New World Scarecrows

When European colonists first settled in the New World in early 1600’s, they found that the American Indian were using scarecrows, as well as bird scares, to protect their corn crops. Often adults as well as children shooed birds out of the fields. The Zuni Indians, who lived in the Southwest, had many different and unusual kinds of scarecrows, which they called “the watchers of the corn sprout”.

The colonists, however, created scarecrows that were similar to those that had been built in Europe for centuries. They stuffed old clothing with hay, leaves, grass or straw; topped the figure with a large gourd for the head; and stuck on a hat. The figure was then mounted on a long pole and place in the field. Sometimes a farmer would find that the scarecrow’s clothes had disappeared during the night –possibly a poor tramp may have liked the scarecrow’s garments better than his own.