Want to detect small nocturnal animal (armadillo)

Probably won't help, but Gators love the taste of armadillos ;)

Actually, we like the taste of Bruins even better 8-).

Dave Class of '76

You're right - didn't help. Central Texas is, despite all its other faults, not beset by gators as well as armadillos. I know *how* to rid of them - a trusty 410 does the job quite nicely. It's catching them in the act in the middle of the night that's the trick. Hence my desire to see if motion sensors deployed along their regular routes of travle might detect them, and therefore my question about using the TD-10. Any opinions on that?

I thought that was a model designed to be specifically *immune* to pets. In that case, you'd probably want to remove all baffling and set the unit to high sensitivity. I'll bet that the 'dillos make poor PIR targets because of their thick (and probably relatively "cool") hide. I'd use an X-10 Hawkeye because I *know* they can spot birds and squirrels - even when you don't want them to. :-(

The instructions, IIRC, are to create a "pet alley" using baffles inside the two different types of reflectors supplies. To that end, the instructions will then tell you exactly how NOT to spot small animals. You have to basically do the opposite of what they recommend.

You might consider a light beam detector that would cross the walkway about

2" up and report each time the beam was broken, ostensibly from a waddling armadillo.

Make sure you get the mounting bracket if you order one the Optex. Mine, from Worthington, didn't have it. :-(

If you're going to use the Optex, mount it low, off to the side, like a patio light so that the sensor pattern is a fan spread out over the walkway from the side. Again, I use a door chime, a TM751 and an external EagleEye sensor set to work only at night. You can move the EE around easily until you find the best pattern but I've found having the target walk across the sensor path rather than towards or away from it to be the best.

-- Bobby G.

I thought that was a model designed to be specifically *immune* to pets. In that case, you'd probably want to remove all baffling and set the unit to high sensitivity. I'll bet that the 'dillos make poor PIR targets because of their thick (and probably relatively "cool") hide. I'd use an X-10 Hawkeye because I *know* they can spot birds and squirrels - even when you don't want them to. :-(

The instructions, IIRC, are to create a "pet alley" using baffles inside the two different types of reflectors supplies. To that end, the instructions will then tell you exactly how NOT to spot small animals. You have to basically do the opposite of what they recommend.

You might consider a light beam detector that would cross the walkway about

2" up and report each time the beam was broken, ostensibly from a waddling armadillo.

Make sure you get the mounting bracket if you order one the Optex. Mine, from Worthington, didn't have it. :-(

If you're going to use the Optex, mount it low, off to the side, like a patio light so that the sensor pattern is a fan spread out over the walkway from the side. Again, I use a door chime, a TM751 and an external EagleEye sensor set to work only at night. You can move the EE around easily until you find the best pattern but I've found having the target walk across the sensor path rather than towards or away from it to be the best.

-- Bobby G.

As an update: I took a gamble on the Optex, and snagged me a 'dillo the first night! Worked like a charm - we're happy and about 15 vultures are also happy and well-fed. I am going to add 2 more sensors in other well-dillo'd locations -- maybe this year we can plant some summer flowers and have a hope that some will last the season.