Garden Notes

My friend told me a coyote story. She was out walking her dog and decided to take a shortcut through the  neighborhood schoolyard to look at some benches the kids had painted as a school project. About half way across the soccer field she noticed something out of place and turned to get a good look. It was a coyote, crouched down, snarling, ready to attack.

She started to run, and in the two block stretch to her home, she kept looking over her shoulder and checking to see if parked cars were unlocked, thinking if the coyote really attacked, she could jump into a car.  She made home in one piece and immediately called our village hall to report the vicious animal that had frightened her.

The man who answered the phone said.  “Ma’am, it’s a predator decoy, we are using it to discourage the geese from pooping on the grass. The kids play out there and it’s really disgusting.”

My friend protested, “But that coyote looks really mean. Don’t you think it will scare the kids? “

The man replied, “Ma’am, the kids know all about the coyote and they are fine with it. It’s the adults who are having a problem.”

Now, I grew up in northern Wisconsin. We rarely saw geese. I really didn’t know much about them except that they flew north in the spring and south in the fall. It is very different in my current neighborhood, there are a lot of geese and they have become pests. Also, the man was right, they do poop everywhere.

After my friend told me about the coyote, I went to the school and looked at the decoy. It actually did look pretty realistic from a distance, especially when the grass covered up the bottom mechanism.

Since all this happened, I have been watching for geese and there are none. So, I guess the coyote really is the new and improved scarecrow!

Predator Coyote Decoy