How would you go about setting up a motion detector that would alert you, and/or turn on a light if a pest got in your garden or visited a bait station you set up?
What equipment would you need?

Sounds like a good idea there, maybe you can bust some scavengers and thieves right from your window. Assuming the garden isn't too far from the house, you could buy one of the motion detector lights and wire it up and mount it however you need to. Then if you unscrewed the bulb, you could replace it with one of those screw in receptacles. Then plug in however many extension cords you need to run a trouble light up to the house and through the bedroom window. It ought to turn the light on and wake you up when it senses movement passing by.

What are you trying to catch?

Plinker

quote:

What are you trying to catch?
Plinker

Good question. Answer: Nothing in particular. I'm more interested in seeing what's out there. I want to see what visits my yard in the night. I know a lot of different critters cut through my yard. I would like to see what they are. I see deer and coon tracks, skunk borings, domestic animal tracks, rabbits, and tracks I don't know of what. I'm surrounded by farm fields, woods, and a cattle farm.
I've already decided I'm going to put a fence around my garden next summer, so I'm not really interested in pest control. I would shoot a rat if I saw one. Guess I could put up a game camera but I wouldn't mind seeing the animals in person.
Any ideas?

Most game cameras can put a time stamp on the image. You can plan your watching based on that info.

Here's a link to a device that might work. I have one that I want to put in my back yard to alert me to the skunks, possums, armadillos, and cats that periodically pass by. It has a passive infrared sensor that detects the animal's body heat and then sets off the signal chime that you sit by your chair. When it goes off, grab the rifle or shotgun, and go get 'em.

http://www.asseenontvguys.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=51

x10 wireless motion sensors. www.x10.com
my secret to success.

They can turn on a light inside or turn on a radio to alert movement outside