A comprehensive resource for safe and responsible laser use

Canada: Students developing laser scarecrow to keep geese from crops

A group of students at the University of Victoria developed a prototype system that uses green lasers to drive geese from farmers’ fields. In an August 8 2016 radio report, CBC News interviewed Peter Rashleigh, a farmer and 4th-year mechanical engineering student, who worked with five other students on the project.

The group’s research found that green lasers, even at low power levels, scare geese at night when they are roosting in fields, eating the green shoots of crops such as wheat and barley. They can do “significant damage,” Rashleigh said.

There is a solution during the daytime involving noise from pyrotechnics, but this can’t be used at night in a residential area.

For nighttime geese deterrence, the students looked at other options and concluded that using lasers was the best way to solve the problem. They developed a device placed about 12-15 feet off the ground, installed in the center of the field. It moves the laser across an area, throughout the night. So far, it appears to be “fairly effective.” Response has been “quite positive” from other farmers.

Rashleigh told CBC News that “safety is a huge concern.” The laser only shines where it is intended, in the field. The beam is less powerful than most handheld laser pointers; a person would have to stare into the beams for “about 8 seconds” to have any risk of damage. To protect aircraft, the device can detect if it is being pointed above the horizon, and can shut itself off.

From
CBC News, via Forbes