North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[sherwin <sherwindu@att.net>]

On 6/1/2011 5:12 PM, Spidra Webster wrote:
> I didn't have too many apple pests to worry about in my garden in Berkeley
> but it's a new ballgame here in South Pasadena. Yesterday I came back from a
> short vacation to find that one Yellow Newtown Pippin apple had been knocked
> off and another had been either pecked or bitten. Not sure whether it's
> birds or squirrels. We have a number of corvids here (crows, ravens, scrub
> jays) and they're pretty brazen. There are also feral parrots though they
> seem to forage on camphor berries, and mockingbirds.  Then there are the
> freegin' fargin' squirrels, who seem to commit random violence (I'm pretty
> sure they're the ones who bit my sunflower stalk and tipped the sunflower
> over but didn't touch the seeds) over and above what they do while actually
> eating.
>
> What can I use to protect the developing fruit and give it a chance to grow?
> I'd rather not resort to bird netting since my gardening ground here is
> borrowed from my parents and my mom will likely object to netting those
> trees. I was hoping there was a plastic cage or some kind of bag I could put
> on the fruit to discourage pests.
>
>
> Megan Lynch
> http://www.meganlynch.net
    Megan,

    My answer to the squirrel problem is Havaheart animal traps.  Over 
the years, I have been
    able to reduce the number of trapped squirrels from over 20 to 
about 5 a year.  Peanut butter on a
    piece of bread never fails.  Be sure to set the traps at the 
trigger point, or they may not go off.
    Also, be sure to close them at night or you may find some skunks or 
other nocturnal animals
    inside.  I got a permit to trap from my county forest preserve 
office, but dumping them is not
    permitted in most places.  I try and find a large wooded area, at 
least 5 miles from my home.
    You may not see the results immediately, but over a few years there 
should be a big reduction.
    Squirrels are territorial, and will move in to fill a gap, so you 
have to do the maintenance thing
    every year.  Also, bagging your fruit with plastic ziplocks will 
slow down some of these attacks.

                                                    Sherwin Dubren