Friday, August 31, 2012

Varmints?

This is Bushie. He is one of almost a dozen chipmunks on our daylily farm in New Hampshire. We really liked Bushie. Now I read that they are Varmints! At least NPR in NH says so.They state:

Summer may be winding down, but for many gardeners in New Hampshire, the season’s not quite over.  There are still tomatoes and beans to be gathered.  And rich fall squashes are just emerging.  This summer’s gardening season has been a challenging one.  Mainly because of a few creatures that have enjoyed her plants....Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “I have no hostility to nature, but a child’s love to it. I expand and live in the warm day like corn and melons.”

Now we have never seen them do anything harmful. We fed them, the love blueberries, and they are wonderful friends. Neighbors do not like them, for reasons I really do not understand. We have dozens here in New Jersey,  never a problem. But there are cranky old folks who seem to hate the little creatures. Perhaps it is more a reflection of how they see themselves. Emerson was right, you must love and respect nature, you learn from it, the good and the bad, but it is a wonderful teacher.

So perhaps one could share with the little folks. Deer and groundhogs are another issue, as well as raccoons. They are just big lugs who will munch everything. But for the little guys, they are just friends in the garden, so let them be.

I see more of what is in a person by how they deal with the other creatures they share this planet with. It speaks of their soul. I wish we could get Bushie back, but alas he was taken away by a mean mean man!

So for the folks in NPRNH, enjoy the creatures, they will not take it all.