the failure of deterrence

as a strategic doctrine "deterrence" has been obsolete for a while now (well, since 9/11 actually). this has been impressed on me again by the failure of my cd scheme to shoo off greedy parrots. they've eaten all the cherries. as usual. i did, however, manage to take this pix of some on their way to the "ready to eat" stage.

christmas cherry tree

in a last-ditch attempt to deter ravenous parrots from eating all this year's cherries, i've decorated the tree with light-refracting cds. seems to be working. they're obviously not music lovers. not sure what to do about the possums, though. everyone, it seems, likes cherries. and nectarines.