A “Tad” of Science Appreciation

Abstract

One year, when we were living in Alabama, I grew watermelons in the backyard garden. I tied the vines to the wooden fence and the watermelon fruits hung down from them—so perfectly ellipsoidal and smooth! It was such a pleasure to see their symmetrical shape with even, green coloring and distinct black markings,—no yellow or brown spots like ground-grown melons at the grocery store. I was weeding in my garden one day and detected a wafting of the pungent odor of rotting watermelon. Glancing around for its origin, I felt disappointed to think that one of my perfect melons had rotted. Soon, I located the source of the smell. There was a watermelon on the ground that I hadn’t noticed. It was near the foot of the vine and had developed behind some tall, weedy grass. I quickly determined why it was rotting—a rabbit had chewed through its stem and had separated it from its life-giving vine. The rabbit had also apparently cut a flap into its skin and had probably eaten some of the watermelon’s interior. In the hot, humid Alabama summer, it quickly had begun to decay.