Coyotes are coming closer to us here in Fish Springs. On July 22, the loud howling began. We saw 10 coyotes: four were adults and six were still pups. They walked quickly along the bottom of the BLM hill directly behind our house and then turned and went west up the steep hillside. When they reached the top of the hill they begin to howl. A piercing "yip, yip, yip" broke the silence of the quiet darkness.
Sometimes coyotes roam alone and other times they hunt in a pack. On that night they were in a pack. Coyotes are useful because they feed on mice, rats, gophers, ground squirrels and other rodent pests.
These "North American wolves" are on the prowl and if they can't find wild animals to eat, they may attack our chickens and even Clyde, our big pet cat. Many cats have disappeared from Fish Springs at night so Clyde will be sleeping in the garage each night. Coyotes will eat from a garbage can too.
A very beautiful young coyote has been hanging around in our yard for the past five mornings and we think he is the visitor.
We found two piles of black-colored manure near our trash cans and a messy bunch of trash on the ground. When I clap my hands real loud he runs away fast. Coyotes have roamed this land for hundreds of years and we hope to continue to share it with them in peace.
Juicy green
tomato worms
Like many of our Fish Springs residents, Kathy Hudson enjoys growing organic vegetables during these hot summer days. Now she's got a big problem with tomato worms. Last week she found two huge green, ugly tomato worms in the garden. How can we even consider eating organic, vine-ripened and freshly picked tomatoes when these frightening fat worms have been crawling all over these plants?
Some vegetable books will tell you to use Sevin dust or Diazinon spray but then you're not gardening organically " so what's the use? If you hate to pick the big juicy worms off the tomato leaf, you might just pluck the whole leaf off and feed it to your chickens. That's what I do with mine.
One woman told me she had a special garden blender. She puts the big fat worms in the blender and then she sprays the green liquid back on the tomato plants. That is supposed to chase the worms away... but we better not mix up the garden blender with the margarita blender!
n Linda Monohan may be reached at 782-5802.
