"John McGaw" wrote in message
...
Hector Hound wrote:
Hi. My first post is a puzzle. My apples have disappeared! I have two
trees, about four years old. One day last week, there were all my
apples - gone. Well, all except for a few at the top of each tree, from
about five feet upwards. The grass underneath the trees was trampled and
there were no apples on the ground.

I know the obvious answer is kids and if I can't find another I'll have
to settle for that. The problem is that, for various reasons, I think
it's unlikely in this case. Based on the height of the apples that were
left, they would have been very small kids - too young for the usual
profile of apple-takers. And I just know the neighbourhood and the kids
and my garden would be very hard to get into, especially for small kids,
has never been "visited" before and there were no signs of entry.

So - is there an animal that takes apples? Foxes? There are foxes in
the neighbourhood. I believe foxes are omnivorous and the height of the
apples left would fit the fox theory. Any other ideas? Has anybody else
had this experience? Thanks for any
information/suggestions.

Hector.




Well, foxes are somewhat omnivorous. I've watched one teaching its kit how
to pick up mulberries that had fallen on my driveway but I kind of doubt
that foxes would have been picking your apples. My first guess about a
culprit would be deer. In my mother's yard are several apple trees and
every autumn morning at sunrise we can see anything up to four deer eating
fallen apples from the ground. If they run out of fallen apples then they
will pick them from the tree while standing on all-fours and when the easy
ones are gone they will stand on their hind legs to get more. Five or six
feet seems about right for the height.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

Take it from someone who had the EXACT SAME experience. We finally figured
it out. It was one of two things. Either aliens (interplanetary, not
global), or local "rock squirrels". We know it was not deer in our case, as
there were no prints. The local rock squirrels,

http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Sea...?FlNm=spervari

are quite notorious and obnoxious here. They live in canyons and rocks
rather than tree nests. A crew of them can strip a tree in a very short
time. On apricot trees, they leave the fruit on the ground, taking only the
seeds. They are wary, and difficult to trap or shoot. I am working on a
couple of concept traps, and would be a very popular fellow in the
neighborhood should they work.

Look around, as an investigator would, looking for footprints and feces and
anything they leave behind. It is a crew of squirrels, or other local
critters, and they know just when they are ripe, and overnight, or within
twelve hours, the tree is picked cleaner than any workman could do. But,
like you, there were apples left at the top, and on the bottom where they
would be easy to reach for a child, or a deer. The soil around our tree is
blow sand, so tracks are obvious. This year we had a lesser crop, and when
they were ready, WE picked them.

Since in your case, the grass was trampled, that would lead me to suspect a
larger animal, although squirrels over repeated trips with apples could
press it down. Just take a careful look.

Me, I think it was the Martians.

Steve


The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of
patriots and tyrants. - Thomas Jefferson -

So, how's that change and hope working for you?