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The first flashing light unit made and sold was Nite Guard
Back in 2006 we used them in a movie Titled Regarding Chickens...
What's the purpose?
They have a small red flashing light that can cause night hunting animals to avoid an
area...
They charge up automatically from the sun via a solar panel.
Charge during the day and then blink automatically all night long.
Night Hunting animals see the flashing light and then become stressed, thinking the flashing
light may be another animal...
Then the animal will avoid the area and your livestock or bird feed is safe...
The predator will walk down wind, trying to smell the blinking light source...
When they cannot figure out what it is, the concept is that they will go away.
Some people use these flashing lights in gardens to keep deer, raccoons and other garden browsers
out.
The main purpose of this video is not to prove or disprove how effective flashing lights
are, but to demonstrate how the four available units compare with one another...
There are four different flashing light units available, they do NOT perform the same, some
are made better than others and offer more features...
Nite Guard has been produced for many years and was the first type that I purchased back
in 2005...
Nite Guard does not have an access for owners to replace batteries. But many of the units
continue to work even after many years of year round use... they blink less and don't
last as long, but are still working...
Several years later, another company made a new style of flashing light units. Solar
Nite Eyes.
Works the same as Nite Guard, BUT has a magnet for mounting on metal surfaces and has two
flashing led lights.
Larger solar panel on Nite Eyes and two leds...
There may be no difference between the two as to weather one keeps predators away more
than the other. In this regard, they perform the same in my opinion.
After just one day of charging on the window sill, they will faithfully blink through the
night and turn themselves off at sunrise.
Predator Guard made some very helpful changes to the original designs... they have added
a on/off switch and slanted the solar panel and added a magnet...
The magnet allows you to change the position frequently onto anything iron/steel so that
predators do not become accustomed to the location... keep them guessing.
The angled solar panel will help keep snow from covering it and keeping it from charging
properly...
Does not come on automatically unless the on off button is pressed... this allows you
to store the unit without the battery running down. The only style of flashing light unit
that has this feature.
The other units will run down completely if stored in a dark place...
Just before I made this video, another flashing light unit showed up on the market, so I purchased
six of them for review...
It's called Yard Sentinel Predator Eye.
1/2 the price of all of the other units, you can purchase a package of two for 24.00
Appears identical to the first design (Nite Guard)...
They appear identical on the outside.
Must be screwed onto something wood, or tied with wire or some other method.
One can be opened for battery replacement.
All of the Yard Sentinel Predator Eye units I purchased, stopped working and completely
depleted their battery within 48 hours.
Predator Guard units can also be opened for battery replacement AAA batteries are used.
Predator Guard, Nite Eyes and the Original Nite Guard all performed, charged and blinked
as designed for several days under normal daylight conditions.
Nite Guard and Nite Eyes are not able to be opened by the owners. In Fact, Nite Eyes will void the
warranty if opened.
The only reason this Yard Sentinel unit works, is because I removed and charged the enclosed
battery... the battery ran down very quickly and ceased to work again after two days.
THe Yard Sentinel instructions state that IF the charge is not strong enough, that they
may run down completely and not charge.
All units were treated the same, each unit was removed form its package and placed in
a east facing window through one winter day of light.
After the first day, most of the days were cloudy....
Nite Guard, Nite Eyes and Predator Guard all performed fine through the entire week...
Yard Sentinel units ALL quit working by the end of the second day and did not recharge
on their own again...
The DEAD unit.. received the same amount of sun exposure as every other unit shown here...
Yard Sentinel seems to have a faster blinking frequency than the others.
Again, this video is intended to make comparisons, not necessarily to prove or disprove effectiveness
in animal deterrent.
My first choice to date is the Predator Guard units...
Magnet, replaceable battery and on/off switch make it a win win as compared to all of the other units.
Cheapest unit available is by far, the Yard Sentinel....
1/2 the cost of others, but I have to say that I just cannot endorse these units based
on my personal observations and operational testing...
It appears the same as Nite Guard, but appearances are deceiving in this case, Nite Guard out
performs the Yard Sentinel
in
all of my tests....
Predator Guard and Nite Eyes both have magnets...
I have noticed that the magnetic units when placed on the support post of my bird feeder, have proven effective in preventing
night snackers from emptying my feeder...
Lights need to face in every direction towards the normal approach path of predators...
Prevention is best... put them up "before" you have predators dining... once they have
a habit in place, it's much more difficult to deter the activity...
I also use them on my bee hives... Even though other apiarys within five miles
of me, have been predictably raided by black bears, my colonies have never been raided...
I have noticed bear tracks within 150 yards of my apiary.... but they did not approach
the hives even though honey was heavy in the air... I could smell it, so I'm certain that
a bear could also get the scent...
Flashing light is flashing light in my opinion... it all just comes down to which unit/design will
work best for your application/purposes...
Nite Guard even works under water! I don't think it works on alligators...
Thank you for viewing.....