It is all part of the preparation for this year's scarecrow contest at the nut tree in Vacaville. It's the 10th year it's been underway and each year it seems the new entries become more elaborate.

Scarecrows do a much better job scaring humans than they do scaring birds. If scarecrows were used to ward off birds, adds James P. Leary, a historian and folklorist focused on rural Midwestern life, ...