Squirrels are the bane of my existence. Tree rats. We can't keep them out
of the fruit trees each year and haven't eaten any of the fruit yet. They
take a bite of the green fruit, chuck it and take another.

Does anyone have any tips? They'd chew right through netting if we put it
on the trees.
--


limey at toad dot net

In article ,
"limey" wrote:

Squirrels are the bane of my existence. Tree rats. We can't keep them out
of the fruit trees each year and haven't eaten any of the fruit yet. They
take a bite of the green fruit, chuck it and take another.

Does anyone have any tips? They'd chew right through netting if we put it
on the trees.

Hooray! Another old curmudgeon who calls them damn things "tree rats"!
We live in Boise, full of trees and crawing with tree rats, and half the
population thinks they are "cute."

I planted a pair of English walnut trees 10 years ago, and haven't had a
single walnut yet! Each year, as the walnuts flesh out and swell in
their green pods, the tree rats come from 2 blocks in all directions and
strip my trees.

I am not allowed by law to shoot, poison, harass, intimidate, badger,
bother, interfere with or otherwise molest these little gray monsters.

This year I may try making "rat guards" out of sheet metal for each of
the main branching trunks of the trees, higher than the "rats" can leap,
but I really don't think that is the total answer, as they can leap from
the adjoining fence, or from a nearby tree into the crown of my nut
trees.

Just wondering .. how do commercial nut orchards save a a nut to harvest
from these furry locusts?

sigh...

Allen

On Wed, 04 Jun 2003 20:01:27 -0400, limey wrote:


Squirrels are the bane of my existence. Tree rats. We can't keep them
out of the fruit trees each year and haven't eaten any of the fruit yet.
They take a bite of the green fruit, chuck it and take another.

Does anyone have any tips? They'd chew right through netting if we put it
on the trees.

You might want to invest in a dog. Build it a little house and place it
out in the orchard.
--
http://yard-works.netfirms.com
Bellingham, Washington
Georgia straits area
Zone 8a usda

They
take a bite of the green fruit, chuck it and take another.


Why do they do that? We have a peach tree and they do the same thing. They
pick a green one take a bite and boot it and go to the next one till they are
all gone. My Dad has actually shot some with a be be gun......but to no
avail.....more show up and do the same. Here is another weird thing they do
here. Have tulips planted around alot of the trees and when the tulips flower
out the squirrels just come and bite off the flower........they don`t eat the
flower just nip it off. All is left is the stem. Damn squirrels. They must
have it in for us humans. LOL.

You can always try the pellet gun approach.....even if not 100 percent
successful you can have some fun.....also "limey"
"limey" wrote in message
...

Squirrels are the bane of my existence. Tree rats. We can't keep them
out
of the fruit trees each year and haven't eaten any of the fruit yet. They
take a bite of the green fruit, chuck it and take another.

Does anyone have any tips? They'd chew right through netting if we put it
on the trees.
--


limey at toad dot net

"Brigg222" wrote in message
...
Damn squirrels. They must have it in for us humans. LOL.

There's an insurance commercial on here where the squirrels conspire to run
out in the road at just the right time....making the driver swerve and
crash. When the squirrel gets to the other side, the two squirrels high
five each other and bump fists, etc.

So, yes......based on that commercial (tongue firmly planted in cheek) they
do!

Blessings,
Tammy


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"Brigg222" wrote in message
...
They
take a bite of the green fruit, chuck it and take another.


Why do they do that? We have a peach tree and they do the same thing.
They
pick a green one take a bite and boot it and go to the next one till they
are
all gone. My Dad has actually shot some with a be be gun......but to no
avail.....more show up and do the same. Here is another weird thing they
do
here. Have tulips planted around alot of the trees and when the tulips
flower
out the squirrels just come and bite off the flower........they don`t eat
the
flower just nip it off. All is left is the stem. Damn squirrels. They
must
have it in for us humans. LOL.

They're destructive rodents. They bite things to taste them, and leave what
doesn't suit them. The ones that REALLY should be shot at are the idiots who
FEED the damned things, putting out corn and such because they thing the
damned tree rats are "cute".
if you have a thing about firearms, just blast the little *******s with a
hose set on "jet". If you have a dog, leave it out in the yard. Get some
traps (cages) and once they are occupied, take a late night cruise to the
river and see if they'll swim - I haven't found one that passed this test
yet...

"Brigg222" wrote in message
...
Damn squirrels. They must have it in for us humans. LOL.

There's an insurance commercial on here where the squirrels conspire to
run
out in the road at just the right time....making the driver swerve and
crash. When the squirrel gets to the other side, the two squirrels high
five each other and bump fists, etc.

So, yes......based on that commercial (tongue firmly planted in cheek)
they
do!

You know, I don't get that commercial. Obviously, the driver of the station
wagon never had any kind of garden or even potted plants, or they would do
what I do - aim and accelerate...

"Allen"
wrote in message

I planted a pair of English walnut trees 10 years ago, and haven't had a
single walnut yet! Each year, as the walnuts flesh out and swell in
their green pods, the tree rats come from 2 blocks in all directions and
strip my trees.

I think they all have cell phones.

I am not allowed by law to shoot, poison, harass, intimidate, badger,
bother, interfere with or otherwise molest these little gray monsters.

We can't either. The Fish and Wildlife Dept. tells me we can kill all we
want in January and February. Have you ever seen one in January or
February? They're holed up in some hollow tree for the winter.


This year I may try making "rat guards" out of sheet metal for each of
the main branching trunks of the trees, higher than the "rats" can leap,
but I really don't think that is the total answer, as they can leap from
the adjoining fence, or from a nearby tree into the crown of my nut
trees.

Allen

I wish. Our trees are dwarf size; there isn't much main trunk below the
branches. If they can jump from tall tree to tall tree, jumping on to, or
up, our trees is a breeze.

Dora

My neighbour has a mature cherry tree in his garden, but it the whole trunk is covered by ivy all the way up even in some of the lower to medium hight branches. The squirrel never goes up that tree, however goes up all the one that dont have the ivy. just a thought

"limey" wrote in message ...
Squirrels are the bane of my existence. Does anyone have any tips?

Yup. Every fall, I befriend a big male squirrel and feed him steroids,
hormones, and peanuts all winter. When I release him in the spring he
is in a roid rage and beats the hell out of the other male squirrels.
The females take one look at his big nuts and run off .

my MIL built a hardware mesh cage for her blueberries and raspberry bushes. only way
they got any of the fruit. But she does live in the woods and no restrictions
against mesh. Ingrid


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