We work pretty hard to nurture our trees, bushes, native grasses and my garden. We hoe and till and water and pray. Our trees, bushes, native grasses and my garden know this song by heart:

 

 

 

Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow, gonna mulch it deep and low, gonna make this fertile ground. Inch by inch row by row, please bless these seeds I sow. Please warm them from below, till the rain comes tumblin’ down. 

We’ve seen the tracks of a deer or antelope in the tree rows, where my vegetables are also planted. The corn had just started to form ears…CHOMP! That midnight rogue ate them off right down to the ground. I did see this antelope mom and new baby yesterday, but I don’t think they are guilty. That little guy is way to cute to be wreaking havoc yet!

This marauder was walking destruction, chewing off the tops of my almond tree, a new cherry tree, and a plum-tree we put in just last year. The cherries have no more protection from leaves and a pink blush is just blooming on the still hard fruit. The plum-tree was heavy with hard green plums, but that did not stop this piggy thief from eating several of them and leaving the pits at the bottom of the tree.

We are often up during the night and have made an effort to gaze out into the tree row, but we’ve never seen the stealthy bugger, only his tracks each morning. What to do? A scarecrow, what else? We shall see if this makes any difference.