Many of my fellow gardeners and myself have had problems with people
taking fruit
off our trees. One of them had his Redhaven picked clean when he left
his house for
a few hours. They must have used ladders, and had to scale a four foot
fence. I get
drive-by samplers, who jump out of their vehicles to grab some goodies.
Short of
getting a Rotweiller Guard Dog, wonder what can be done about stopping
or discouraging these predators.

Sherwin Dubren

Wow!!!! That's bold. I'd make a cute little wooden sign that said "Thou shalt
not steal" and put it up LOL.
Colleen
Zone 5 CT

From the nut-case end of the spectrum: Some gun shops sell decals showing
the front view of a revolver and the words "Never mind the dog - Beware the
owner". Buy a few, have them laminated for $1.25 at Staples, and tack them
to the trees. Might work, might not. Might work better if you found one of
the noise making devices some grape growers use to scare away birds. They
sound like a shotgun blast, and they're VERY realistic. The first time I
heard one, I hit the dirt. They're usually on timers, but I'd bet you could
rig up some sort of motion sensor arrangement. Call a farm supply store.

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Many of my fellow gardeners and myself have had problems with people
taking fruit
off our trees. One of them had his Redhaven picked clean when he left
his house for
a few hours. They must have used ladders, and had to scale a four foot
fence. I get
drive-by samplers, who jump out of their vehicles to grab some goodies.
Short of
getting a Rotweiller Guard Dog, wonder what can be done about stopping
or discouraging these predators.

Sherwin Dubren

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Many of my fellow gardeners and myself have had problems with people
taking fruit
off our trees. One of them had his Redhaven picked clean when he left
his house for
a few hours. They must have used ladders, and had to scale a four foot
fence. I get
drive-by samplers, who jump out of their vehicles to grab some goodies.
Short of
getting a Rotweiller Guard Dog, wonder what can be done about stopping
or discouraging these predators.


I would try one the those motion-activated sprays intended to discourage
deer. Few casual thieves would want to get soaked for a piece of fruit.
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=...kler&scoring=p

On 21 Aug 2004 11:54:40 GMT, (GrampysGurl) wrote:

Wow!!!! That's bold. I'd make a cute little wooden sign that said "Thou shalt
not steal" and put it up

Part of the problem may be that many don't see 'sampling' as
stealing. You have so many -- you won't miss "just a few," and it's
far too much trouble to stop and ask. If the poster's tree(s) is/are
near the road, it may be impossible to stop without physical barriers.

For the full-scale thieves mentioned, alarms or sprays triggered by
motion dectectors might help. Real or fake cameras, too. My camera
(box) sign would say: "Don't bother looking for a wire. This is
wireless equipment and it IS real." :-)

"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On 21 Aug 2004 11:54:40 GMT, (GrampysGurl) wrote:

Wow!!!! That's bold. I'd make a cute little wooden sign that said "Thou
shalt
not steal" and put it up

Part of the problem may be that many don't see 'sampling' as
stealing. You have so many -- you won't miss "just a few," and it's
far too much trouble to stop and ask. If the poster's tree(s) is/are
near the road, it may be impossible to stop without physical barriers.

Many people feel free to just dig up plants and cart them off also, assuming
that no one really owns that "abandoned lot" or road-side ditch.

In article , "Vox Humana"
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On 21 Aug 2004 11:54:40 GMT, (GrampysGurl) wrote:

Wow!!!! That's bold. I'd make a cute little wooden sign that said "Thou
shalt
not steal" and put it up

Part of the problem may be that many don't see 'sampling' as
stealing. You have so many -- you won't miss "just a few," and it's
far too much trouble to stop and ask. If the poster's tree(s) is/are
near the road, it may be impossible to stop without physical barriers.

Many people feel free to just dig up plants and cart them off also, assuming
that no one really owns that "abandoned lot" or road-side ditch.

Some random things this thread made me remember:

1) I planted plum trees by the road with the expectation that kids walking
to school in the morning & others afoot would pick much that's in arm's
reach, & I think that's fine. They're for the neighborhood.

2) A friend who was convinced someone in the neighborhood came into her
yard & picked ALL the cherries off a tree, leaving not one, put up a sign
with an unhappy/angry message, hoping the thief would read about the
owner's feelings. But I don't think there is really any doubt that birds
got them.

3) Once when I was test-driving a car I was about to buy, its rumpled
owner in the passesnger seat, he suddenly called excitedly for me to pull
over to the curb. He jumped out of the car & began gathering up rusty
apples that had fallen from two small trees. He did not pick from
branches, took only what had fallen. He jumped back in the car & a little
embarrassed by his own actions explained that the apples had been going to
waste, & he'd been eating them for both lunch & dinners. The degree of his
rumpledness & the emergency need to sell the car became more obvious.

4) As a child, many neighborhood kids were afraid of Mr Lambert who lived
reclusively in a small unpainted house in the middle of an orchard of
mixed fruit trees. He was actually a kind & lonely man, but I'll forgo
telling a dozen Mr. Lambert stories & skip to the end, when it took a
couple weeks before anyone even noticed he hadn't been out in his gardens
for a couple weeks, & sent someone to find the body. In decades to follow,
after his abandoned property went wild & his house fell down into a heap
of rubble, the fruit trees continued to produce every year. As an adult I
used to drive out to his place seasonally to harvest apples, pears, &
cherries of sundry kinds, with no one's permission. After about
twenty-five years of free harvests, I went out there one last time & saw
that in the one intervening year since my last journey, the woodsy orchard
had vanished without even one tree left, & a dozen ugly prefab houses were
arranged around a cul de sac. I wonder often if I'm the last person on
earth who remembers Mr. Lambert.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

Along the same vein, my co-worker posted signs on his propert that say "No
Trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."

--
Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
From the nut-case end of the spectrum: Some gun shops sell decals showing
the front view of a revolver and the words "Never mind the dog - Beware
the
owner". Buy a few, have them laminated for $1.25 at Staples, and tack them
to the trees. Might work, might not. Might work better if you found one of
the noise making devices some grape growers use to scare away birds. They
sound like a shotgun blast, and they're VERY realistic. The first time I
heard one, I hit the dirt. They're usually on timers, but I'd bet you
could
rig up some sort of motion sensor arrangement. Call a farm supply store.

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Many of my fellow gardeners and myself have had problems with people
taking fruit
off our trees. One of them had his Redhaven picked clean when he left
his house for
a few hours. They must have used ladders, and had to scale a four foot
fence. I get
drive-by samplers, who jump out of their vehicles to grab some goodies.
Short of
getting a Rotweiller Guard Dog, wonder what can be done about stopping
or discouraging these predators.

Sherwin Dubren

I need to author something similar to keep dog owners away. I think I'll
start a new thread and we'll have a little contest. :-)

"Jacqueline" wrote in message
...
Along the same vein, my co-worker posted signs on his propert that say "No
Trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."

--
Jacqueline
Carmichaels PA
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
From the nut-case end of the spectrum: Some gun shops sell decals
showing
the front view of a revolver and the words "Never mind the dog - Beware
the
owner". Buy a few, have them laminated for $1.25 at Staples, and tack
them
to the trees. Might work, might not. Might work better if you found one
of
the noise making devices some grape growers use to scare away birds.
They
sound like a shotgun blast, and they're VERY realistic. The first time I
heard one, I hit the dirt. They're usually on timers, but I'd bet you
could
rig up some sort of motion sensor arrangement. Call a farm supply store.

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Many of my fellow gardeners and myself have had problems with people
taking fruit
off our trees. One of them had his Redhaven picked clean when he left
his house for
a few hours. They must have used ladders, and had to scale a four
foot
fence. I get
drive-by samplers, who jump out of their vehicles to grab some
goodies.
Short of
getting a Rotweiller Guard Dog, wonder what can be done about stopping
or discouraging these predators.

Sherwin Dubren

You could add "and I now have your license pate number"

Shell


"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On 21 Aug 2004 11:54:40 GMT, (GrampysGurl) wrote:

Wow!!!! That's bold. I'd make a cute little wooden sign that said "Thou
shalt
not steal" and put it up

Part of the problem may be that many don't see 'sampling' as
stealing. You have so many -- you won't miss "just a few," and it's
far too much trouble to stop and ask. If the poster's tree(s) is/are
near the road, it may be impossible to stop without physical barriers.

For the full-scale thieves mentioned, alarms or sprays triggered by
motion dectectors might help. Real or fake cameras, too. My camera
(box) sign would say: "Don't bother looking for a wire. This is
wireless equipment and it IS real." :-)

There are always exceptions and exceptionable people. Personally I grew up
on Air Force bases and the only place I was ever able to participate in
filching fruit was in Crete where a farmer had his grape vines close to the
fence at the base perimiter. When he saw what was going on he just pruned
the vines back where small arms couldn't reach them through the chain link.

We did have a neighbor in Colorado who got very upset when the local kids
ate all the fruit off the wild cherry bush by her front door. She was going
to make either a pie of jam, I can't remember which. The houses on base all
had either lilac or wild cherry bushes by the front doors and crabapple
trees in the yards. The cherries were all pit

Shell


"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "Vox Humana"
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On 21 Aug 2004 11:54:40 GMT, (GrampysGurl) wrote:

Wow!!!! That's bold. I'd make a cute little wooden sign that said
"Thou
shalt
not steal" and put it up

Part of the problem may be that many don't see 'sampling' as
stealing. You have so many -- you won't miss "just a few," and it's
far too much trouble to stop and ask. If the poster's tree(s) is/are
near the road, it may be impossible to stop without physical barriers.

Many people feel free to just dig up plants and cart them off also,
assuming
that no one really owns that "abandoned lot" or road-side ditch.

Some random things this thread made me remember:

1) I planted plum trees by the road with the expectation that kids walking
to school in the morning & others afoot would pick much that's in arm's
reach, & I think that's fine. They're for the neighborhood.

2) A friend who was convinced someone in the neighborhood came into her
yard & picked ALL the cherries off a tree, leaving not one, put up a sign
with an unhappy/angry message, hoping the thief would read about the
owner's feelings. But I don't think there is really any doubt that birds
got them.

3) Once when I was test-driving a car I was about to buy, its rumpled
owner in the passesnger seat, he suddenly called excitedly for me to pull
over to the curb. He jumped out of the car & began gathering up rusty
apples that had fallen from two small trees. He did not pick from
branches, took only what had fallen. He jumped back in the car & a little
embarrassed by his own actions explained that the apples had been going to
waste, & he'd been eating them for both lunch & dinners. The degree of his
rumpledness & the emergency need to sell the car became more obvious.

4) As a child, many neighborhood kids were afraid of Mr Lambert who lived
reclusively in a small unpainted house in the middle of an orchard of
mixed fruit trees. He was actually a kind & lonely man, but I'll forgo
telling a dozen Mr. Lambert stories & skip to the end, when it took a
couple weeks before anyone even noticed he hadn't been out in his gardens
for a couple weeks, & sent someone to find the body. In decades to follow,
after his abandoned property went wild & his house fell down into a heap
of rubble, the fruit trees continued to produce every year. As an adult I
used to drive out to his place seasonally to harvest apples, pears, &
cherries of sundry kinds, with no one's permission. After about
twenty-five years of free harvests, I went out there one last time & saw
that in the one intervening year since my last journey, the woodsy orchard
had vanished without even one tree left, & a dozen ugly prefab houses were
arranged around a cul de sac. I wonder often if I'm the last person on
earth who remembers Mr. Lambert.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "Vox Humana"
wrote:
..

2) A friend who was convinced someone in the neighborhood came into her
yard & picked ALL the cherries off a tree, leaving not one, put up a sign
with an unhappy/angry message, hoping the thief would read about the
owner's feelings. But I don't think there is really any doubt that birds
got them.


I have a bunch of wild paw paw trees. They don't set fruit very well, but
last year had an impressive crop. I watched them, waiting for them to
ripen. Someone here asked for some seeds and I assured them I would be able
to send them. I went out to check on the harvest and not a single paw paw
could be found. I'm sure that they were eaten by the wildlife. This year I
haven't seen a single piece of fruit.

IF they're on your property, uninvited, they're trespassing. Ask the nearest
police patrol to keep an eye out.
zemedelec

So this morning Bush for the first time said the anti-Kerry ads should
stop. Almost across the board the morning-paper editorials (hundreds can
be accessed via Google News search) are assuming Bush called for the ads
to be pulled because of pressures from Democrats & even from moderate
Republicans. But I doubt that. He just knows as much damage is done as can
be done, & to continue would reflect incredasingly against Bush rather
than Kerry. People who want to believe lies (or at least repeat them as
though they believed it) will repeat them forever. So it's time, on cue,
for Bush to pretend to a higher moral road than yesterday.

To those who want to continue to spread lies about Kerry's war record, the
important feature of Bush's belated call to stop the attack-ads is that he
never said the anti-Kerry ads contained anything untrue, &amp Bush's faux
high road really calls for an end to all ads done by so-called "outside"
groups categorized as 527 groups. He's not calling for the ads to be
factual, & it's facts about his own record he would like to forestall.

This is why Senator McCain has asked one more time that Bush specifically
condemn the content of the ads. Merely saying it's time to pull all 527
political ads just doesn't cut it. But what can you expect from a cokehead
mofo.

I've read about thirty morning articles & if I were to pick one to pass
on, this one from ABC News is worth perusing for brevity but completeness:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/...0823_1245.html

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

"paghat" wrote in message
news
So this morning Bush for the first time said the anti-Kerry ads should
stop. Almost across the board the morning-paper editorials (hundreds can
be accessed via Google News search) are assuming Bush called for the ads
to be pulled because of pressures from Democrats & even from moderate
Republicans. But I doubt that. He just knows as much damage is done as can
be done, & to continue would reflect incredasingly against Bush rather
than Kerry. People who want to believe lies (or at least repeat them as
though they believed it) will repeat them forever. So it's time, on cue,
for Bush to pretend to a higher moral road than yesterday.

To those who want to continue to spread lies about Kerry's war record, the
important feature of Bush's belated call to stop the attack-ads is that he
never said the anti-Kerry ads contained anything untrue, &amp Bush's faux
high road really calls for an end to all ads done by so-called "outside"
groups categorized as 527 groups. He's not calling for the ads to be
factual, & it's facts about his own record he would like to forestall.

This is why Senator McCain has asked one more time that Bush specifically
condemn the content of the ads. Merely saying it's time to pull all 527
political ads just doesn't cut it. But what can you expect from a cokehead
mofo.

I've read about thirty morning articles & if I were to pick one to pass
on, this one from ABC News is worth perusing for brevity but completeness:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/...0823_1245.html

-paghat the ratgirl

Yes, in addition, Bush wants all 527 adds pulled. The comparison of the
Swift Boat Liars for Bush to Moveon.com is laughable. It not only looks
like Bush used the Liars as a front group to do his dirty work, but maybe to
have legitimate adds pulled. He knows that he can be outspent by the
Anti-Bush folks and there is a lot of truthful information out there that
can hurt him.