Sunday, August 8, 2010

Scarecrow Niko

In the backyard, I have a small vegetable garden that is near and dear to my heart.  Lots of time and care have been put into it.  The process started in mid March when I started seeds indoors. The garden itself doesn't have protection in terms of fencing.  


Earlier this summer, a neighbor who is a very experienced gardener marveled that my green bean plants were unharmed. He said rabbits love green beans and they'd be able to get to mine easily. I took my chances and didn't install a fence. This week, the same neighbor reported of groundhogs eating his cucumbers and traps didn't work and he had to fence them off.


Luckily, it is now August and my garden has been unharmed by any sort of rodents (knock on wood).  We think it is mainly due to our unintended scarecrow, Niko. He spends time outside by the garden a lot and chases chipmunks, rabbits, and squirrels whenever he sees them. One time, out of no where, I heard him growl quietly. I looked up to find a deer crossing the backyard. The deer didn't think twice about coming near my garden.


Our scarecrow doesn't stay outside 24 hrs/day.  The usual suspects probably smell him when they come near and stay away. Thanks to Niko, we are able to enjoy home grown veggies. Thanks, buddy!

4 comments:

  1. You are absolutely lucky!!! Mika is a lazy friendly-crow. One time, Mika was sun bathing and there was a bird hopping around him less than half a foot away from him and he didn't even flinch. When I called Mika in, all Mika did was look at the bird for barely a second and came inside. I saw the bird froze and probably nearly had a heart attack. When Mika was inside, the bird flew to a near by branch and just look towards me at where Mika came inside. The bird probably thought "Wow! That's the coolest dog in the world!" lol Although, I have to say, Mika does catch rodents every once in a while.

    Maybe Mika and that bird was conspiring against me.. a bird did land on my head a few months later and scared the begeesus out of me. Mika just looked at me like I was crazy....

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  2. Mika must have a secret language he communicates with the birds and they understand each other!

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