I will confess to liking crows – I know
that doesn’t sound like a man given
to farmer’s trenchant views, a
man with a penchant to tilt and
overthrow the balance of wild
and free species he sees as potentially
antagonistic to his agrarian game;
but crows don’t really conflict with
the aims of growing avocados. I know
they eat an odd one or two when
food is scant, and I don’t begrudge
them that; I used to get testy though
when they bashed a few more from the
trees, knowing they would ripen as food
for tomorrow. But I’ve learned to live with
that; in fact I get a payback from my friends,
better than a Government cheque. You
see the crows keep the real pests on
the wing, and as a consequence, the
orchard is pretty much vermin free.
Now did I train them,
or did they train me?
© I.D. Carswell 2007
that doesn’t sound like a man given
to farmer’s trenchant views, a
man with a penchant to tilt and
overthrow the balance of wild
and free species he sees as potentially
antagonistic to his agrarian game;
but crows don’t really conflict with
the aims of growing avocados. I know
they eat an odd one or two when
food is scant, and I don’t begrudge
them that; I used to get testy though
when they bashed a few more from the
trees, knowing they would ripen as food
for tomorrow. But I’ve learned to live with
that; in fact I get a payback from my friends,
better than a Government cheque. You
see the crows keep the real pests on
the wing, and as a consequence, the
orchard is pretty much vermin free.
Now did I train them,
or did they train me?
© I.D. Carswell 2007
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