Yeah they are probably scared of you when they rare back like that, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they are more scared than I. :O .

Ok I am not quite that bad, but it is definately not my favorite thing.
Jason

The spikes aren't rubbery Sweetpea, but nor are they sharp or stiff enough to get thru' your skin. I think they are just to give any bird that goes after them a bit of trouble swallowing.

My hornworms are often covered with little white things that look like footballs standing on end. Figured out that they're the eggs of a parasitic wasp and leave the afflicted worms alone. After 2 days I find the worm dead and I'm sure there is a crop of new little wasps out there after the other worms. (First year I was here only about 1/4th of the worms were infected, the 2nd about 1/2, and last year I had only 8 or 9 worms total on 30 or so tomato vines--and only 2 worms were NOT infested with wasp eggs.)

Thank you for mentioning the little white bumps. I have only seen one hornworm in all my years here and it was loaded with those little eggs. I have flower gardens around my veggie gardens and they are loaded with parasitic wasps every year. The only problem I have encountered is with powdery mildew since we have had 2 wet years in a row. As far as slugs are concerned I use ESCARGO which is an organic bait and kill...it works and is evironmentally friendly. I figure when they shrivel up and die they become fertilizer for the garden

I use a board around the susceptible crops. I just turn it over every day in the garden, use a trowel to scrape whatever mollusc is attached to it into my handy bucket, and we're done.

Freehiker,
I like your live and let live motto. You must have a yard full of plants to attract the benificial bugs/birds/animals. Someday I hope to have that too.

I tried to leave the rabbits alone in my yard but their home (a huge hole in the middle of my lawn) was a hazard to the neighbor kids who frequent my yard. I decided to fill it in this year. I feel like a murderer. I haven't seen any rabbits in a while so maybe they had already moved out.