A waterfall that blocks access to your door. You can't reach the door without getting wet - unless it's turned off.
A sort of vertical, dialable moat.
-- Loris, Jan 28 2024

Inspired by Use_20air_20pressur...of_20rain_20gutters
Use air pressure in place of rain gutters [Loris, Jan 28 2024]

You just need one or two of these, attached to WiFi connected smart outlet timers https://a.co/d/hQ7GUsI
Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler. Will NOT (I repeat: will NOT) deter racoons from mucking about in your koi pond. [21 Quest, Jan 28 2024]

I can imagine this installed as a sealed unit with a collection trough at the bottom and pumps and channels in the door frame to pump water back up to the top. For authenticity, it also needs the occasional Lego person going over the waterfall in a small Lego barrel
-- hippo, Jan 28 2024


[+]
-- Voice, Jan 28 2024


Why not just use some commercially available lawn sprinklers?

Buy enough to cover the lawn, front gate, path and other approaches to your home and just leave them all on permanently.

Maybe post a notice on the gate where it can be read without getting sprinkled on..

"if you're the postman or some other delivery agent the mail box is to your right, if you're a legitimate visitor that has been invited or is otherwise welcome you will have my phone number already, so ring and ask me to switch off the sprinkler, if you are not then be advised that any implied right of access you may have thought you had is hereby officially withdrawn, have a nice day"

Installation of a suitably large and robust mailbox to accept most small parcels and counter most casual attempts of theft of said parcels is a recommended additional feature.

Water bill is going to be high unless you follow [hippos]s sealed unit recommendations, a gently sloping mud field (all you'll have let of the lawn after a few weeks of this) draining into a surrounding moat and pump from there to a storage tank that feeds the sprinklers should do it, anyone attempting an approach by any other route than the paved path (some suitably roughened surface to provide adequate grip in the wet conditions is recommended) will find themselves inevitably sliding into the moat as an added bonus of this feature, stock liberally with leeches and other fun stuff.
-- Skewed, Jan 28 2024


Yes, I was assuming the water would circulate. I think you would probably want to have a feeder tank at the top to even out the flow... and that does also mean you can have a turbo button, in case of particularly over-eager would-be visitors.

Also, if you have some sort of sensors, you don't need to run it all the time.

Sprinklers probably run the risk of getting clogged over time - particularly if you're recirculating the water. Also, they usually only manage a small flow of water.
But if you did want to ward a path at some distance from suitable overhangs, I suppose you could install a row of fountain.
-- Loris, Jan 28 2024


They would be beautiful. No one would ever want to come over, which is a plus.
-- blissmiss, Jan 29 2024


You strike me as very social, [bliss], so I'm surprised to hear you say that.
-- Voice, Jan 29 2024


If your having problems with unwanted visitors [bliss] we have some of those orangutans in baboon masks we can retrain as doormen and send over for you .. never did manage to place them all with airline jobs, can't think why, it was such a good idea.
-- Skewed, Jan 30 2024


I think if your comment is deleted you should receive a notice so you can school yourself as to the envelope the idea poster is living in. When an annotation just disappears there is no followup, no additional knowledge or experience gained other than the berk didn’t like my stuff.
-- minoradjustments, Jan 31 2024


//I think if your comment is deleted you should receive a notice so you can school yourself as to the envelope the idea poster is living in. When an annotation just disappears there is no followup, no additional knowledge or experience gained other than the berk didn’t like my stuff.//

I have not deleted any comments on this idea. In fact, I don't think I've deleted any comments on here for years. In general, I don't delete other people's comments - I don't think it's right to do so. I reserve the right to delete my /own/ comment, if I quickly change my mind, and it hasn't yet been responded to. And I routinely edit my own comments for clarity or to update them.

(I did once delete an unwarranted, single-line mfd, and made a comment to that effect - as indeed, the help file advises is appropriate. This caused an absolute shitstorm, and hippo told me it wasn't my responsibility to do so. Quite odd, I thought, given that even rather extensive comments I'd spent a lot of time crafting had been deleted, and he wasn't telling them to stop it.
Still harbouring some resentment about that, to be honest.)
-- Loris, Jan 31 2024


[Loris] Got it. Might have been brain fog. I agree; deleting annos is the death sentence for free expression, except in cases of violence, abuse, or violation of the œB rules.
-- minoradjustments, Jan 31 2024


[Loris] please delete this anno.
-- pocmloc, Jan 31 2024


[pocmloc] - No.
-- Loris, Jan 31 2024



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