To achieve full growth potential the Colocasia needs to be planted in the ground, not in a pot. These are aquatic plants and needs lots of water. Last summer I experimented by taking a large pot, and lining it with a black garbage back before filling it up with soil. I wanted zero drainage to simulate muck. The few Colocasia plants were thriving in this scenario, the problem was that the pot still needed to be watered daily even with no drainage and complete saturation. The transpiration rate is enormous due to the high surface area of the leaves. The bottom-line is these are very thirsty plants and it is difficult to keep them adequately watered for optimum growth. But luckily they tolerate less than ideal conditions, they just won't get as big or grow as quickly. x

Thanks for the info Cyp. The pole does have all kinds of wires, telephone, electric, cable TV, and a big cable that stablizes the pole. It just seems as though it is so close to the pole that it is likely to have something to do with it. Electocution seems possible although I see birds on those wires all the time, and I suspect the GH owls sit there frequently because I hear pairs calling from the woods in back to roughly that spot quite often. I kind of thought geographically, the bird flu was probably out. I have never heard of owls really being big victims of West Nile either, but that doesn't mean they aren't. I thought that a bird like that may lose sight of a big obstacle (particularly one that sticks out in an open area) if it in the throes of a hunt. The area next to our driveway is open space on both sides. There are about 3 or 4 spruce trees spread over 350 feet of straight dirt drive. The open space on one side is left to grow all spring and summer and was recently mowed. The other side is pasure, so it makes up about a 2 1/2 acre treeless, non-lawn type area. We have added about 200 native berrying shrubs in the vicinity during the last year or two. I suspect there is plenty of good hunting out there in the way of skunks, rabbits, mice, etc. I've seen a fox hunting out there quite a bit also. When someone mentioned a long ear last night, I was beat and didn't check the size. It is a large bird. In fact, I would not want to mess with the likes of his talons. The amazing part is the size of his feet in general. I would say his legs are as widea as two of my fingers. They look formidable. Although it is very sad, it is so cool to be able to examine such an interesting creature up close.

Terrific shot of some perfectly AWESOME birds there beck! Wow. Thanks so much for sharing.~~Angie

Trap them. The Havahart traps works well. Get the model with just one door. You can often borrow them from your municipality or whatever gov't organization deals with pest control in your area. Put a piece of apple in them. They love them some of that fruit. Often times if they're eating everything it means that there's too many for the area. There was a lady in my neighbourhood that would toss out a pack of carrots every week for them. The population exploded, but when she moved, they got so desperate they'd even eat petunias on people's decks.