"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
FarmI wrote:
"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
Here's the consequences of being late on one of my normal garden
tasks: pulling/grubbing out the grass and common daylilies that
keep invading the veggie garden from the neighbor's yard along the
west fence.

Last Sunday I pulled and hacked part of the way along the fence.
Skipped the next day to work in the flower beds. Then the rains
came. Finally Friday dawns clear and back to the veggie garden
to do some more work.

But first, run the perimeter to check the electric fence wire,
because it's time to reinstall the charger. So I'm walking north
along the west fence, walking toward the area I cleared on Sunday
when a mallard duck explodes from the ground at my feet! Holy crap!

Right at the edge of the uncleared area was a nest with seven eggs
in it. And I don't think she's done with the clutch. How the hell
was she intending to get those ducklings anywhere? The whole fence
bottom is lined with chicken wire (to keep the baby bunnies out).
The last thing I need is a small horde of ducks rampaging through
the lettuce or newly-sprouted corn...

(One spring few years back, a duck and drake turned out the be
the critters that ruined my first planting of snap peas.)

I'd have bought lettuces and peas and considered myself to be lucky
to do that if I could only get a wild duck to nest in my veggie
garden.

What would you pay for swamp hens to steal your horse feed?

:-)) I'll pass on them thanks as we already have some on the back dam. We
also don't have horses any more and we tried not to feed them a great deal
when we did (except if in work) - just enough to keep them coming up to us
each morning so we could check them over. The horses were quick to eat
their food and never let the swamp hens near their food.