Personally, I always rooted for Mr. McGregor. Even as a child, I was outraged that Potter allowed Peter Rabbit to ravage the McGregor garden and then escape scot-free.

My current relations with rabbits are more peaceful. [When rabbits] began feasting in our vegetable garden, I simply installed a fence. I’ve learned that the so-called “pest-resistant” plants I once favored remained free of damage because they were imports from abroad that didn’t support any of our indigenous insects and thus made no contribution to the food chain. I’ve also moved away from chemical pesticides. Initially, this was because of health concerns, but experience has taught me that when left alone, garden insects typically establish a balance between plant-eaters and their predators so that damage remains at a tolerable level.

There are exceptions, such as Japanese beetles and spongy moth caterpillars. These both originated outside of North America and when they were imported [and] left their predators behind and so proliferate here without the natural controls. Treating my lawn with milky spore disease, which kills Japanese beetle’s immature grubs, has reduced that pest to a harmless level. When spongy moth caterpillars attacked my little apple orchard, I sprayed the young trees with a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, that kills young caterpillars. By carefully targeting the spray, I avoided injuring the caterpillars of other moths and butterflies that inhabit my garden.

One effect of our more enlightened attitude toward wildlife has been the return to the landscape of creatures who had been exterminated regionally long ago. A large black bear, for example, wanders through my yard now on a regular basis. It’s a handsome creature and I rejoice in this evidence of the local ecosystem healing itself. I am not pleased, however, by the bear’s habit of tearing down my garden fence every time it visits. Last summer some creature stripped all the fruit from my dwarf cherry tree, and Suzanne found a pile of bear scat nearby. I assume that the bear, having once found a delicious meal in our garden is making sure that it doesn’t miss other opportunities. This worries me because the garden also includes young plum and pawpaw trees that hopefully will soon be adding to my harvest, and to the further whetting of the bear’s appetite. My research indicates that only a really powerful electric fence will deter the bear. I’m not looking forward to the Cool Hand Luke ambiance this will give my garden, nor to the $1,000 or more the materials are going to cost me and all the labor of installation.

So coexistence comes with costs. Setting limits is essential. Beatrix Potter wrote lovely stories, but they were fiction.