Thwarting Squirrels

Think this will work to protect one of my last Bartlett pears? (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Thwarting Squirrels

It’s now mid-September and I can declare, with certainty, the squirrels have won.

Most people complaint about rabbits in their gardens but for me it’s these furry acrobats. I love to watch them in my garden but. At least four squirrels at a time have managed to denude my semi-dwarf Bartlett pear tree from hundreds of green pears over summer. I watched them right before dusk every day, running up the tree, pulling a pear off and sitting on my deconstructed deck to enjoy it.

One of the squirrels eating one of my green Bartlett pears earlier this summer. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I would gather the leftovers the next day into a plant saucer, only to find them gone by mid-day.

I was silly enough to say to my handyman that there are more than enough pears to go around.

Apparently not.

The pear tree now only has two pears left. Can you spot one of them in this photo?

One of the two pears still left on my Bartlett pear tree. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

The other pear is on one of the lowest branches, hiding in the middle of construction materials.

My thought is the pear is not easy for squirrels to see so I hooked one of those fruit clam shells around it. The hope is that the clam shell will protect the one little pear until it can ripen enough for me to pick it.

I’m using a clam shell around one of the two pears hoping I will enjoy it. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Considering that this tree usually produces hundreds of pears every other year, I will start trimming some of the baby pears next spring and try to protect more for my use.

I have been told squirrels are very smart and will chew through fruit screens so I may need to come up with something hardier.

So far so good!

Charlotte