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Old 28-09-2009, 11:17 AM
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Default Where have my apples gone?

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.
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Old 28-09-2009, 11:18 AM
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Sorry - forgot to mention, I'm in Cork, Ireland, so it won't be bears or elephants.
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Old 28-09-2009, 05:11 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

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
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Old 28-09-2009, 06:12 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

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.




Around here, deer are the culprits. Look for droppings and hoof prints.
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Old 28-09-2009, 06:13 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

I heard on "The FiringLine Forums" that some coyotes like apples. On
YouTube they say that Gray Squirrels eat apples too.
KM

On Sep 28, 5:17*am, Hector Hound 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.

--
Hector Hound




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Old 28-09-2009, 07:17 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:12:02 -0400, Frank
wrote:

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.




Around here, deer are the culprits. Look for droppings and hoof prints.



I can't imagine that 4 year old apple trees are very large and have
many apples... those are mere saplings. One would certainly know
whether there were deer about, if there are there'd be no need for
this post... in fact were there deer not only would there be no
apples, there'd be no trees, they'd have long ago eaten them.

If not the neighbor's kids perhaps the neighbor picked some...
couldn't take more than a couple minutes to harvest a couple four year
old trees... I have 2 seven year old apple trees, they're barely 1 1/2
caliper and barely 8' tall.

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Old 28-09-2009, 10:59 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:11:01 -0400, John McGaw
wrote:

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.


I don't know if the foxes got the apples, but they like them. I
volunteered at a wildlife rehab that had a pretty tame fox there and
he like all kinds of fruit and nuts, as well as everyone's favorite
(including the possums) vanilla wafers.

Kate
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Old 28-09-2009, 11:19 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?


"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?


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Old 28-09-2009, 11:21 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

wrote in message
...
I heard on "The FiringLine Forums" that some coyotes like apples. On
YouTube they say that Gray Squirrels eat apples too.
KM

Correct on both counts. I had a coyote come out in broad daylight to feed
on crabapples (those that are about one inch in diameter) and it returned
several days in a row. I thought it was cute, being a newcomer to this
ranch life. I found out later that it had eaten a turkey, a cat, and a kid
goat at the neighbor's house.

Any squirrel eats apples.

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?


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Old 29-09-2009, 12:38 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

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.


It isn't possums, fruit bats, cockatoos or koalas. And it isn't .... hang
on, without knowing where you are the list of candidates is a bit too long.

David



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Old 29-09-2009, 02:20 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

.....long time passing.....







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Old 29-09-2009, 04:53 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

Hector Hound wrote:
Hi. My first post is a puzzle. My apples have disappeared! I have two



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.




What else is in your neighborhood?

squirrels?
raccoons?
deer?
moose?

All eat apples.

gloria p
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Old 29-09-2009, 06:57 AM
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Smile

[quote=DEM;865843].....long time passing.....






could it per chance be raccoons? those suckers will eat almost
anything. we have one that tries living in the concave of our combine.
seems hubby and coon have a fight most years to see if he is going to
get to live there for another yr or not lolol.
he eats apples from the trees behind our barn and thinks he has a right
to live in the combine concave or who knows might be great great
grandcoon lolol. cyaaaaaaaaa, sockiescat.
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Old 29-09-2009, 11:16 AM
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Thank you all for your suggestions and experiences. I can rule out some of the suggested culprits. We don't have coyotes, possums or raccoons in this country and no moose, cockatoos nor yet koalas. There are no wild deer in this area either. The nature of the fencing around the garden (evergreen hedge about ten feet high, with wire fencing in places) rules out anything larger than about fox (or very small kid) size (though kids could open the gate. Maybe foxes could too – they’re said to be clever, aren’t they?  ). Or something with wings.

I took SteveB’s advice and did a more detailed investigation and I have some progress to report. I found a faeces dropping nearby that I can’t identify. I looked up fox droppings and this doesn’t really look like them. It’s an amorphous mass about the area of a CD, grayish-brown and the consistency of a smooth paté. It could be a dog dropping. Do dogs eat apples? Would one dog take about 40 apples (and leave none behind on the ground)?

Anyway, SteveB, thank you for the laugh, preceded by shock, that I got when I read the following lines in your post (about the coyote), the shock being due to the position of the line break:

… I found out later that it had eaten a turkey, a cat, and a kid

goat …


Thank you all,
Hector.
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Old 29-09-2009, 05:30 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default Where have my apples gone?

On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:59:35 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:11:01 -0400, John McGaw
wrote:

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.


I don't know if the foxes got the apples, but they like them. I
volunteered at a wildlife rehab that had a pretty tame fox there and
he like all kinds of fruit and nuts, as well as everyone's favorite
(including the possums) vanilla wafers.

Kate



Deer like them. I have seen them stand on their back haunches to get
apples. I thought dogs were strictly carnivores (never had a
dog--always wanted one) but I have seen them eat pears and apples, not
sure if that is good for them though. Caught a skunk using a slice of
apple, but actually trying to catch a muskrat. Personally, I love
apples and they are currently in season.
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