This week, I lost six high quality, organic watermelons to a crow. The normal chemical watermelons are selling at 580 yen at the moment. So that's a loss of 3,480 yen, more if you consider the value of organic produce. And the stupid vermin didn't eat all of the six watermelons. It ate the equivalent of one, and ruined the rest by pecking at them, leaving beak-sized holes for the ants to get in.
And just now when I went outside to sniff the air, I heard a rustling in the corn, and knew that it was a tanuki. I charged up the garden and heard it get over the fence into the mikan orchard next door where it waited while I inspected the damage. Again, it hasn't eaten in an orderly, economically responsible fashion. It has ripped and nibbled at each corn cob in turn, ruining about five, and trampling down some of the stalks.The corn incident comes as an especially bitter blow since I spent some time this morning setting up nets over the Cannonball black watermelon patch where a crow had tasted but rejected an immature melon (not counted in the damage tally above). With a little foresight, I could have protected the corn. Last year, I lost all of my corn and most of my watermelons to drought, weeds and typhoons. This year, it's not all, but losing some to vermin is a serious annoyance.
This calls for determined protective measures.
OK, 'vermin' might be a bit harsh. Maybe, 'naughty little tinker' might have been fairer. When I went out to water later, my headlight picked out a pair of green eyes staring at me from the other side of the fence. I approached my nemesis talking to it in a soothing voice, and found it was a very young, very black tanuki, only the size of a small cat. I really like tanuki. They're always wary and maintain a safe distance, but they respond to being spoken to, and don't dart off and cower like cats. I put some of the opened cobs on the other side of the fence for it to eat later.
I'm still going to put nets round my next crop of corn though.
15 comments:
Sorry to hear it, Rod. I have crows circling and melons bulging - or starting to. So I expect some losses as well. However I have not seen a tanuki yet (ever).
Last week we broke down and bought a watermelon at the shop. It was 'on sale' at 900 yen. Our intention was to put it in the very pretty rocky stream behind the house and enjoy a lazy afternoon eating it. When we arrived home I opened the rear door to my van and the melon rolled out and cracked in half on the dusty ground.
It's these frequent tragic events involving watermelons that makes them so valuable. Given their fragility who would think, "I know what I'll do, I'll grow watermelons for a living!"?
I don't suppose you're trying to make any of them thar square shaped melons, are ya?
Hi goemon, and congratulations on posting the very first link in a comment on this blog. Sasuga, as they say.
I'm only going to be making those foolish square ones when I have the reg'lar round and ovoid melons rolling off the production line (hopefully not onto the floor).
It's a bitter thing still to be buying watermelons when I have six plants in my own back yard.
But don't the squarish ones require nurturing in a box? Which might protect the goodness from the baddies?
Cruelty to melons!
I always get a very stressed vibe off those square melons...
It's not cruel actually; it recreates the "womb" feeling for the melon, so it's quite content.
I hadn't realized that it was actually such a complicated matter.
Have people in Tokyo started putting their heads in boxes yet? I'm sure square heads would be a huge hit in the Booyah.
A lot of my corn got eaten by tanuki the past two years at different plots. The first year I didn't realize what it was. We get them sniffing around here already, so this year doesn't bode well either. I could fence them off, but I doubt that will happen given my half hearted efforts so far. My corn is also interplanted with zucchini. Its "three sisters" inspired, and allows you to grow in the (big) spaces between your zucchini plants. The shade of the zucchini leaves stops the weeds, so your the corn gets little competition. I've got the other sister (endo) elsewhere.
I usually only get to see tanuki from behind, but from the glimpses I've had, they look like cute little things. The ones round here scurry away into the nearest hole as soon as they see you.
You can get nets for growing cucumbers for about 200 yen for a goodly length. If you buy the type with the small aperture and string it up from a few bamboos whacked in around the corn, that should keep them out without a huge amount of work. That's what I'll be doing next year. My watermelons are now protected in the same way, and it seems to wok.
I forgot my only tanuki encounter. Back in March we found a dad one on snowy road snow outside our house. Cars don't drive there in winter and I have no idea how it died, with the tracks suggesting it simply dropped dead on the spot. The only disturbance I could see was from a pair of crows who had proceed to eat the warm innards of dead tanuki via the backside. Nature has no dignity. We called the local council and they took him away.
Did the tanuki have a snarl on its face? Tanuki that are hit by cars are usually snarling. I noticed this a long time ago, but I got direct confirmation a few months ago. I was riding my bike at night when I surprised a tanuki in a ditch to my left. It darted in front of my wheel with a strange high-pitched bark and snapped at my right leg as it went past. If I had actually hit it, it would have died with a snarl on its face.
No snarl. No cars either as the road was closed over winter. I think he just died. Do they usually roam in March, or are they supposed to be hibernating?
According to Japanese Wikipedia, instead of hibernating, they increase their body weight by nearly 50% in autumn. In snowy areas, they also tend to lurk in holes. Perhaps the one you found hadn't achieved the right fat percentage, or couldn't find a suitable hole. Sad business.
Japanese people say all sorts of weird shit about tanuki, and I have no idea what they're talking about. I once had to do a translation about a tanuki with special powers, and it nearly drove me insane. My wife wasn't any help either. She just looked at it and shook her head and went away.
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