Scarecrows on shaky ground as farms take a shine to lasers

SCARECROWS could soon be consigned to history as farmers turn to lasers to protect their crops and livestock.

A 21st century replacement may spell the end of the straw man in tatty clothes after farmers tested a £12,000 robotic laser gun which scares off birds by firing beams in their direction.

It is hoped the device can help protect chickens from avian flu spread by wild birds and stop the destruction of crops. The idea was developed after lasers manufactured by the Bird Control Group were used to scare geese away from aircraft.

Farmer Daniel Hoebrichts, who runs Orchard Eggs, near East Grinstead in West Sussex, was given permission to trial the robot during the avian flu outbreak in the winter of 2016.

The results of the trial were not published but Mr Hoebrichts said it resulted in a 90 per cent reduction in the number of of wild birds visiting his farm.

He said: “When the wild birds saw the green light they sensed danger and immediately flew away. The laser really works.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs would not permit him to use the laser during the recent avian flu alert.

But he hopes new research from Dr Armin Elbers, a Dutch epidemiologist, of Wageningen University, will persuade government vets to allow use of the laser robots next winter when migratory birds heighten the risk of spreading avian flu to Britain.

The study on a Dutch free range poultry farm had dramatic results with the numbers of wild birds declining by 99.7 per cent when the laser eye was used. The green eye was attached to an 18ft high platform and was operated from 5pm to 10am when wild birds usually look for food or swim in puddles of water on the farm.

Rik Bakker, the chief executive the Bird Control Group, said: “I think the main point about the study is that it confirms what we have seen in the fields but have not been able to prove.”

The latest victim of automation is the scarecrow: farmers have started protecting their crops with lasers instead, which Worzel Gummidge just can’t compete with. The last thing Britain needs is to add to the roll call of the unemployed, but progress, they say, cannot be stopped.

So what are scarecrows to do? Test-crashdummy? Teach police dogs to bite? Demand for mannequins is currently low because department stores are shut, and there’s little room for upskilling: with all the will in the world, a scarecrow isn’t going to pass as a bus driver.

What job requires a man to be present but not do anything, yet strike terror in the heart of all who see him? Problem solved: stick the scarecrows in the Commons.