Local farmer says coyotes to blame for damaged watermelon crop

HARDEMAN COUNTY, Tenn. — A pest is tearing through an area farm’s produce.

“We noticed one or two, and then the next day, it was a few more,” Bart Gilmer said. “Then, by [Tuesday] morning, they had decimated most of the ripe ones. Apparently, they can differentiate between the ones that are ready to pick and the ones that are not.”

Gilmer and his family own Falcon Ridge Farms off Highway 18 in Hardeman County, where they grow warm-weather sweets and colorful flowers this time of year.

Like any farm, they face challenges from pests.

“We have other things like raccoons and deer we deal with as well, but this particular instance, it was fairly obvious that it was coyotes,” Gilmer said.

Coyotes tore through their watermelon crop, leaving behind a mess.

“The way we farm, a lot of our produce is sold by the time we harvest it,” Gilmer said. “Those watermelons already had a home, and so we’re going to have to come up with watermelons somewhere else since the coyotes ate some of those.”

There are different ways to prevent coyotes.

“We’ve got a dog. She stays up at night and barks if she sees them or smells them, but she can’t be everywhere at once. Some crops, we’re able to fence in with an electric fence, low to the ground, and keep them out,” Gilmer said.

He says one method really helps, but can’t always be done alone.

“Hunting and trapping certainly helps. We just haven’t been able to take the time to do it, but if it gets bad enough, we’ll have a third party come in and help us trap,” Gilmer said.

Gilmer says it’s hard to control where coyotes can and can’t go with wide open spaces on their farm.

He also said crop damage is more noticeable this time of year because they have more crops in the ground.