Use a dummy to trick sparrows and protect the grain

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　　Using a dummy to trick sparrows in order to save grain Narrated by Yi Shizhen, compiled by Ma Xianhong In 1978, I worked as a guard in the courtyard of Company 10, Regiment 128, in the Seventh Division. At that time, we followed a system of shared meals, and the company mainly grew wheat and corn. During the summer and autumn harvests, all the harvested grain was taken to the unit’s courtyard to be dried; once it was dry, it was stored away waiting for allocation by the regiment. 　　As for me, I have to do some miscellaneous tasks every day, and I’m also responsible for making sure that nothing in the yard is missing. In the blink of an eye, it was the end of July, and the company began its summer harvest, bringing all the harvested wheat to the courtyard to dry. At that time, flocks of sparrows flew to the piles of wheat to steal the grain, so I kept driving them away. Back in those days, the sparrows were also starving; I would drive them away, but as soon as I left, they would return. I was too busy dealing with them and couldn’t do anything else; I spent my whole day worrying about getting rid of those sparrows. 　　Later, I came up with a plan: I tied straw together to make several mannequins, nailed them to some wooden boards, went to the company to get some old clothes of various colors, and put those on the mannequins to make them look like real people. Then I placed these mannequins scattered among the wheat piles, at a high height. This method worked very well; the sparrows thought it were real people watching the wheat, so they didn’t dare to come back anymore. When it came to autumn and time to harvest corn in the field, I used the same method to drive away the sparrows. It saved food for the company, and I was even praised by my superiors.