WALKING THE ROWS

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I feel badly that I misled this animal into believing that we could be partners in the garden. The next spring when he started foraging again having spent the winter under my shop, I gave him or her one more chance. I went around to all the escape routes I could find—under the porch, the road culvert, a hole in the hedgerow and the den under my shop—and plugged them up. I shot at him once but missed and he ran off to the barn. But still he returned. By this time I had determined that it was a lone male planning to establish an attractive place for a mate. He tempted fate one too many times.

I know that it will distress some peo ple to think that I killed a small furry animal. I would rather not have had our relationship end that way. Some people tell me that I should plant enough for the animals and myself. A nice idea, howev er, I can assure you that all that would do is increase the population of animals and I would have to expand the garden every year to accommodate the rising popula tion. I want animals that eat my vegeta bles to stay out of my garden and all animals other than humans to stay out of my house. Anyone who allows mice and t rats to run unmolested in their homes is welcome to condemn me for killing the woodchuck. Please remember that I do "take responsibility for that killing. It was my fault because I allowed the animal to— become familiar with my garden.

The electric fence around the gar den was wonderful later in the season when raccoons and porcupines frequently get into the corn. There is a deer that has found my garden and comes back every year after the first frost. I strung an addi tional strand of wire about three feet off the ground to see if I could persuade the deer that I had moved and been replaced by a nasty person. One morning I found the fence down and some deer tracks in the garden but no damage. The tracks looked like a deer running rather than wandering. The fence had been put up flimsily so it was no surprise that it was down. No deer last year.

Visiting the garden may be most im portant for animal control but there are all sorts of things you may come across that will save time and make for a better garden if caught at the right moment. If you are staking your tomatoes, you will probably do a much better job of tying them to the stake before they flop down with twisted stems. You'll know when the corn and zucchini are ready to harvest. You'll catch in sect damage early and be able to monitor it without panicking. And what gardener can casually walk through a garden, any garden, without pulling a weed or two?

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