AT THE MARKET LYNNE CHRISTIANSEN ONE OF THE worst things for a gardener has to be watching birds raid the fruits of your labour, quite literally. Some gardeners screen off portions of their plots; others use scarecrows to frighten the birds away. Scarecrows come in a wide number of shapes and sizes and to celebrate the greal variety that’s out there the farmer’s market is host- ing a scarecrow contest on the last Saturday in Septem- ber. Bring your scarecrow, down to the farmers market to be judged at 10 am Satur- day September 28/96. Pm working on persuad- ing councilor Rich McDaniels to judge the con- test. Most gardeners say that crows are the most bother- some of the birds, Long time Lakelse Lake resident Lloyd Johnstone tells me that there were no crows in Terrace before the Second World War. He feels that the increase in population at that time, and the increase in garbage dumps, brought the crows and they flourished. Johnstone also noticed a marked decrease in the frog population and that of the song birds. He is sure that the crows play a role in this decline. Crows damage a wide va- Tiety of crops. They can be very noisy and aggressive when nesling. There are ways to chase crows from the garden. Some people shoot the crows and then hang the carcasses around the garden to scare other birds away. However, I’m not sure how well this works. I think the crows — like people, may become im- mune to violence. The dead carcasses hanging around the garden are a bil grucsome, too. I heard of a man who puta kitten in a bird cage and hung it in his cherry tree. The birds stayed away, but the kitten wailed so londly that the man’s wife made him release the kitten. Colours influence birds. They will prefer dark red, blue, purplish fruit to yel- low, white or orange. - Sometimes the best repel- lent is an attraction. When birds flock to elderberry, wild cherry or Mountain Ash trees, it means fewer birds in the raspberry patch. You can plant oat sceds or other grains to divert crows from the corn patch. Scarecrows will work sometimes if made and used properly. The arms of the scarecrow should swing a bit in the wind. A sleel or wooden fence post can act as. the frame of the Scarecrow. Put a stick through the sleeves of an old shirt and hang it from the top of the post with twine, so that the breeze will move the stick. Attach pants to the shirt and tle the walst loosely to the post, Set an old hat on top. A shiny aluminum pie plate can be used for the face. It will scare a bird niare than trying to make human features. Dangle pieces of aluminum foil from each sleeve for hands. It is more effective if you move the scarecrow around the gat- den every few days. Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world. Multiple Sclerosis Joclaty of Canada 1-800-268-7582 isn’t for the birds A SCARY STUFF? Welt, maybe for the birds who want to raid this southside gar- dens. Scarecrows come in all shapes and sizes and the Farmer's Market is hold- ing a contest to judge the best of them. Bring your scarecrow down to the market the last Saturday in September, Great Choices Great Service The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 21, 1996 - B3 Taking the exit ramp HE’S DRIVEN nearly two and a half millian miles — Most of that between Smithers and Rupert. Gordon Oliamy, a Smithers-based bus driver, retired last Friday after 33 years of driving for Grey- hound. With the amount of niles he’s driven, he could have been to moon and back five times, Oliarny has seen a lot of changes in the roads over the years, For instance the tip from Terrace to Prince Rupert used fo take him about three and a half hours. In all the years of driv- ing through snowy north- wesl winters, he’s only had four ‘‘nishaps,”* ‘Once I] got blown off the road,’’ he says of a time when 76 mile an hour winds caught the bus just as it hit a patch of ice. “T've been pretty lucky. IT always made it throngh oe way or another,” Now that Oliarny has retired he doesn’t plan ta give his gas foot much of aresl. He’s purchased a 30 ft. holiday trailer and plans to drive down to Qualicum Beach to spend the winter there. LAST TRIP — After logging nearly two and a half mil- lion miles on northwest roads, bus driver Gordon Oliamy is calling it quits. More Good Reasons To Sign Up With kermode.net: $28.95 for 100 hrs. per month or hourly blocks for casual users oe a Terrace’s most experienced Intermet Support Staff to help you with Windows, Wings, Macintosh & ose ; Great Business = The only internet provider to give you detailed on-line time checking and detailed: usage statements _and of course lunch is still on us. Sign up with kermode.net before September 30 and you get burger meal from AaW Call RGS Internet Services - 635-3444 or visit US at tthe Titioum bullding.