Yesterday, my wife came home with five freshly picked ears of Honey Bantam corn.
I got greedy and ate three.
They were delicious.
No doubt about it. They were really good.
That is why I have grown corn every year.
But not this year.
The reason is the same as always.
The civets (the masked palm civet, a clever nocturnal visitor in our area).
There is something special about watching corn grow. The leaves get taller, the ears begin to swell, and the silks slowly turn dark. Every morning, I look at them and think, “Maybe I can pick them tomorrow.”
But that is where the trouble begins.
“Maybe tomorrow.”
The next morning, I go to the field.
Nothing.
Well, not exactly nothing— but nothing worth calling corn anymore.
The corn is still there.
But it has been destroyed.
The ears have been chewed, the field has been messed up, and almost everything is gone.
“How many came here last night?”
The culprits are civets.
One? Two? Or maybe a whole gang?
I have no idea. It happens at night.
But one thing is certain.
They are clever.
Put up a net, and they dig a hole underneath it.
Block the hole, and they chew through the net.
I make one move, and they make two.
I have even seen one walking along an electric wire.
They seem to be able to come from anywhere.
I have been fighting them for years.
That is why corn has become one of the crops where my hard work is least likely to pay off.
After much hesitation, I finally raised the white flag this year.
I stopped growing corn.
So the five ears we had this year came from someone else's field.
I was very grateful, and I enjoyed every bite.
One month ago, a local old-timer told me about his way of dealing with civets.
He sets traps and uses apples as bait.
He says he has caught quite a few of them that way.
I definitely need to learn more about how he does it.
And I have found another solution of my own.
Newspaper.
As soon as the ears begin to swell, I cover each one with newspaper so the civets cannot see them.
It is a very simple strategy.
But so far, it works better than anything else I have tried.
The battle of wits with the civets is not over.
Next year, I think I will build a castle of newspapers and give it another try.
After all, corn is delicious.
I should know.
I ate three ears myself.