Where drought and hail have not done damage, now the fauna takes care of it. Several summer fruit growers, from peaches to watermelons, in the area of Lower Romagna, in particular in the areas with a strong fruit production, from Bagnacavallo to Lugo, from Cotignola to Massa Lombarda, struggling with heavy production losses caused by the assaults of magpies, hares and otters. The greatest damage can be seen in the watermelon with the crops largely to be thrown away due to the pierced and gnawed fruits by the animals that feast undisturbed even during the day.
He knows something Dominic Antonellini, fruit and vegetable grower bagnacavallese: "Already during the sowing, in spring, we noticed an increase in the presence of corvids - he says - it was tough but we defended the vegetable crops with our teeth, unfortunately we can do little or nothing today against the assaults of hares and otters who devour our watermelons every day ».
And it is better not to fruit producers, from plums to peaches, who are committed daily to defending the ripening fruits on branches of the orchards from magpies and crows and woodpeckers. "Coldiretti Ravenna - denounces the Director Assuero Zampini - has started a monitoring of the damage among the members of the areas affected by the proliferation of fauna in order to start the process for report the damage that despite punctual checks and regular questions, they struggle to be satisfactorily compensated "(Ravenna and surroundings).