Bob Orsborn, at rear, isn't sure just how effective this crow scarecrow is at keeping its own kind out of the garden. Orsborn has pinwheels around to make sure the pesky birds remain at bay.

Sure, it's a scarecrow, but Bob Orsborn's garden decoration also is a crow. What better way to scare the crows than with one of their own kind?

But Orsborn's real motive in using the oversized bird in his Connoquenessing Township garden was to recycle a Halloween decoration about to be tossed from the storage shed.

Orsborn and his wife, Carol, run an apple stand on Route 68, and the crow previously worked as a greeter of sorts for autumn drivers who stopped to buy apples.

“I put a wire through the back of it to make the arms stand out,” Orsborn said, noting the bird didn't previously resemble a scarecrow.

Since Orsborn uses other methods to deter birds, he is unsure if the revamped scarecrow succeeds in its newfound security role.

“I do have some pinwheels that are brightly colored, and they reflect the sun and scare birds away,” Orsborn said.

“I got a larger pinwheel, and that seems to do more for scaring them away.”