Constant Battle
Co-habitation with nature is not without some challenges. My wife and I attempt to grow some things near the house that are native to the area, such as tomato plants or hibiscus flowers. Neither are very exotic plants, but they do draw unusual attention from the local fauna.
Our tomato plants are doing very well and are just starting to produce. There is nothing we enjoy more than a fresh garden tomato sandwich with homemade bacon. We become quite possessive of our tomato plants. A couple of days ago while checking the plants, my wife discovered a Japanese beetle eating on one of the leaves. Without hesitation, war was declared. I had a beetle trap left over from last year which I immediately placed in a tree some distance from the tomatoes. The trap consists of a sturdy gallon bag with a funnel at the top. Pheromone is placed at the top to attract the beetles. They land on the funnel and slip into the bag where they cannot escape. The trap needs to
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be placed away from the plants a person is trying to protect as the pheromone will attract beetles from over a mile away. They will eat everything in sight while waiting their turn to get into the trap.
Within a few hours, an unbelievable number of Japanese beetles were in the trap. The bag was close to being half full by the time the sun went down. I planned to empty it and start over in the morning. The beetles could not get out and hopefully most of them would be dead by morning.
Bright and early the next morning, I went down the hill to feed the orioles and check on the beetle trap. The orioles were happy to see me but the beetle trap was not like I left it. During the night, something tore and chewed a hole in the side of the plastic bag. There were about half as many in the trap as the night before. I was hoping whatever broke into the trap, ate the others, but I imagine most of them escaped. The only thing I can guess that would work hard enough to get into a beetle trap would be an opossum. They will eat anything and are agile enough to get the bag and rip it open. We are also still having the running battle with the doe that had her fawn in the timber near my wife’s large flower bed. She not only chases the dogs but is eating the flowers. I have discouraged my wife from taking a semi-automatic highpowered rifle to her. Not only is it illegal to shoot deer at this time of year, both my pickup truck and the propane tank are in
the area. When she opens up with an AK47, something is going to get hit perhaps everything in the area will be. It is not a good idea to close one’s eyes and rapidly pull the trigger. I decided a better plan was to get nylon netting and surround the whole flower bed. The netting I purchased is designed to cover fruit trees to prevent birds getting to the fruit before they can be picked. It is about the thickness of spider web, though much stronger. It tangles and catches on everything and is a real pain to get in place. After my wife and I struggled it into position, I think it will work. It is all but invisible and I believe if deer touch it on the way to eat the flowers, they will be spooked by it. If they try to run through it, we might find a deer caught in the tangled-up net like a fish being seined out of the water. I hope this does not happen because it would be a challenge getting a deer untangled from it. We have faced the reality, when we live near nature there will be unique problems along with the pleasures of enjoying it firsthand. Some days, it seems to be a constant battle.
