Hello, Twiggy.
Twiggy was a brand new cherry tree planted last year. He was carefully planted, watered, pruned, and painted (to indicate which variety; Twiggy was a Chelan).
But it was curtains for Twiggy.
Under that healthy veneer of shiny bark and lanky limbs was a dead tree.
Twiggy was a victim of the sneaky silent crop killer: The Gopher.
The Gopher tunnels around underground looking for a free buffet. Tender tree roots are a popular salad variety for this voracious vermin.
Twiggy and 200 defenseless companions were claimed by The Gopher this year.
Retribution will be hard and swift.
If you're a gopher, be forewarned. Your days on this farm are numbered.
10 comments:
Reading that makes me feel a little sick (because you lost your trees, not because you are going to kill the gopher). Maybe you can find some good gopher recipes! If I remember "Joy of Cooking" has a whole section on game. Good luck getting the little bugger.
Blah -- I bet it tastes like rat meat (not that I'd know what that tastes like, hehe). This was the work of dozens of gophers, no doubt. There are gopher control systems, but you have to be really vigilant or they just take over your farm. :(
Poor, poor Twiggy and the 200.
I thought for sure you were going to make a scriptural connection... Rom. 11:16... Matt. 23:27...
Ah, I missed those, but I was actually contemplating Isaiah 11:1 :).
Yes, we haaatessss gophers. Everything we plant we surround the roots with chicken wire (but then, we planted a small home orchard, not hundreds of trees). I've gotten lazy occasionally and planted a rose bush, fingers crossed, without the wire. Always regretted it. The addition of sundry barncats has been helping to keep the gopher population down. Friends bought a ridiculously extravagant gopher killer that (theoretically) blows the critters up. It consisted of some kind of tank with gasoline or propane, a tube that goes into the gopher hole and an explosion. It brought some excitement into their lives, but I don't think it was very effective.
I can't imagine buying a gopher machine for my backyard :). If we do get a place in the country, I'll remember the chicken wire trick. I like that idea better than poison!
Those darn gophers.. I'm having a Cadyshack movie flashback.. LOL
So sorry you lost all those trees..
LOL, if they were cute like the Caddyshack gopher/groundhog, I'd be more sympathetic. But having seen the toothy ugly little creatures, I have less pity for them :).
This cracked me up, and I just had to have my husband read it. We are always going on about our cat and his amazing mole-mutilating abilities and I was recently wondering if he could take down any other garden and lawn foes. Now I am going to start him on a strict and regimented gopher attack training program and when he's prepared, I'll send him your way! ;-)
LOL!!! Would you train a whole herd?? :-D
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