Yesterday, while turning the compost I startled a bright-eyed toad. It froze for a nanosecond allowing me to time to admire its mottled leathery coat before it ambled to a cool, shady refuge. I was delighted to have such a benign presence on the allotment and even more delighted when someone told me toads loved to eat slugs and snails. I did hope that I hadn’t disturbed it enough to make it upsticks and establish toad hall on someone else’s allotment – it’s not as if we don’t have enough slugs and snails to provide him or her breakfast, lunch and dinner, not to mention elevenses and tea!
The allotment is a real haven for wildlife both welcome and unwelcome and you do become particularly aware of the myriad creatures that share the plot because the very nature of gardening often means you are eyeball to eyeball with the local fauna. Even snails which can turn me murderous after decimating a crop can captivate when seen close up – they do have a quirky charm as they slowly perambulate amidst the greenery , antennae alert rather like elderly scholars in search of a rare manuscript or more fittingly like interested shoppers eyeing the produce in a supermarket aisle. Hmmm! I’ve recently started placing empty snail shells as eye protectors on the canes around the plot as they looked prettier than old beer cans and plastic cups. A friend observed that it was rather like the old macabre practice of keeping criminals hanging on their gibbets as a warning to others. Wouldn’t it be great if they all took fright at this sight and turned tail and fled … well I can dream can’t I?
I have a long-standing fondness for worms, this dates back to my childhood when I used to torment my squeamish older sister with them. I’d lie in wait and while she was immersed in some magazine – usually Jackie - I’d drop some poor hapless worm down her back – oh happy days! Latterly my liking for them is due to other (more mature) reasons – I know when I see a few curling on my fork as I ‘m digging that the soil is in fine fettle and that they are happily enriching the soil as they live out their wormy lives. I’m in good company – Charles Darwin was also a fan saying "...it may be doubted if there are any other animals which have played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organized creatures." . I think he reckoned plant life would not have thrived if it were not for worms ploughing through the soil breaking it up and creating passageways for plant roots to take hold. So we all need to be grateful to humble worms … and treat them with due respect (naughty little sisters please note).
Of course there are the four legged denizens of the allotment, early in the morning you can glimpse a flash of russet fur as the local fox streaks through the undergrowth. We now realize that the bones we discover on the plot aren’t a matter for urgent investigation by Time Team but leftovers from a nearby barbecue which Mr Fox fancied for tea. Cats love to saunter by and infuriatingly pad through newly seeded rows – how they love to walk through fine tilth – it must seem like soft pile carpet to them. Well that may be so but I wish they wouldn’t do it. All in all we have a live and let live attitude and like to work with rather than struggle against the local wildlife. However, there would be one voracious beastie that would really upset my equanimity – rabbits. They can vanquish a crop faster than you can say Mr Macregor. I have to say, cute as he is, I’m not on the side of Peter Rabbit, poor Mr Macregor he was just trying to protect his precious crops . Thank goodness we have no rabbits on the allotment … yet. The other day, though, I did see a suspicious looking hole dug in the side of a bank … hmm now where did I put my 12 bore!
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