Jet-Spray Pond & Gardener Protector

Read the comments about leaks so used PTFE tape on all the connections. The jet is quite fierce and can loosen the spike in the ground. Spike is not very long. Hammered (mallet) 3 bamboo sticks in fairly deep so very secure and tied sprayer to them.All works perfectly, just as it says on the box. Easy to adjust distance of spray, but I haven’t quite worked out how to adjust length of arc but covers most of the pond. Together with the noise it makes it should scare aware any herons / cats.Would definitely recommend for the price. Excellent product.In an ideal world it would know the difference between a heron and a human.

I have a new neighbour, who I will refer to as "mad cat lady". She has 8 cats. Yes you read that right. Eight. I've never liked cats, and I especially don't like them hunting in my garden in nesting season, as I have welcomed blackbirds, bluetits, sparrows, chaffinches, wagtails and occasional goldfinches, collared doves and others to my little wilded environment. "Mad cat lady" suggested I spray her errant invasive species with a water pistol, but I have never been able to get close enough before they run away. And I don't have time to sit looking out of the window waiting for them to show up and murder the innocent indigenous wildlife. Hence this purchase! I have to say it was utterly hilarious watching her previously bold feline friends get totally drenched and humiliated the moment they popped their fluffy heads above the parapet. I bought 2 units to cut off their preffered access routes over the wall, and the motion detection is sensitive enough to trigger an arc of water from 10 yards away. Careful placement is necessary because if you have tree branches or other foliage waving in the wind then they will trigger constantly. They are made of fairly lightweight plastic and this is one reason why they can't be left outside in Sub-Zero temperatures, or they will crack. But the sensitivity dial on the back of the unit is very intuitive, and the batteries seem to last for a very long time. Perfectly usable through the spring summer and autumn in the UK climate, and after a few drenchings all but the stupidest cats will have got the message. NO ENTRY! Not all of my neighbour's 8 pests are blessed with intelligence though, which meant I was entertained for several days by the intrepid slow learners being ejected three or four times a day before they finally gave up and stayed their side of the wall. I would happily pay twice the price for a version that had brass or other metal construction, and so could be left outside 365 days a year. But at this price I still think they represent pretty good value, and I bought a third unit for my girlfriend's Dad.

After months of having plants ruined, lawn dug up, and rubbish from raided dustbins and fox poo all over the place, I had had enough and started researching deterrents. I decided to go for this rather than the sonic type mainly because I thought even if it didn't deter the foxes it would if nothing else give the garden a watering. The first few nights were a battle royal with water going off every few minutes, but even though the foxes were still coming in it stopped them doing any damage. Since then they seem to have given up. I still leave it on because I'm sure it wouldn't take long for them to start coming back again, and it still gets set off from time to time as one of them chances its luck, but so far so good. This has been such a success I have even filled in the holes in the lawn and started replanting, which I'd given up on because as fast as I did it things would get dug up again. Also it's great to be out in the garden and smelling the flowers rather than the heady aroma of fox poo.EDIT - After a few months use I have to say this isn't 100%. The foxes do get used to it to a certain extent. They don't linger under the spray (and I don't think they would ever get used to this) so it does effectively protect areas of the garden directly covered by the water jet. The problem is, they learn quite quickly that elsewhere in the garden IS safe, so if you want a completely fox free garden you need to have every bit of it covered, or at least every possible entry point. I had to get a second unit to cover more of the garden, and I may end up getting a third (and I don't have an especially big garden, just a longish narrow one). *However* all that said I do still regard this product as very effective - these issues say more about the annoying persistence of foxes than they do about the product itself. It has been considerably more effective than my neighbour's sonic deterrent and less than half the price. Retaining the 5* rating because despite the limitations it has turned the garden back into a garden as opposed to fox toilet and landfill dump.EDIT 2 - Do NOT leave outside in freezing weather! I stupidly ignored the instructions and didn't bother to bring it in all winter. There were no problems at first but after the snow in february/march this year the unit now leaks. I took it apart in the forlorn hope something had just come loose but the plastic pipework inside has cracked where water has obviously frozen inside. A bit of frost is probably ok, but it won't withstand the temperature being below freezing for any period of time.