EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING
Okay, I know, all caps. But this requires it! See, the book I just finished is called Gene Logsdon's Wildlife in Your Garden, and is subtitled (pay attention to this part) "Or, Dealing with Deer, Rabbits, Raccoons, Moles, Crows, Sparrows, and Other of Nature's Creatures (in ways that keep them around but away from your fruits and vegetables.")
Note that crows are *specifically mentioned* right there in the subtitle. On the COVER of the book. So it would be reasonable for me to expect at least some reference to crows in the book, right? RIGHT?
They are not mentioned even once!!!!!! They do not even appear in the extensive index! AUGH. I've been fleeced! Defrauded! Rooked! This is the worst trick that has been played on anyone in the history of people tricking people with tricks!
Other than that, though, I have to admit that it was an excellent book. It contains two chapters on fencing and other deterrents for keeping animals from raiding your crops, and the suggestions seem to be useful and overwhelmingly non-harmful to the animals being deterred. And after that it jumps right into the animals you *do* want around, how to encourage them to take up residence, and what to plant to keep them well-fed and happy. (It also mentions what kinds of wild plants are likely to distract pilferers, such as wild berries that birds will prefer to the berries you're growing for yourself, and grasses that mice will eat instead of nibbling your tree roots.)
There's also lots of good stuff on observing wildlife, stalking critters with cameras, and identifying wild plants and fungi that you can bring in and eat.
The niftiest part is that all of this can be done on a very small amount of land: the backyard 'wildlife sanctuary' used as an example throughout the book takes up only about an acre, and is bursting at the seams with wild creatures. Awesome!
So overall, it was a fantastic book, and I'm going to get my own copy. I'm hoping to have a little bit of land of my own one day, and there are a lot of ideas in this book that I'd love to use.
But:
Gene Logsdon, you are not off the hook. You promised me crows, Gene Logsdon. And I still want to know:
Where
are
my
CROWS?!
Note that crows are *specifically mentioned* right there in the subtitle. On the COVER of the book. So it would be reasonable for me to expect at least some reference to crows in the book, right? RIGHT?
They are not mentioned even once!!!!!! They do not even appear in the extensive index! AUGH. I've been fleeced! Defrauded! Rooked! This is the worst trick that has been played on anyone in the history of people tricking people with tricks!
Other than that, though, I have to admit that it was an excellent book. It contains two chapters on fencing and other deterrents for keeping animals from raiding your crops, and the suggestions seem to be useful and overwhelmingly non-harmful to the animals being deterred. And after that it jumps right into the animals you *do* want around, how to encourage them to take up residence, and what to plant to keep them well-fed and happy. (It also mentions what kinds of wild plants are likely to distract pilferers, such as wild berries that birds will prefer to the berries you're growing for yourself, and grasses that mice will eat instead of nibbling your tree roots.)
There's also lots of good stuff on observing wildlife, stalking critters with cameras, and identifying wild plants and fungi that you can bring in and eat.
The niftiest part is that all of this can be done on a very small amount of land: the backyard 'wildlife sanctuary' used as an example throughout the book takes up only about an acre, and is bursting at the seams with wild creatures. Awesome!
So overall, it was a fantastic book, and I'm going to get my own copy. I'm hoping to have a little bit of land of my own one day, and there are a lot of ideas in this book that I'd love to use.
But:
Gene Logsdon, you are not off the hook. You promised me crows, Gene Logsdon. And I still want to know:
Where
are
my
CROWS?!