When Tina Milchalka ventured into her Warwick, NY garden, she was prepared to battle weeds and insects, not a mother black bear doing what a mother bear does best: safeguarding her young. Milchalka, who found herself standing between the mother bear and her cub, credits her high-tech deer deterrent for saving her life.

“I was in my backyard when I heard a noise and looked up to see an adorable bear cub in my yard,” Milchalka said. “My first instinct was to talk to it, like you would a small child. Then I quickly realized that where there’s a cub, there’s bound to be a mother not far behind.”

At that point, Milchalka turned around to see that she was standing between the mother bear and her cub and that the mother was charging rapidly toward her.

“I barely had time to think, let alone get to the house,” she said. “I stood kind of frozen. The bear was about 30 feet from me when the sprinklers went off.”

Milchalka has three ScareCrow motion-activated sprinklers around the perimeter of her backyard. Detecting the bear’s movement, the sprinklers – which deliver a harmless but powerful blast of water – activated and sent the bear running.

Milchalka, who bought her ScareCrows two years ago to keep the deer at bay, said she could not have imagined how valuable they would turn out to be.

“I give the sprinklers full credit for saving my life,” Milchalka said. “I don’t know what would have happened to me if they didn’t go off. They have to be the best garden investment ever.”

Bears are an increasingly common sight in urban areas at this time of year as they seek out food in preparation for winter. Ripening fruit, berries, compost bins, and garbage bins can attract foraging bears.

The ScareCrow motion-activated sprinkler is a humane but harmless way to deter deer, raccoons, herons, dogs, cats, and even bears. It protects up to 1200 square feet and is an effective, non-toxic alternative to sprays and chemicals. The ScareCrow can be found at Home Depot, and online at www.amazon.com and www.contech-inc.com.

For more information contact:

Tracey Robertson
Media Relations
Contech Enterprises Inc.
250.413.3250 ext 124
1.800.767.8658
tracey.robertson@contech-inc.com

About Contech

Contech is a designer and provider of animal control and wellness products and non-toxic pest management products for home and garden, forestry, landscape, agriculture, and commercial applications. Safe and effective solutions such as the ScareCrow® motion-activated sprinkler continue to reinforce the company's reputation as a leading innovator in the pet and garden industries. Contech makes non-toxic traps for yellow jackets and wasps, outdoor flies, flour and pantry moths and fruit flies. For more information visit: www.contech-inc.com.