David Hare-Scott wrote:


We tried paper bags this year. The organic growers society recommended them
as they are cheap and you use no insecticide. The idea is you bag the fruit
just after it sets and it keeps out the fruit fly, birds and bats. I was
sceptical but the bags last fairly well, only now are they starting to rot and
fall off having been on for 4 months, with much rain in that time.

As for keeping out the vermin, two out of three might be good for some
purposes but not this one. We have no fly or bird loss. The bats however are
no respecter of paper bags. They are smart enough to drop by and check on the
bags from time to time as the fruit develops - they know there is fruit in
there. As soon as their cute little noses tell them it is ripe their cute
little teeth go straight through the bag and into the fruit. Bless their
little fructivorous instincts.

So we have just bought a roll of netting and I will be constructing polypipe
igloos over the winter to hold the net. Hopefully next year we will get all
the fruit instead of about one quarter.

We had some cheapo nets as a stop gap but as expected they didn't last. While
releasing one of our cute little furry guests I got to check out his cute
little toothy pegs. Don't let anyone tell you that only carnivores have
dangerous teeth. In proportion to their size a bat has teeth better than a
cat or dog and needle sharp. After they have been in a net for a few hours
they will bite anything that comes into range.

So I don't know if cloth bags will work if you have bats. Have you though of
knitting them out of barbed wire?

David



Hmmm... Bunnings sells a wonderful wire netting called petnet (or
similar... I disremember the exact name). It's designed for screen doors
up which your cat climbs or through which your dog scratches holes. We
had both problems, but the petnet fixed it quick-smart! It's got a light
metal base (dunno how they achieve it), comes in black or dark green and
the sharpest animal claws and fangs won't rip it. Our bull terrier has
been busily scraping away at the back screen door for years now, with
nary a mark in the petnet! I can also say it keeps out mice (we had a
wild Dark Mouse creeping into our mouse cage and violating all my lovely
pedigreed girls!!!) and, as an aside, insects.

I reckon you ought to try just one (1) cloth bag, just so we can all
know whether bats can smell and/or gouge their way through cloth. In the
interests of furthering scientific knowledge, you understand...

I have to say, I do have a soft spot for flying foxes, but how
profoundly I do wish they'd stop shitting all over my dog, who is white,
and who heartily dislikes me scraping melted-caramel, sour-smelling
batshit off her back! I can't say I'm that overjoyed about them dropping
the foul stuff on my washing, either. Or the duco of my car. But hey!
Live and let live, I say!

You should be careful if handling a bat! They can be carriers of a
really nasty disease called Lyssavirus, so make sure you use stout
gloves if you absolutely need to handle one. If you get bitten, it'd
certainly be worth getting it checked out by a doctor. Lyssavirus can be
fatal.

Before I shuddup, can I ask how you plan to make your nets? Will you be
netting the whole tree (some local people have done that, successfully,
it seems), or just the clusters of fruits? I'm interested in how you
plan to construct the net...

Best of luck, anyway. Do let us know how you get on! :-D
--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia