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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Protecting your garden: a Nite Guard Solar giveaway

This is my first-ever giveaway and I'm very excited!

Being all ninja-like, this is a different kind of giveaway. Many bloggers are contacted by a brand and agree to write a post on the brand's behalf in exchange for merchandise to give away to their readers. Not so with The Ninj.

I contacted Nite Guard directly because I already own and love their pest-deterrent product.

Let me tell you about it -- and then you can enter to win it!

Regular readers are used to hearing about my ongoing battle with the deer and the bunnies in our garden and wee orchard (they like fruit and veg as much as much as we do, apparently). Since both the garden and the orchard are situated in the front of our house, I'm loathe to put up unsightly fencing around them, so I'm always on the lookout for non-fence alternatives to keeping the critters away from our plants.

Two years ago, I decided to try the Nite Guard Solar "predator control system" (doesn't that sound badass??!!!).  If you're not familiar with this product, it's a solar-powered unit, pictured above, that automatically delivers a single flash of red light each second from dusk to dawn. Nocturnal animals think it is a blinking eye (from up to 500 yards away), a potential threat to be avoided. It also has the added benefit of being mistaken for some kind of security camera on your property, thus discouraging potential human trespassers.

One great feature is that Nite Guard Solar is effective against animals of various sizes: bunnies, raccoons, coyotes, deer -- even hawks and owls. The key is to position the units at the eye-level of the animal you are trying to deter. For example, since bunnies and deer are our biggest concern, I have my units positioned at two different heights.

One of my Nite Guard Solar units in the wee orchard

Weatherproof and solar-powered, the units require no attention from us other than repositioning. You see, even the silliest deer will stop believing that the flashing light is a threat if it never changes position. So every two weeks or so, I move the lights to a slightly different location (I mount them with zip ties, so they're easy to remove and reposition).

And they have worked -- with no fencing required.

That's exactly why I decided to contact Nite Guard for my first giveaway. I wanted to share this easy, safe, effective method for protecting the garden with my readers, and the Nite Guard folks have graciously agreed to supply one lucky person with FOUR (4) Nite Guard Solar units, which normally retail for $19.95 each!

All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment below, telling me what kinds of critters are bothering your garden and if you have any proven tricks or tips for deterring them.

Just a couple of other details about the giveaway:
  1. Entry for the giveaway ends at 11:00am East coast time on Tuesday, July 30, 2013. Any comments left after that time will not be included in the drawing.
  2. Only comments left in response to this blog post will be considered valid entries (talk it up on Facebook, by all means, but that won't count as an entry, nor will an email).
  3. Only one comment per individual will be considered in the drawing.
  4. One comment will be chosen at random (using random.org) as the winner.
  5. The winner will be notified via the email address provided when the comment is left (so be sure yours is accurate) and also posted on the blog after confirmation.
  6. The winner will need to respond and supply me with a mailing address within 48 hours of notification, which will then be shared with Nite Guard LLC.
  7. The four units (average retail value of $79) will be sent to the winner directly from Nite Guard LLC; The Ninj is not responsible for prize fulfillment.
  8. The giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada only, please.
Of course, if you'd rather not leave it to chance, you can purchase your own Nite Guard Solar units right away!

(Note: While Nite Guard LLC is providing the prize for this giveaway, they did not approach me about sponsoring it nor did they compensate me in any way. The opinions and comments expressed are entirely my own.)

18 comments:

  1. This is fantastic. I have a family of bunnies under my shed and have been reasonably lucky so far with raised beds (except for my potatoes - they keep pulling them up) Marigolds have been my only trick to date but these sound fantastic!!

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  2. Bunnies and squirrels bother our garden and we don't have a good way to get rid of them yet.
    kellywcu8888ATgmailDOTcom

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  3. We have some bold squirrels. I've also noticed rat droppings a few times. Then there's the critter that made off with a 20lb stone pig I'd had sitting on the front porch (well away from the front path and sidewalk)...

    bldrnrpdx (at) ay oh ell (dot) com

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  4. I have no idea WHAT kind of creatures are there, but every time I put something out they eat the entire plant. I had a fantastic strawberry plant that I've been growing in a pot for 3 years and the little *&@#! ate it. It's gone! Gone! No strawberries! No strawberry jam! No strawberry short cake! No strawberry ice cream! No strawberry soup! Sniff.

    Oh wait, you said it was random and the amount of angst in my comment won't actually help. Alas. I still have lots of angst, though. And much hatred for the little stinkers that are eating my plants.

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  5. Thanks for the giveaway, Ninj. I have rabbits the size of small dogs who devour anything blooming or nearly ripe. aew_nc_99(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  6. Thanks for the giveaway...I have deer "issues" again this year and the doggies are no help, I think they've all agreed to pretend they don't "see" each other.

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  7. Oh Ninj, the chance to scare off the evil bunnies, possums and the occasional raccoon would be a dream come true!

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  8. I would love to try these! Bunnies and a particularly large rat that I can't get w/out using a poison are my nemesis! (or is that nemeses?)

    Rose Thompson: rethomps@nmsu.edu

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  9. We had trouble with deer when they visited a few weeks ago and ate the tops off of our sunflowers :( We would love to try the Nite Guard to ward off the deer, and other unwanted visitors. Thanks!

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  10. Been dealing with deer & bunnies of late, using Bobbex protects my flowering plants and ornamentals but we can't spray it on the fruit trees nor veggie garden so I lost my apricot harvest yesterday :( Hoping I can find these in Canada! We can't put up a fence either!

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  11. OH! Deer, Deer, Deer
    Bye Bye Bye
    Nice contest, thanks!
    (Oh I just cant stand those adorable destroy your apple treesrosesliliesproduce Deer!!!)

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  12. We have rabbits and chipmunks this year. Thank goodness no rats this season, we had many in previous years.

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  13. Squirrels. My best deterrent is my dog but that doesn't help out front....

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  14. Cats and squirrels! Little brats keep getting into my garden. haven't found a deterrent yet but I plan on sprinkling some red pepper on the dirt.

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  15. We used to have bunnies galore. Our solution was accidental - our little Westie, Grady, turned out to be a natural born bunny nemesis. :)

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  16. Raccoons are my big enemy. Living in Oregon you'd think it would be beavers or ducks, but it's not so.

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  17. Bunnies and squirrels are driving us crazy!
    ledowney3@gmail.com

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