A homeowner has devised an ingenious way of using cameras to keep foxes and badgers out of his garden.
James Millward, from Surrey, got so fed up with furry creatures entering his garden that he trained his CCTV to expel them.
Mr Millward’s Ring cameras emit a high-frequency sound when they detect a fox or badger to repel them.
He said used hundreds of images to train the system to react to the animals and activate the noise when it spotted them.
Mr Millward said his device, called the Furbinator 3000, has so far managed to keep his garden intact.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Millward said that despite the positive results, getting the cameras to work was difficult.
He said: “At first it recognised the badger as an umbrella.
“I did some fine-tuning and it came out as a sink, or a bear if I was lucky. Pretty much a spectacular failure.”
After feeding in hundreds of images of the animals through an artificial intelligence process known as machine learning the Furbinator began to work.
While Mr Millward’s device, which has allowed his children to play safely in his garden, has proven effective, it is not without its controversy.
The RSPCA openly objects to them. In a statement, they said: “Noise levels produced by such ultrasonic devices are likely to be aversive to some animals, potentially causing them discomfort, fear and/or pain and predicting an individual’s response is difficult.”
Despite this Mr Millward has said he just wanted to protect his children from the mess caused by the wildlife.
He also believes that the technology could have a wider application beyond his back garden.
Mr Millward said: “In agricultural settings, there aren’t really any safe deterrents for getting rid of potential predators, and this is an ideal solution for that.”
He added that a similar system could be used in other areas where animals and humans have come into conflict.
What’s more, he has made his code open source so that others can have access to his technology.
