Cobra in my yard!

Yesterday I was greeted home by my son's screams and this sight.... 

My heart ached for this duckling but more for my son....

Who... begged his father to buy him ducklings in the hopes of having eggs for breakfast one day. Actually he is a slow eater but he gained back his appetite when his grandfather bought him fresh duck eggs from the farm.  His lolo (grandfather) was offering to raise the ducklings there but he won't budge. The old man kept on insisting that his ducks will grow faster in the farm due to the plenitude of rice grains and water snails but he won't give up. In the end he told his grandfather "Lolo, why don't you just bring me duck food here so that they will grow just like they're in the farm?" When a four-year old told you that, all you can do is smile and shrug.

But after ten days of waking up early and his ever insistent inquiry about his cute little ducklings all of that came to an end...

When the snake slithered his way into the duck coop... my brother was so petrified he can't even scream...

Thank God for a having a neighbor who was so excited at the prospect of killing a snake...

With two ducklings in his belly and eight others lying lifeless in the coop... this snake was now having a peaceful rest....

Cobras are common in the Philippines. But I do hope none of them will enter my yard... ever...

Menacing Snails

When I was young, I can't remember anything about snails. My grandmother used to plant tobaccos and tomatoes in her backyard but all I saw were worms, dragonflies, wasps, ants, aphids and butterflies - but never snails.

I don't know what happened to the world recently that all I could see in my yard are walk of snails....

                            These icky creatures congregate in my pigpen.... 

                        They have also taken over a dead tree branch...

               I was so surprised to find they love munching bitter melon leaves...                                        

                        I know they love young string beans...

                      so  you can guess what happened to this culprit...

because from a full line of beautiful string beans, these are all I've got now!

Thankfully, snails don't spread diseases. However, you can never deny the devastation they can cause on your plants and crops. Since I just got back from gardening, I am finding ways to eliminate this menace. My 4- year old kid loves to smash them into bits. But, I've heard about ashes, beer traps, copper, egg shells, hair and whatnot. So the following days I'll be discussing about these natural ways to expunge these nasty critters off my yard. Wish me luck!

How about you, have you experience this "SLOW" garden problem? What did you do about them? 

Irene