Hmmm, squirrels and chipmunks often go hand in hand. Chipmunks are fast and sneaky. They definitely can go through those small holes.
Whatever it is, I agree that early ripening fruit are easier to protect. I hardly lost any apricots. Everything else have been taken, a few at a time. Bags and all. We just have to find early ripening fruit that taste good.
thats why i mostly grow small fruit instead of tree fruit. even if they steal some, theres plenty more to pick, and a lot less care needed. 
I totally AGREE.
Nishimura Wase (Coffeecake) always leads the pack for me. Looks like I’ll be eating fresh persimmons within the next couple of weeks.
Is your Coffee cake pollinated? Brown sugar color inside? Any of your figs ripen yet?
Most are pollinated. The pictured tree has Chocolate grafted to it also : )
Coffeecake also produces male flowers, but in smaller quantities than chocolate.
You may have seen me post this photo.
Yes, I’ve eaten plenty of figs lately. Although, the June bugs and wasps get most of them.
My very first figs of the year! These are Brown Turkey and Celeste and taste wonderful. However, they are smaller than usual. Perhaps they will get bigger as more ripen? Either way, its fun to have figs coming in finally. Chicago Hardy looks like they will be next- and I like them a little better and they are a bit larger. But these are a great start.
I’m going to saute these in butter and honey and pour over ice cream. Life is good.
Larger CH? My CH are always small. What do you feed your fig trees with? 
MY Chic Hardy are larger than THIS YEAR’s Celeste and Brown Turkey, but I think they are usually almost the same size. But I get some fairly good sized C.H.'s, especially the first week or so that they start to produce. And my bushes are just gigantic this year in spite of being frozen to the ground just 2 years ago.
I feed all my figs a pretty heavy dose of 15-15-15 and they love it, even though I know some people don’t recommend that. I fertilize like crazy in the early spring and and keep reapplying about every 3 weeks until about the first week of July. I learned the hard way that if I keep pouring on the fertilize all the way up until the usual harvest time, my figs just won’t ever ripen. I used to post on here asking if anyone could explain why my C.H. figs would just stay green and not ripen all the way up until frost. Finally someone ask about my fertilize schedule and suggested that I might try not fertilizing or at least stopping a month or more before when harvest should be. I did that the following year and it completely changed everything. I have a LOT of fig trees/bushes so I’ve done a lot of experimenting on individual figs by not fertilizing, fertilizing really heavy, fertilizing only once per year and twice per year, stopping early, stopping late, etc. Again, I know others feel differently, but what works best for me at my location with my plants and my dirt and climate is to fertilize quite heavy with fairly strong fertilize (triple 15) and apply it from right before dormancy ends until early July, and I even like to throw a last feeding when they have almost stopped producing . When I do that the growth in the spring is definitely better, perhaps because they store their last meal in the roots?
Anyway, you asked and I told. Doesn’t mean my way is the right way by any means, but for me and my location, I have done more fertilize experiments on figs than anything and this is what works for me.
Mine are in pots except for one. I fertilize mine in the spring. My CH are always small including this year.
I don’t have brown Turkey or Celeste to compare. I do have Improved Celeste. My IC is a tad larger than CH.
You are much further north than me so I’m sure you almost have to grow your figs in pots or loose them most winters, so I get it. But I also admire your determination! I had 4 potted figs that were in 23 gallon Pots (55 gallon drums cut in half). I had them on carts but still hated moving them in and out. Also had to water almost every day, and even with those huge pots, the plants nor the figs ever got as large as the same variety that were in the ground. A couple of them are less hardy than C.H. and celeste but this year I finally said no more and planted them all in the ground. I know I won’t do all the work required for good winterization, so I expect to lose some of them this winter. But that is better than all the work with potted plants only to get smaller yields and fruits and plants!
Be sure and save some for New Year’s day! haha (it’s traditional here to eat Black Eyed Peas, turnip Greens, and Ham Hocks for good luck in the coming year- but I assume it is the same thing in your part of the south?) Black eyes peas are so underrated! They are one of the most drought resistant food crops there is, they are very high in protein, and they taste great. I add a tiny bit of sugar to mine and cook them a very long time. Nice crop.
do you dry any? I sometimes leave mine right on the vine until they dry out, then they store for the winter so easily. But fresh ones taste better.
Agree with all of above except cabbage is often eaten instead of turnip greens. Both are excellent! Love me some black-eyed peas and cornbread.
I like cooked cabbage but man I don’t like the smell of my house when cooking it!!! And I almost forgot the cornbread! 
No self respecting southerner doesn’t like corn bread. We even crumble it into milk sometimes. ha
Those turnip greens smell just as strong cooking as the cabbage…
You’re making me hungry…
I have only ever eaten my own fresh. When my wife and I married she didnt like blackeyed peas. The first time she had them fresh at our home she said those aren’t blackeyed peas. She had only ever had the canned ones.
Oh…the canned ones are double yuck! I can eat dried ones if they are cooked right but fresh black eyes and purple hulls are the best. Fresh frozen is good.
The potato plants had died back. Seems eearly but oh well. Kennebec, magic molly, and russian banana. The neighborhood kids helped and it was like digging for gold. Fights almost broke out and of course they went home with the biggest ones.
It’s always fun to dig them up. It sounds like you had quite a time with the fun harvest.
