Scarecrows

Scarecrows typically do a decent job of keeping the smaller natural critters out of our gardens, but the real varmints, land developers and city planners, don't seem to be much put off by them. This whimsically protected garden sat on the outskirts of a municipality that has exhibited a distressing penchant for rapid suburban creep into the surrounding woodlands, so it was with no small amount of trepidation that I cruised back by the area where this shot was taken a couple of years ago.

Happily, the plot remains, though suburbia's edge continues to grow closer. Perhaps the scarecrows are better at keeping the land grabbing pests away than I thought, though it is more likely the bogeyman economy is the real protector of the garden these days. Whomever the benefactor, it's good to see some things go unchanged.

As it is deep into autumn, the scarecrows are currently away doing whatever it is that scarecrows do in their off season. I look forward to their return this spring. Actually, now that I look more closely, didn't these guys come by the house the other night for tricks-or-treats???