Many Americans are trying their hand at gardening this summer for the first time, and many more are vowing to do so next year each time they visit the grocery store. Those first-timers can be in for an unpleasant surprise when, just as those succulent tomatoes or ears of corn come ripe, a rabbit, raccoon, or deer snatches away their hard-earned veggies.

A new product on the market seems like an ingenious solution. The Scarecrow works like a sprinkler, hooking up to a hose. It is activated by a motion detector, running on a 9-volt battery. When the opossum, squirrel or blackbird dares make a lunge toward your berry bush, potato hill or pumpkin patch, the device hits it with a spray of water and a loud buzz, which the manufacturer claims will send it scampering.

For those of you with garden ponds who are tired of feeding your koi to passing herons, the Scarecrow could be an excellent way to shoo the voracious birds away. And if you're pestered by door-to-door salespeople and politicians...

The best price I found online for the Scarecrow Sprinkler was at TJB, on sale for $79.98, a savings of $30 off of its retail price, shipping and handling included.