Tales from the Bush

I've been told over the years about the enemies of the folks who grow in the hills. Choppers to hoppers covers the extremes, size wise, but don't count out mice, rats, deer, –deer hunters,” and in this true tale, a bear.

All the manure, bone meal, bat guano, oyster shell was carried in, staged, and ready to go into holes which had been successfully used the prior year. Sometime between getting these smelly, expensive amendments staged in the patch, and their actual use, came a bear. If you happened to be a bag of chicken manure, it was actually a bear attack. Literally, there was shit everywhere.

The site where this garden was located was too good to walk away from. Finding a spot with privacy, good southern exposure, and ample water is a real trick. However, without

some protection, no way the bear isn't coming back for second helpings of all the stinky stuff required to grow big healthy plants.

The subject of this incident was a real pro and reacted quickly to the incident. When he returned with a second round of grow goods, he had also bought and brought an electric livestock fence. The system was powered by a series of 12-volt car batteries wired together and kept at full charge by a small solar panel, (16” X 10”). The system was set for maximum