I have murder in my heart.  I have a hit out on a little brown bunny and I will show him my southwestern VA roots if I catch him.    I don't think there are any members of PETA who garden or they would no longer have such warm and fuzzy feelings about animals.  Many years ago I read a book called This Organic Life by Joan Gussow.    In the book she goes round and round with possums, rabbits and other critters who want to use her garden as their personal buffet.   A student in one of her classes displayed shock at some of her critter control tactics (traps and drowning to name two) and she was amused by their naivety.  I could relate because there is nothing more aggravating than working hard and looking forward to your harvest or blooms and realizing that a little pesty creature is benefitting from all your hard work.   My children love the book "Whose Garden Is It?" and I've got to say I always identify with the gardener!

I've come to the conclusion that I am far more tolerant of mammals and birds than I am of bugs and reptiles.   I don't care if it is their habitat that I am intruding upon - get the hell out of my yard!  Bees and pollinators - fine.  Please come visit.   Spiders are occasionally tolerated if they help manage the swarms of mosquitos that seem to enjoy eating my kids and me alive from late afternoon through evening, but only in small doses because I am not particularly fond of hairy, creepy spiders.   The japanese beetles have descended upon my yard and I am not happy.  I've never seen them so thick in any year before and I am at a loss on how to control them.  I'm thinking of getting several bag traps and hanging them in the woods that are near my house to try and draw them away.

Let's just say that after gardening for a few years I have a lot more empathy for large scale farmers who are trying to grow produce to support their families.  I can see why big agriculture has turned to pesticides and insecticides and who knows what else.  It would be devastating to lose your entire crop because a swarm of something decided to come in and decimate it.  I'm not justifying the use of poison on food, just that I can understand wanting a little security.