Enemy at the gates ...

An uneasy moon over the Huon

It doesn’t take much to be reminded that this farming lark is going to take some getting used to. The major enemies we currently face in our battle to establish a garden are rabbits, wallabies and possums. A few weeks ago Cath discovered that a baby bunny had taken up residence under our front deck. After a few days of trying to lure it out, we managed to trap it in a store room under the house. As this stage we should have dispatched the little eating machine but instead we stood there helplessly, all three of us, as we looked at this small and very cute creature. With Pepper’s enthusiastic help we succeeded in gently herding the little bunny out of the room and out of the garden. We then had a superb coffee (a dark roast of Colombian, Ethiopian and Brazilian beans) and reflected that we were completely useless when it came to being ruthless. Of course having a beautifully gentle Border collie rather than a more aggressive breed doesn’t help the cause. We resolved (unanimously) to be more proactive in our efforts to repel the enemy. 

Then just a few days ago, Cath was standing in the living room eating breakfast and surveying the garden in front of the cottage, when she spied a bunny (fully grown this time) standing at our front gate. Of course Pepper was blissfully unaware of the potential threat and was happily chasing birds – she has her head in the clouds much of the time! Cath barked out an instruction to me to see the bunny off and I reacted with the smooth ruthlessness of a trained operative. 

Without stopping to think of my attire or my injured ankle, I charged out of the house in my pyjamas and sheepskin slippers yelling something incomprehensible to Pepper and doing my best to look like a mean version of Mr. McGreggor from the Tale of Peter Rabbit. I imagined that Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries was blaring forth from the speakers as I charged around to the front gate, leaping wildly from side to side in a manner designed to avoid the wallaby scat lying everywhere. Pepper, instead of entering into the spirit of the chase, was transfixed by the spectacle. Ultimately, however, I won the day. The bunny took one look and fled, never to be seen again (hopefully).  Once the red mist subsided, I limped my way back to the house very carefully and very sheepishly where we immediately decided (over a another coffee) that our next priority was to construct an impregnable barrier around the property in order to repel unwanted intruders  - sound familiar?

After we received a swift reply from the Mexican government on the question of funding, we started to  build the impregnable fence ourselves. We have thus far erected a very elegant gate next to the deck which will be the end point of a rabbit and wallaby proof fence that reaches from the shed to the house. 

The finished product

The rather awkward position of the gate required a bit of slick carpentry which Cath’s new jigsaw handled pretty easily. 

The Bosch blue series Jigsaw

We have also concreted in a gate post hear the shed that will hold half of a double gate designed to allow full access for large equipment to the back paddock. Once we erect the rest of the double gate we will attach chicken wire to the wooden fence posts that currently run behind the avenue of crab apple and ornamental pears that we planted about a month ago. 

This part is the easy bit. The next stage will probably involve a fence contractor to do some heavy work along the eastern and northern boundaries. Inevitably it all comes down to spending yet more money. Perhaps Cath will have to do a few more shifts … which I think is only fair given the colour which she has painted the front door ...

Goldie .....