JOIN USFarmers' monkey-scaring plan a roaring hit
Deception is the name of a new game in the Malnad region, but it is aimed at harming nobody.
Farmers in the region have resorted to painting the fur of dogs to fool monkeys into believing that they are tigers. This, to save their crops from the simians, which were destroying them with utter impunity.
Monkeys destroying crops has grown into a gargantuan problem in the region. So much so, the Yediyurappa government is mulling over starting a monkey park to rehabilitate the simians.
More importantly, the move is aimed at helping the farmers breathe easy. Srikanta Gowda, a resident of Naluru village, Thirthahalli taluk, said he had seen a tiger-like doll used as a scarecrow near Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district four years ago. He brought it to the village and placed it in his areca plantation. Surprisingly, monkeys were frightened after seeing the doll and did not return to his plantation.
After a gap of two days, he shifted the doll to the other part of his plantation and the result was the same.
However, he realised that he can’t do this for a long time. So, he decided to paint tiger stripes using hair dye on his dog and made it look like a tiger from a distance. The stripes last for more than a month.
Elsewhere, J S Chidananda Gowda, a native of Kakkarasi village, Sorab taluk, plays the audio of dog barking on a speaker, so that no monkey dares to enter his maize field.