound, which is why setting four is light on its own.
• Sensitivity Dial — Turn it down and only something the size of a possum or a fox sets it off. Turn it up and it catches smaller visitors crossing the same ground.
• Solar With USB Backup — The panel charges it through the day, and the USB port tops it up indoors after a run of grey weather. No batteries to buy.
• IP45 Rated — A stated rating rather than a vague promise of weatherproofing, so you know what it is built to take.
• Stake or Wall — It pushes into soil on the supplied stake, or hangs off two keyhole slots on the back if you would rather have it on a post or a shed wall.

Where to Put It

• Facing the Vegetable Patch — Where the damage actually is. Point it across the beds rather than along them so the sensor sweeps the whole plot.
• At the Base of a Fruit Tree — Possums climb from the ground up. A unit at the trunk covers the approach rather than the canopy.
• By the Compost Bin — The spot rats and possums visit most reliably, and the easiest place to see whether it is doing anything.
• Across a Fence Line — Aimed at the top of the fence or the branch they come in on, so a cat deterrent catches them at the entry point instead of in the middle of the lawn.
• Beside the Chook Run — Facing outward at the ground a fox would cross, as a fox deterrent covering the approach to the pen.
• Under the Verandah — Mounted on the wall facing the decking, where cats sleep and birds roost overnight.
• Over a New Lawn — Pointed across fresh turf or new seed as a bird scarer while it establishes.

How It Works

1. The Sensor Watches — A passive infrared sensor detects the body heat of something moving across its field. Warm-blooded animals trip it; the unit ignores a still garden.
2. The Setting Picks the Band — Setting one runs 13.5 to 20 kHz for rats, mice, dogs and foxes. Setting two runs 15 to 25 kHz, the band for cats and animals of that size. Setting three runs 25 to 34.5 kHz for birds and bats. Setting four is flashing light alone, and setting five runs the lot together.
3. Sound, Light and Alarm Together — On a trigger the unit emits its tone, flashes the LED array and sounds an alarm. The combination is the point: an animal that ignores one rarely ignores all three at once.
4. Then It Goes Quiet — Six seconds after the movement stops it drops into low-power standby, which is what makes a solar animal repeller last through a cloudy week.

How to Set It Up

1. Charge It First — Give it a day in full sun, or an hour on USB, before the first night out.
2. Choose the Setting — Possums and cats on one or two, rats and foxes on one, birds and cockatoos on three. Setting five if you have more than one problem.
3. Mount It Low and Aimed — Push the stake in so the sensor sits around 30 to 50 cm off the ground, which is the height most garden visitors cross at. Face it at the ground they walk on, not at the sky.
4. Clear the Line of Sight — Infrared does not see through foliage. Trim anything directly in front or the sensor spends the night watching a shrub.
5. Set the Sensitivity — Start in the middle. If it is firing at moving leaves, wind it down; if the animal is getting past it, wind it up.

Tip: Move it every couple of weeks, even by a metre or two. Animals learn a fixed point faster than they learn a moving one, and the same unit in a new spot starts working again.

Care and Maintenance

• Wipe the Panel and the Lens — Dust on the panel costs run time and dust on the sensor lens costs detection. Both come off with a damp cloth.
• Top It Up Over Winter — Short days and low sun mean a USB charge every few weeks keeps it responding properly.
• Check It After Storms — Press the stake back down and make sure the unit is still facing the ground you meant it to watch.
• Bring It In If You Stop Using It — Rated IP45, which covers splashing and rain, not weeks sitting in standing water or a summer under full sun doing nothing.

Specifications

What's Included

• 1 × Solar ultrasonic animal deterrent
• 1 × Ground stake