I have done a lot of research on this problem as I have two dwarf peach
trees and I WANT that fruit, too..

There are hundreds of people on the net complaining about the squirrel
problems with fruit trees. Here is what I have learned:

1. You can shoot two hundred squirrels a day and the one you miss will
strip your tree.

2. You can leave barrels of corn out and the squirrels will still want
to "see about those peaches".

3. Pepper, wolf urine, mothballs all work for a few minutes.

4. There are people out there who have chopped down their fruit trees
because it they can't have any, the d&$%m squirrels won't get any either.

5. Everyone suffers from the squirrels biting into and then pitching
small, green, unripe peaches - one after another until the tree is bare.
Everybody is very angry at this stupidity of the bandits.

6. Bird netting is NOT effective for squirrels. They either eat through
the nylon mesh or get through the holes (where the square piece of
netting tries to cover a basically round tree top. Clothes pins to hold
the edges don't work.) Plus as the tree grows, it grows THROUGH the net,
making the net the very devil to get off.

7. Baffles and metal bands around the tree base will not work on dwarf
trees.

8. There are a few very smug, self-satisfied people who say "plant one
for the squirrels and one for yourself. Learn to share". The squirrels
will NOT understand which is THEIR tree but will strip all you have.
What I think of these people is not worth printing.

9. Last but not least, some smug, self-satisfied people claim they
actually DO get plenty of fruit. I cannot comment.

I have two dwarf peach trees about 4 years old that are fully stripped
every year and I am thinking about a cage for the trees. An "outdoor
sunning cage for an iguana" looks like it might be re-designed as a
"peach tree cage".

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/9008/pvccage.html with PVC
http://www.iguana-news.com/cage.html with wood

you need to go down at least 12" (with a little L bend) to prevent
digging under plus I think this will stabilize it. This may not work but
before you say how this can't be done, I'll leave you with a expression
my boss likes:

"Do something even if it's wrong - lot of people out there doing nothing
really well."

If you have any better ideas, I would LOVE to hear them.

We had a massive hail storm about two/three weeks ago that tore over
half of my peaches off the trees.


wrote:
netting for sure. but traps followed with a pellet gun to their head is better. you
can try spreading dried blood fert around it keeps mine from digging in the flower
beds. I am thinking about wire mesh cages for my dwarf peach and apricot trees. I
want that fruit. Ingrid