Subject: Geese/chickens/sheep

From: Jack Rowe <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 1 Sep 1997 18:23:56 -0400

Re: geese as orchard animals... Chickens are great for intermittent
cleaning chores, but tear up the ground quickly with permanent access.
Ditto pigs. I second April's suggestion about the geese (I usually like her
thoughtful comments)... they may be a little ornery, but I've found (as
with most all outwardly-ornery animals, human or otherwise) if one doesn't
show intimidation then they respect that and quit the theatrics. 

An interesting story about observation (as in "looked with my brain instead
of my eyes": the geese were getting into my garden of bean and cowpea
seedlings, important heirloom seed samples, so I chased them out several
times, with much theatrics of my own. Finally occurred to me to JUST LOOK
at what they were doing... geese are grazers, they were going along the
rows and carefully eating the grass (that I'd have had to come along and
pull by hand, which for some reason seems to offend fire ants mightily).
They weren't even TOUCHING my bean and cowpea seedlings. After that I left
the geese alone, but they didn't let me forget what a rude host I'd been,
sulking and waddling away whenever I got near.

Speaking of thinking vis-a-vis looking, Huang Po said: "The foolish believe
what they think and reject what they see [or maybe forget to even look? -
JR]; the wise reject what they think and believe what they see". I think I
see what you're thinking...