Does anyone out there know of a way to make an alarm system that will let you know that someone is coming on to your property? The dogs aren't doing their jobs lately. If they do bark its always at the wildlife or an airplane overhead but not when a vehicle approaches.!!?? Tracy (Trimmer) if you read this where abouts in Saskatchewan are you located and how long does it take you to get your new issues of Countryside? It seems to take a real long time for us. Almost a month.

-- Ann (avdb11@canada.com), January 10, 2001

Answers

Two different alarm systems come to mind.

MODERATE VOLUME - Ducks

LOUD VOLUME - Geese

All kidding aside, Ann. Our chickens say nothing until they're attacked. Our dog doesn't discriminate enough. But our ducks filter out the small animals and concentrate on BIG critters like people, cars and trucks. And our neighbors geese will raise the dead with their noise. Very cost effective. Will work for chicken feed. :)

(:raig

-- Craig Miller (CMiller@ssd.com), January 10, 2001.

Craig, I was going to suggest geese but thought people would think I was being clever!!! Our geese work as an alarm and their pay is to mow our lawn (we also get a lot of free fertilizer that can look a little gross in a dry spell)

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 10, 2001.

If you just want to know about vehicles, maybe you could get one of those driveway bells like gas stations used to have - The kind that look like a hose, but when you run over them, they ding.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), January 10, 2001.

Two words: GUINEA FOWL!

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), January 10, 2001.

I 2nd the guinea fowl - anything or anybody they don't like, they set up a racket that'd 'bout wake the dead. Plus they eat ticks.

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), January 10, 2001.

I'm a third on Guineas.Roost in trees and make a fuss at everything.Mom sold them too,at auction.This was years ago.Supposedly they were bought to go to upscale resturants as pheasant.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), January 10, 2001.

We always used guineas for alarms.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 10, 2001.

There are several varieties of "laser" beam sensors that set off an alarm if someone breaks the beam, and I belive some even come with solar hookup, maybe even their own little panels. Do a web search for "personal security" or some such, and you should find it.

One such place is Security Plus (happen to have a mailer card on the computer desk) at 800-822-5152 fax509-575-1875 You can get their catalog of security stuff, probably free.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), January 10, 2001.

You can hook up a motion detector light to most anything that makes noise. A friend of mine has one which just gives a "ding" in the house when a car drives up. He used to have one which would turn on a recorder with him saying "beat it! Scram!" and then the sound of his pellet gun going off. The deer finally figured this one out, so now his motion detector light turns on a rainbird type sprinkler, which so far freaks out the deer.

JOJ

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), January 10, 2001.

what about a string, low to the ground,, with cans attached?? worked when I was a kid,,LOL

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 10, 2001.

HI Ann. Geese are time proven and reliable, from the days of Troy through to more recent centuries in the Tower of London. The history books are full of references to geese as sentinels.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), January 10, 2001.

I find geese not only set off the alarm but seem to have a sense of what's real and what just bugs them. Mine will "grumble" if upset or if the dogs start barking-but if they "go off" I KNOW it's something to check on-NOW. I have Pilgrim geese and they aren't nervous, aggressive or particularly noisy-so I have learned to trust them. Even now, penned in back-after killing my roses and trimming my fig tree-they still seem to know if it's a real threat or just the dogs needing something to do. betty

-- betty modin (betty_m9@yahoo.com), January 10, 2001.

The motion sensor hooked up to a buzzer or bell works great. I put one in our carport after our car was broke into. In addition to turning on the light, it set off a loud doorbell buzzer. The only problem was that I got tired of being woke up in the middle of the night by the cats!

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), January 13, 2001.

Check with Modern Farm they have one that you lay across drive and when vehile runs over it signals in house I think they have a web site www.modernfarm.com

-- Deborah (theant00@yahoo.com), January 14, 2001.

NORTHERN Tool & Equipment Co.

1-800-533-5545

http://www.northerntool.com

Catalog #155 Item #331705-C155 Wireless Driveway Monitor $109.99

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), January 16, 2001.