I have an apricot tree that generally yields well. This year, there are dozens due to mild winter weather in northest Ohio. The tree is one of those varietals with an alleged, edible pit. In the past five years, we have yet to taste a ripe apricot. The problem, fox and gray squirels during the day and a mystery critter during the night, probably raccoons or flying squirrels. I have tried hot pepper spray, netting and don't think they would be afraid of an owl decoy after a couple of days. The one I placed to scare away the English sparrows has become a perch.
Short of ordinance which is certainly an option and perhaps a diabolical treat for me at this point, does anyone have any suggestions to: 1) Allow a reasonabie harvest of fresh apricots on my part and 2) allow another/ other species to share a few of these tasty fruits?
By Grumpy gardener
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I don't know if it would work for all the critters but it would cut down on some of them (especially the birds).
Add bells to your branches. Don't hang them from the limbs on strings tie them directly to the branch. This way when a critter goes on the branch (shaking it) the bells clatter. It may scare them away. Find bells that are very senstive. Smaller bells tend to be more sensitive than larger ones because their clacker isn't as heavy.
Another trick (that my father does) is to find a Model T coil and hook it up with a wire around the bottom of the tree. This gives any critter trying to cross and climb a shock. We had raccoons eating peaches off our tree before they developed enough to be picked. This trick stopped the little guys.
I was told or read that you can also put something sticky around the base of the trunk of the tree and it will deter climbing critters. They don't like how their paws stick. Not sure off hand what would be wide enough that the critters wouldn't step over it easily. Something like a fly strip but much wider. Maybe there is a substance they sell at a yard and garden place for insects (like ants) that you can spray on the trunk.
Maybe mac tac (sticky shelf liner) turned upside down with the sticky side up?
The sticky stuff you are referring to is called Tanglefoot. I bought mine on Amazon along with the roll of tape that you have to put around the base of the tree. After applying the tape tightly to the tree, I did a length of about 14 inches you then apply the very sticky Tsnglefoot.
Hired an arborist. He hung sticky paper to catch whitefly in my tangerine tree. Bad idea. Realized later that paper was so sticky a hummingbird was caught. All I saw stuck to the paper was a hummingbird wing. I felt terrible. This was inhumane.
I tried raising tomato plants on my patio, and quit when I discovered the stupid squirrels were picking the green tomatos off the plants taking one bite of them and dropping them in the surrounding grass. They also like to dig the dirt out of my flower pots and eat the roots of the flowers.
Cut down all trees around apricot. Squirrels don't like to b on ground. Get an aggressive cat.
Squirrels have no problem crossing long distances on the open ground. I'm a hunter, I know.
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