Protecting your fruit from squirrel's and other critters

[tonyOmahaz5]

Great and secured job.

[hambone]

Did you use any “hot” wires (electric)?

[ConwayOrchard]

No hot wires. I am thinking I don’t need one but two years ago I also thought I didn’t need a fortress around my orchard.

Also, I get concerned with my 5 year old.

[hambone]

Looks like your hardware cloth might already be grounded by burying it deep so all you’d need is one or two hots positioned so squirrel has to touch both HC and a hot at same time and can’t sneak under or around the hot. Gates are tricky to hot wire. But fortress is step one, check.

Squirrels can be hard to “ground.” I (fence man actually) ran a couple ground wires alternating with hot, horizontally about 5 feet above ground so squirrel probably wouldn’t jump over them. This year will be big test for my fortress.

[rayrose]

Is that netting on top? The spacing on it looks very wide and a
squirrel can get through it.

[mrsg47]

That looks fantastic and a dream come true! You and Gélinas are on the right path. Soon we will all have caged property!

[ConwayOrchard]

It is, I figured it was a bit wide so that is definitely my first upgrade thought also. If I see them getting in I might just grab another net with smaller holes and lay it up top of the existing.

[ConwayOrchard]

I agree! My neighbors already think I am crazy doing this for 30 peaches but a whole yard cage could be next

[ltilton]

I’ve always thought a high tunnel covered in screencloth would work

If I were starting this all over again at a younger age …

[Susu]

Gates are tricky to hot wire.

Yes they are. This is what I did with mine so I can get in and out easily.

[mrsg47]

Susu, you are just too good! That is great!

[ConwayOrchard]

That’s hot!

[susieqz]

my cats love the taste of evil bunnies.

[Auburn]

After two years of critters not bothering my fruit last night was the big attack. Last night I did a walk through and everything looked good and I had taste tested an Ayers thinking that it had developed some sweetness but needed to hang a little longer. The raccoons (I think) had other ideas. This morning there was about ten bags on the ground and 80% had been eaten. I think he got full and fell off the limb. That same area had about thirty more and they lifted off easily so they are in my frig now. With that said thirty is all I need as other varieties will soon be ripening. I also found a couple of partly eaten Korean Giant partially consumed but they definitely preferred the Ayers. I’m looking for a quick fix and considering a fence charger.

[MES111]

@ConwayOrchard

Nice !!!

Hey… I have some silver bullion I need to store safely… do you think…?

Mike

[MES111]

@rayrose

I think the netting will act more as bird protection than squirrel protection. They could and would chew right through that in a minute.

Mike

[ConwayOrchard]

I think we can work something out! Lol

Yeah the squirrels are still getting in. This offseason will be round three. I figure I will get completely there one of these years.

[tve]

In my experience, if they have tasted the fruit inside then they will get in unless the enclosure is bomb-proof. If they haven’t tasted, but can casually see/smell the fruit inside a decent barrier may work, especially if there are other options next door. If they can’t know there’s fruit inside, then a simple barrier, like the bird netting against squirrels, is likely to work. This applies to almost any type of critter as far as I can tell…

[dimitri_7a]

I finally gave in and bought a tube trap this year after losing all my peaches and 50% of my tomatoes. Figured its either I start reducing the squirrel population or I stop gardening.

Really wish I did this earlier because I’ve been catching them just as fast as I can reset the trap - already thinking about getting another trap next year. Im not the biggest fan of killing anything so its a great relief that almost all the squirrels caught (>15) appear to be killed instantly with minimal suffering.

If anyone goes this route I would recommend the following upgrades: adding some brightly colored vinyl tape to the trapping bar so you can see when the trap has sprung from a distance, using a small file to fine tune the spot where the release lever contacts the trigger pad. I also found that using peanut butter as bait and adding it to the ceiling of the trap works much better than applying it on the actual trigger pad.

[Ahmad]

I think you will need three traps, if not more. This year I have been trapping with four traps at the same time, strategically located at squirrel “entry points” to my yard. All of them were necessary as I want the trap to be the first thing that attracts a squirrel that’s approaching my yard, other wise a squirrel can get into the yard and reach a fruit tree before it meets a trap, this is quite likely if it smells ripe fruit on a tree.