this is through my experiences and in relation as
to which animals/critters have been around ... well
... in again speaking through my experiences ... is
the darn chicken.
What you are looking at in the photo above is most
possibly nothing new to a lot of people but it is the
results of 4 chickens and about less than 5
minutes in the garden in back of my lodging.
I am sure that there are other animals that can wreak
more damage and havoc but in the places I've been
in over the last years, these guys are garden enemy
numero uno.
When I was in Senegal I also had a garden and it was
a fairly nice sized one that was about 10 meters from
my hut. There the biggest problem was the cows
during the night time. It was almost every 2 a.m. that
I would have to wake up and throw rocks from my
location at the hut towards those dastardly thieves.
It was also incredible to see a huge cow hurtle over a
130 cm / 4 ft. fence like it was nothing. I guess the
children's story of the cow jumping over the moon
must of came after that author saw some cows jump
into his garden too. It was irritating but makes for
good stories. Also learned that cows eat cotton.
Yeah, cotton balls and I've even seen them eating a
t-shirt that I am safe to deduce, was made of cotton.
Despite the evening performance of flying cows, yes,
they did do damage but I informally feel that they
didn't do as much for their size as those dag nabbed
chickens do.
What makes the chicken a little more of a problem is
their size. It is more difficult to see them because of
the fence and the plants. A cow isn't that stealthy.
So, back to the picture, someone (not me) left the gate
to the garden open and within 5 minutes you are
seeing what happened.
So, it is back to throwing rocks and within 30 seconds
they were squawking to high heaven and flying over
the fence. I am fortunate to have a little experience
here and have learned that the best way to keep them
away is to put fear into their little hearts. This is
accomplished by throwing rocks at them daily,
basically it is sending a message that we are watching
them.
As the word struggle is a tremendously popular word
here, it is again used to describe the status of the
cabbages in the garden. They are struggling for their
respective right to survive the scorched earth policy
of a group of chickens in a newly planted vegetable
garden.
Well, with my experience as my guide, I have fallen
to the conclusion that pound for pound, them chickens
are the most dangerous thing coming a garden's way.
Better end here and look and see if there is a need
to throw a few rocks.
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