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Site Updated 8/25/07

   Update:  July 2008  

This year (2008) our neighbor chose an alternate, non-human-intrusive method of protecting his corn from birds.

At his farm in early July, I saw in use what appeared to be a Bird Wailer type sound generating device. These devices can reportedly be set to emit natural predator sounds that deter crop damaging birds. All I know is I can't hear it or I didn't notice it!  He has also placed tobacco sticks attached with holographic reflective ribbons in a grid every 50 ft or so inside his corn field.

This summer has been oh so peaceful - if you haven't experienced it, you cannot possibly imagine what a toll it takes on your sanity to listen to a loud boom every 2 minutes all day long inside or outside your home.  Tractors and water pumps are fine and expected in a semi-rural area - loud explosions every 2 minutes, no.

The Bird Wailer seems to be the way to go and I do hope it works out well for our neighbor.  See below for more information on the "Bird Wailer" type devices.

Although our problem seems to have been resolved for now, I still intend to work to modify our local laws so that what happened to us does not happen to others.  And because similar issues still exist elsewhere, I am going to continue to maintain this site.  It will be modified when appropriate.

 

 

*Sigh*... The Propane Cannon

You're probably here because you're interested in the issue with propane cannons which are used in the attempt to scare wildlife from crop fields.  Whether they actually are effective in long-term use is a matter of opinion.

But one thing can be said for sure -

If you live within a certain distance of an operating cannon,
your home life can be miserable.

The objective of this site is to raise awareness about propane cannons and the potential for their abuse.  My neighbors and I know firsthand the misery they can cause because we are being held captive by one.  Our goal is to persuade state and/or county officials to control propane cannon operation by requiring the user to apply for an annual permit and the issuance (and re-issuance) of the permit would be dependent on the cannon's potential affect on neighbors.

The particular cannon that was been tormenting us began operation in Jessamine County, Kentucky in the spring of 2007.  This was not a pre-existing condition.  We bought our lots in 2003 and the cannon didn't begin operation until 4 years after we moved here.  I believe the legal term is "change of operation".

This cannon was set up on an automatic timer and this timer was set to blast every 2 - 3 minutes.  During the operating months, it began around sunrise and lasts until almost sunset.  So in much of June and July, this meant starting at approximately 6:00am-7:00am in the morning and ending around 9:00pm-9:30pm at night.  In those weeks, that was at least 14 hours of unrelenting blasts all day, spaced 2 minutes apart.

These constant booms were heard loudly from outside my home.  Our homes and the cannon are in the same valley so the sound bounced around and seemed to amplify its effect.  On some days, I could actually feel the sound in my body.  Not an exaggeration.  Maybe it was half concussion and half flinching.  Regardless- it was bad.  We could also hear the cannon inside our homes quite clearly over normal household sounds like a television.

Imagine -   All day... every 2 minutes.

 


 

Sound Clip

For those that want to hear it, I have a recording of the actual propane cannon.  This is an excellent quality recording but actual representation will depend on your computer's speakers and sound card.

Make sure your sound is turned up...

Cannon Blast (87 KB, mp3 format)
To hear this sound, either left-click on the above link or right-click over it and save it to your desktop.

And here's a different sound file: I call this one Blast with 2 minute delay (2.28MB).  I added a couple of minutes of dead space behind the called "Cannon Blast". This file with 2 minute delay will enable you to play this noise using your computer's media player, and by setting it on repeat you can enjoy the booms every 2 minutes like we do in the summer - all..... day..... long.

I have pretty good speakers with a subwoofer and through my system with my volume turned up, the recording above is pretty close to what we head when this cannon fired.  No effects or echo were added - the echo you hear in this recording is natural.  Imagine hearing and feeling that 300-400 times a day or ~10,000 times a month.

If you need technical assistance with this file or your media player, feel free to email me at the address at the bottom of this page.
 

The sound files above are recordings of a single blast from a propane cannon operating in eastern Jessamine County Kentucky.  It was recorded by me from the backyard of a home located in a 60-home "cluster development" which is zoned single-family residential.  The farm which used the cannon and the residential area are situated in the same valley - homes on one hill, cornfield on the facing hill.  The cannon was firing at a distance of approximately 500 yards away from my microphone.

Below are some pictures I took the day of recording.  I used a Rode NT1 condenser microphone and a BOSS 1180CD digital recorder  .

                     
 



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The Cannon

So anyway... what are these things?  A propane cannon is a device that is designed to mimic a shotgun blast and utilizes a flammable gas, a combustion chamber, an igniter, and a large diameter barrel.

A popular model is the "ZON Gun Mark 4" and it can be bought for less than $300 excluding the timer.

You hook it up to a propane tank and it creates an endless series of 120-150 decibel blasts.  The Zon 4 comes with an adjustable gas regulator attached to the fuel line which allows for spaced intervals between blasts ranging from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.  There is a separate $100 electronic timer available for those that wish to annoy their neighbors at more precise intervals than the included regulator allows.

Below is a shot taken on Nov 9, 2007 from the back patio of a neighbor's home using a Canon PowerShot A460.  Can you see the cannon?  It's on a tripod and is standing next to a LPG tank.

Zoomed:

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Is this the answer??

Amplified systems like this are designed for and are currently used at airports.  This device is capable of a multitude of sounds including "natural" predator-bird sounds or unnatural and intrusive sounds like a ray gun or UFO landing.  It's all up to the whim of the owner.  The ultrasonic or predator bird sounds may in fact be the peaceful answer to bird control without propane cannons.

If you are seeking a compromise to propane cannons, please check into these types of sound generating devices.

MaxiWailer and BirdWailer are two that look like they are the most popular.

The BirdWailer spec sheet is here and here are the MaxiWailer models' PDF files:  Wailer, MaxiWailer, MidiWailer.

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Laws

It is important that changes to Kentucky State and Jessamine County laws are made before more cannons are purchased and put to use.  Right now, it's a clean slate because propane cannons and agricultural noise-makers are not specifically mentioned or regulated in the Kentucky Revised Statutes or in the Jessamine County noise ordinance.  These things can still be ruled a nuisance by the law.  As demonstrated by my personal situation, some people cannot be trusted to use common sense and show consideration to their neighbors.  This obviously leaves no choice except for state or local government to control these noise-making devices by implementation of a permit program.

If you are are a resident of Jessamine County Kentucky, please contact the Jessamine County Fiscal Court and tell them that you do not want our county to be filled with sounds of cannon-fire.  Propane cannons and other noise-making devices whose sole purposes are to repel wildlife should be prohibited near any residences.

Portland, Connecticut (Bell Court)
 Here is an example of what can happen if propane cannons are already put to use and specifically accepted in the laws as normal agricultural tools.  Although Connecticut has a permit system, as demonstrated by this case they apparently handed out these permits regardless of location and nearby neighbors' objections.  I'm still trying to contact the people involved in this case to see what the outcome was, but my guess is their neighbor still has his three cannons booming.

If you know of any similar cases, please pass the link(s) on to me.

The State of Kentucky has a Noise Control Act which should cover things like this.  Currently, the agricultural exception specifies "farm tractors or other farm machinery...." to be exempt from the Noise Control Act.  Would propane cannons be considered farm machinery if the KY Revised Statutes were challenged in the courts?  What about the Bird Wailer systems I described elsewhere on this page where the owner chooses to use human-intrusive sounds?  What about high-powered weather-proof speaker systems blasting the owners' choice of prerecorded noise at 150 decibels that can be heard from miles around in the effort to repel wildlife?  There's nothing to stop them.

This is a relatively new problem and many lawyers will argue that propane cannons could be classified as a nuisance which falls under common law.  Although many state and county laws have "agricultural exemptions", common law should prevail - especially given the fact that most agricultural exemptions were written before this type of noise-maker was conceived.

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  It doesn't affect me or....
"It's not that bad"

But... it may very well affect you in the future and by the time one does affect you to the point where you decide you can't take it anymore, it might be too late.  At that point, these cannons might be commonplace and embraced so tightly by a multitude of users that it could be next to impossible to change local laws.  The time to put restrictions in place for these things is right now. 

If you aren't yet affected by a cannon or similar noise-maker, be thankful.  Some people may live within earshot of a propane cannon and they might think, "It's not that bad."

If that faint boom you hear from over the hill every 15 minutes "isn't that bad", can you imagine a point where it would become "that bad"?  What would it take?

How about that same faint boom 100 times louder?

How about a sound like a shotgun blast in a field next to your house - every 5 minutes - all day long?

How about every 2 minutes all day long?

How about 3 or more cannons operating in the same nearby 1-acre field, all set on automatic timers with each one detonating every 2 minutes from 7 in the morning until 9 at night?

Think it will be "that bad" then?

Don't scoff... this is a very real possibility and there's nothing in the laws that can stop anyone from doing it as long as it's in the name of agriculture.  We have one on an adjacent farm that goes off every 2 minutes all summer long so this is real life for us.  Don't think people won't do the absurd, because they will.

Propane cannons and other agricultural noisemakers are currently uncommon in Jessamine County and Kentucky.  Why wait until they become a common, area-wide nuisance to deal with them?  A permit system is the only viable answer outside of an outright ban on cannons and noise-makers.  However, as demonstrated by the Portland, Connecticut case, a permit system needs to be well thought-out or it may as well not exist.

Propane cannons and similar noise makers
will affect nearby property values detrimentally.

Selling a house at its taxable value (if at all) will be very difficult if that house is in an area where cannons are firing.  So besides causing immediate hardship to their neighbors because of the irritating constant noise, inconsiderate people operating these things will cause their neighbors' property to be worth less.  How's that for a good neighbor?  Makes you want to go and give 'em a friendly hug, doesn't it?

This is serious stuff and it needs to be dealt with seriously.  Logically, the first step would be to kindly let your neighbor know that the noisemaker is intruding on your personal space.  My experience is that no matter how diplomatic you are, this will be taken as an attack.  But hey.. at least you tried.

If one begins firing near your home and diplomatic measures fail, the worse thing you can do is nothing.  If the person firing it fails to take your objections to heart, you may have to resort to filing a lawsuit.  You stand a better chance using legal action to stop the cannon if you file a formal complaint immediately or at least within one year of when a cannon begins operation.  By letting time pass, you are basically saying to a judge, "It's not that bad."

If you choose the lawsuit route, do your research and be sure it is filed in the right court which has jurisdiction over such matters.  Many times, filing in the "correct court" will require a monetary request in the lawsuit.  Monetary awards do not have to be accepted and will likely not be awarded anyway.  So go ahead and seek a monetary judgment in addition to the ceasefire ruling - it's vital to get it heard and ruled upon in the proper court. 

Concerned?  Get involved.  Contact the Kentucky State Pollution Board and your local government.  Contact information for the Jessamine County Kentucky Fiscal Court can be found on their website at http://www.jessamineco.com/court/.

Do you want these things operating uncontrolled in Jessamine County?  I sure don't because I know firsthand what it's like to be on the receiving end.  Don't wait until you decide it's "that bad" or by then it may be too late.

Oh.. and until this is settled, I would STRONGLY advise someone to NOT buy a home in Jessamine County within 1 mile of a field.  Got your eye on a nice 1-acre lot in an upscale subdivision on land that was recently rezoned from agriculture?  Better think twice.  Until control mechanisms are in place, there are no guarantees that what happened to my neighbors and me won't happen to you.

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Links

http://www.banthecannons.com/ (an informative  website created by some affected Canadians)
 http://www.banthecannons.com/usvictims.html (info for US victims)
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_scarer (Wikipedia's entry on bird control methods)
 http://www.banthecannons.com/alternatives.html (alternatives to cannons)
 http://schoolipm.ifas.ufl.edu/av.htm (well.. the owl and balloon setup is pretty cool)
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_pollution  (Wikipedia's entry on Noise Pollution)
 http://www.jessamineco.com/court/index.htm (Jessamine County Kentucky Fiscal Court)
http://www.lrc.ky.gov/krs/224-30/chapter.htm (Kentucky Noise Control Act)
http://www.kppc.org/contact.cfm (Kentucky State Pollution Prevention Center)

 

Contact me:
 steve@jessaminecannon.com

 


 

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