erself in her millet fields in a village in Taitung County, southeastern Taiwan, to safeguard her crops from marauding sparrows. It is now harvest season for millet in the county's Taimati township -- one of Taiwan's key granaries. In Chen's fields, golden millet spikes shine under the sun, luring hungry birds.
Watching the crops her family shed sweat to cultivate, Chen said "now is the real hard work" to safeguard the fields from the hordes of sparrows after her precious seeds.
"The army will sweep through as soon as I lose focus," said the old lady sitting on a stool, holding an umbrella and a bell to scare the birds away.
Chen has erected in her fields as many and various bird-scaring devices as she can, including scarecrows and a network of "alarm strings" hung with used election banners, empty cans and bottles, even a national flag.
Upon spotting possible attackers, she pulls the strings, saying that "one minute too slow and all our painstaking efforts are wasted."
Chen stays in the fields from before dawn, until after the sun sets.
There are still two more days before the harvest, she went on, adding that until then, she cannot leave her post.
Millet is used mostly by indigenous people to make wine.
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