Check your local laws, I bet there's a law on the books about dogs wandering
loose. Even here, out in the county as opposed to the local towns, where I
live there is a law that says that dogs have to be confined to the property
or on a leash. The very least that judge owes you is an apology, and
probably there's some financial recompense owed as well.

Philip
"Andrew McMichael" wrote in message
...

So this year, for the first time, I planted corn. I planted about seven or
eight rows of twenty stalks. Soon after planting we had about three days
of
torrential rain, which washed away alot of soil--my garden is on a slight
slope. So, I replanted. They came up fine, got to about two feet tall and
fell
over during another storm. No problem--put them bag up, hill up around
them,
and keep going. Then another really bad storm and a few fell over. I left
them
for the next day to fix, but in the middle of the night something came and
ate
the ears that had fallen. At first I suspected squirrels, but those
critters
aren't usually active at night. Over the course of the past few weeks
nearly
*all* my corn has been eaten. I've had out have-a-heart traps, I've sat
and
watched it during the day (from distance), nothing. Nothing in the traps,
nothing visible. Lots of corn-filled-poop around the garden, though.

Finally, last night I caught sight of the creature doing it--my
next-door-neighbor's very old, nearly broken-down dog. Lucky I spotted
him,
because I was on the verge of "painting" the remaining half-dozen or so
ears
with rat poison. This damn dog (which in the past has turned over our
garbage,
etc.) has systematically stripped almost every single ear of corn from my
plot. I'm going over to talk to the owner of the dog today, but
unfortunately
the guy is the county/city judge, so I can't make alot of legal threats.
But
it is taking every ounce of self-control I have not to simply shoot the
dog. I
wasn't so mad when I thought it was a raccoon, I could kind of accept
it--nature doing its thing and all. But and irresponsible neighbor ruining
three to four months of hard work and all my corn is a bit more
aggravating.
Out of the 150 stalks of corn, I'm going to be lucky to get ten ears.
That's
not right.





Andrew