In order to scare a pride of peafowls (comprising peacocks, peahens and peachicks) from destroying his farm at Sankalakariya in Karkala taluk, a farmer has installed a Mannequin as a scarecrow.
The farmer, Aulin Serrao, had earlier mounted a banner containing the photograph of a ferocious tiger and had succeeded in scaring away monkeys from destroying the yield in his farm.
Clothed mannequin
Now, he has used a mannequin complete with a shirt and trousers to scare away peacock and other wild animals. Aulin has been cultivating ‘Harive’ (Amaranth), okra (Lady’s Finger), long yard beans, Brahmi, drumstick and other vegetables on his farm. Peacocks were not only eating the vegetables but had also uprooted the plants.
He is engaged in farming for many years now. As the farm land was been located on the banks of River Shambhavi, he was at the receiving end due to the menace of wild animals.
Scare tactics
“We cannot kill peacocks but we can chase them with scare-tactics. My friend donated the Mannequin. I decided to use it as a scarecrow and it has yielded results,” he says with a broad smile.