Several days ago while driving up a slight rise, the sun at my back illuminated a scarecrow in the front yard of a house off to the right. It startled me. The figure looked real.
It brought home the purpose of the scarecrow – get the dang birds out of your yard, farm, crops, vegetables, flowers, whatever. The shirt, pants, hat and straw stuffing should look real so that nasty birds are scared. They see the fake man and go to themselves, “Whoa, better fly out of here real quick and find some other pasture to devastate.”
This, of course, doesn’t happen. The scarecrow never moves. It stays in the same position with a silly expression on its face, and the crows keep munching away on your green beans, laughing silently about the humans and their feeble attempt to manipulate the minds of the feathered creatures.
Us humans think we are smart – that putting some fake replica of ourselves will intimidate the winged crop nemesis. But we are not smart, because the scarecrow doesn’t resemble us. It doesn’t move. The birds know this.
So they grow accustomed to its solitary nature, recognizing the corncob pipe in its mouth doesn’t blow smoke and the hand never flicks a match to give it a light. The wind may occasionally blow the scrarecrow’s clothing, causing a gentle sway, and the birds may flock away during this interlude. But this is not part of a typical day.
Why do we presume scarecrows perform their intended function? How can we improve on this model?
As I drove my car past the house that day, it occurred to the inventor inside my body that a moving scarecrow is the logical evolution from its current stationary status. Someone needs to develop a system that easily moves the scarecrow across a field or yard to intimidate the dastardly avian beasts.
Here are some thoughts: The scarecrow not only must physically move through space, but it must also shift its other body parts to give the illusion that it is alive. Technology is available to address these issues.
First, how to get the scarecrow moving: I suggest one of two approaches. The farmer can lay a zip wire above his field on a rotating basis, and string the scarecrow up and install a timed device that gets him zipping around to startle the birds. The timer could be set for momentary pauses and on a staggered speed, so it would go faster or slower during various periods, much like a real human. Have it stay put for awhile, then suddenly move. And so on.
Another moving approach would be to find some way to program a Segway and put the scarecrow on one, then let it race around the farm. That could be funny as well as productive, as the scarecrow navigated corn rows, wheat fields, soybeans or apple trees. Using a Segway would be more logistically difficult to implement, but certainly holds some value.
After solving the movement problem, the final step is to insert technology inside the scarecrow (to be operated by wireless remote device) that allows its arms, head, legs, hands and feet to create motion. Like the movement issue in general, being able to send signals that occasionally cause these body parts to shift would baffle the birds and push them to attack elsewhere, like the neighboring farm.
We’re smarter than birds, aren’t we? Now’s the time to prove it by inventing and implementing the moveable scarecrow system.
If we can operate drones, we can create the moveable scarecrow. Let’s get on it. J
It brought home the purpose of the scarecrow – get the dang birds out of your yard, farm, crops, vegetables, flowers, whatever. The shirt, pants, hat and straw stuffing should look real so that nasty birds are scared. They see the fake man and go to themselves, “Whoa, better fly out of here real quick and find some other pasture to devastate.”
This, of course, doesn’t happen. The scarecrow never moves. It stays in the same position with a silly expression on its face, and the crows keep munching away on your green beans, laughing silently about the humans and their feeble attempt to manipulate the minds of the feathered creatures.
Us humans think we are smart – that putting some fake replica of ourselves will intimidate the winged crop nemesis. But we are not smart, because the scarecrow doesn’t resemble us. It doesn’t move. The birds know this.
So they grow accustomed to its solitary nature, recognizing the corncob pipe in its mouth doesn’t blow smoke and the hand never flicks a match to give it a light. The wind may occasionally blow the scrarecrow’s clothing, causing a gentle sway, and the birds may flock away during this interlude. But this is not part of a typical day.
Why do we presume scarecrows perform their intended function? How can we improve on this model?
As I drove my car past the house that day, it occurred to the inventor inside my body that a moving scarecrow is the logical evolution from its current stationary status. Someone needs to develop a system that easily moves the scarecrow across a field or yard to intimidate the dastardly avian beasts.
Here are some thoughts: The scarecrow not only must physically move through space, but it must also shift its other body parts to give the illusion that it is alive. Technology is available to address these issues.
First, how to get the scarecrow moving: I suggest one of two approaches. The farmer can lay a zip wire above his field on a rotating basis, and string the scarecrow up and install a timed device that gets him zipping around to startle the birds. The timer could be set for momentary pauses and on a staggered speed, so it would go faster or slower during various periods, much like a real human. Have it stay put for awhile, then suddenly move. And so on.
Another moving approach would be to find some way to program a Segway and put the scarecrow on one, then let it race around the farm. That could be funny as well as productive, as the scarecrow navigated corn rows, wheat fields, soybeans or apple trees. Using a Segway would be more logistically difficult to implement, but certainly holds some value.
After solving the movement problem, the final step is to insert technology inside the scarecrow (to be operated by wireless remote device) that allows its arms, head, legs, hands and feet to create motion. Like the movement issue in general, being able to send signals that occasionally cause these body parts to shift would baffle the birds and push them to attack elsewhere, like the neighboring farm.
We’re smarter than birds, aren’t we? Now’s the time to prove it by inventing and implementing the moveable scarecrow system.
If we can operate drones, we can create the moveable scarecrow. Let’s get on it. J