Oh, it's been used and you wouldn't beleive the effect. I couldn't find the site to save my life. Then just now I remembered. Here is the link:

http://www.csupomona.edu/~tgsimmons/.../scarycrow.htm

This guy put a lot into it. He has a whole automated scene that gets activated when the scarcrow gets triggered.

WOW! He did go all out did'nt he? Very Cool. I like the stuff on the Deathlord site as well.

There is another site that I can't remember where a guy had the scarecrow jump off of the post and land in front of the patrons and reach his arms forward, then it crouched down and jumped back onto it's post. He also had a scene going on. Instead of crows he had jack-o-lanterns. One of them spun around and another would shake.

Thats kind of what I am planning, only mine, hopefully, will give the impression of attempting to come off the post but will be restained by the ropes keeping him tied up there. I'll be working in a small space with limited resources. You can see the area I'm talking about in my photo album.
My idea so far is this; Have my SC secured to my post with a fence hinge around the butt area. The motor or air cylinder or what ever I find that will work, will be attached around the shoulder blade area. When the SC is activated, the prop will be pushed outward from the upper back, drawing the cables tight which in turn will bring the head up, and if I do it right, open the lower jaw for the opening mouth to scream effect, plus bring the arms and hands up into attack position. I'll need to attach the upper arm pieces to the cross post with some sort of swivel bolt thing (?), so that it will give the torso two more points of attachment, plus when I make the finishing touches on the SC's outfit, I'll put ropes around those upper arm attachment points, so that when it's not moving it will look like the ropes are holding the SC up, then when it 'attacks' they'll look like they are restraining the arms.
I plan on first experimenting with bunji cords as cables, so that when it pops into attack position, there is a couple seconds of extra movement as the cords stretch, hopefully giving the illusion of straining muscles.
We'll see what happens after the first mock up is made.

Sounds great. Look forward to seeing. Make sure you take lots of pictures and do a write up.

If you find that link rweso I'd love to check it out. One idea I have long thought about was having a series of pumpkins on a fence that would "dance" to the tune of Grim Grinning Ghosts at the push of a button. I figured they would light up, spin, pop up, or anything else I could rig up into a pattern. Those evil Spencers pumpkins would be great for this idea.

<center>“by the Pricking of My Thumbs, Something Wicked This Way Comes.”</center>

I found it, here it is:
http://home.comcast.net/~mdrodriguez/jumpinjack.htm