To make the moving Pond Monster, you will need: a
motorized duck decoy (Motorized duck decoys are available from Cabela's or other
sporting catalogue or hunters' store.); batteries to power the decoy; duct tape;
black spray paint; two green or yellow snap glow sticks; a piece of styrofoam,
pillow foam, or packing foam about 14" x 9" x 6"; a sharp knife; monofilament or
tough string; a very large fishing sinker or a fist-sized rock or piece of
brick.
Look! There's a glowing-eyed monster swimming in the pond. You
can almost see its head -- almost! Look at those eyes. It must be huge. I wonder
if it has teeth.
The Pond Monster is an easy way to include your garden pond in the
weirdness of Halloween night. First, peel off the DUCK part of the decoy, a
molded piece of soft foam (you can put it back on later). Insert the batteries
the thing calls for. Then, using the sharp knife, take the piece of your foam
and sculpt a simple oval top for the creature, to replace the ducky one you have
just taken off. This is easy -- look at the photo below. Then securely duct
("duck"?) tape the new top to the rest of the decoy. Using the knife or a stick,
punch two holes into the foam near the "front" of the critter. These are for the
glow-stick eyes. Make sure the glow sticks will stick out at least half an inch
each from these holes. Take the glow sticks back out. Then spray paint the whole
critter black. When Pondy dries, tie some monofilamaent around him and suspend
the big sinker or piece of stone about 8 inches below the body of the critter,
so it will stablize him in the water and help him to go round in circles. This
is so he won't become hung up on water lilies or other pond plants, or run
aground. He will swim for hours, but better do a test run!
On Halloween night, just before your guests arrive, snap and shake
the glow sticks and stick them into his eye sockets, turn on the switch, set
Pondy in the pond -- and instant (small!) Nessie!
Variations: Green and yellow glow sticks are the only ones
Uncialle has found that are bright enough to be seen more than six feet away,
but you could try other colors. You can put a large Halloween mask (a dragon?
the Creature from the Black Lagoon? a witch with long hair?) over the whole
thing, and still see the glowing eye-sticks. Pondy might work well with a long
"tail" of some sort to drag behind on the surface of the water, or even with a couple of rubber snakes attached to him. In any case,
Pondy will be set for several hours of fun. Because he is black, your
guests will not be able to make out exactly what he is -- just the way you want
it! Uncialle's house pond is seven by sixteen feet, and is just perfect for
Pondy, zooming greenly in and out of view on the blackest of black
nights.
