All the work I put into these peaches this year, if you've seen my previous post, my spraying regime, for 5 years I lost every peach to bugs this year I got every peach to to fruit Beautifully, I ate a total of 3 peaches and they were amazing, I don't know how they got in, I have metal and wood bars holding the netting to ground?????? WTF! I am going to trap and murder these thing in the woods, I am going to beat them dead, curb stop their F@cking stupid heads, blow torch their fur off! I don't care, I haven't been this angry in years! I am literally seething! this is the 3rd tree that went ripe and those greedy F@CKS ate everything I have one tree left with 5 nectarines on it, I will. BE damned if they eat them! Rat traps are out have a hearts are out, they will die! JUST TO BE CLEAR EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW, YES I AM GOING TO KILL A FAMILY OF SQUIRRELS ALL OF THEM WILL DIE! FUUUUUUUUUUU@K!

And nobody else seems to understand why I don't like tree rats.

Sorry about your loss. Might consider investing in a pellet gun as well.

Are you positive it wasn't 2 legged squirrels? Tree rats suck, but that doesn't really follow the pattern of squirrels. Squirrels and raccoons are both pretty messy, you would have pits and partially eaten fruit all around the tree. And if so, and it was night time, I would consider a family of raccoons.

Sorry about your loss. I once wigged out on some street workers for helping themselves to my peach tree when it was small and had like a dozen peaches on it. 

I know how you feel and I feel your pain.... My recommendation to you is that you not react to events after the fact because the only thing left to you is frustration and revenge. You MUST be proactive in pest control as the pests are doing what comes natural to them to survive and will continue to do so while they are around. I manage my tree rats, ground rats (chipmunks), ground hogs (yes they do climb trees; have shot them out of my apple trees), possums and other vermin 364 days a year (usually too busy on Christmas Day). I usually manage them using lead or carbon arrow poisoning.... I harvest dozens and dozen more of squirrels each year, as many chipmunks as I can manage and still they keep on coming. Over the last week and for the first time in my memory, RED Squirrels have been hitting my apple trees; those buggers are right in between gray squirrels and chipmunks and they are fast. The only saving grace with the Red's is that they like to sit in the tree and look down and scold you loudly for bothering their feeding....at least they do that once....

You regularly feed your plants; you must also be regular and proactive in managing your pests before ther drive to to the state you currently find yourself in.... BTW... I bet that peach fed squirrels are delicious slowly stewed with fresh ripened or even canned peaches...

<< I usually manage them using lead or carbon arrow poisoning.... >>

This is a guy I can relate to.  A pellet gun is now my preferred approach for chipmunks, squirrels, and groundhogs.  I dispatched a ground hog two days ago. 

I would also strongly recommend traps.  I use a Have-a-Heart trap, but I have to admit that the compassion ends when the door slams shut.  After the rodent damage suffered last winter, I also now use snap traps for mice and voles.

I agree that you have to be vigilant and proactive.  But stay open to the possibility that there is more than one species involved.  Last year, after losing dozens of figs, I bought the big Have-a-Hart and set it up near the fig trees.  In the next week I caught a squirrel, two possums, and three raccoons.  This year I've already caught a squirrel and two raccoons -- and the fruit isn't even ripe yet.

p.s.  Squirrels seem to feed mainly during the day.  Here they seem most active at dusk.  I don't think that they are nocturnal.  Possums and raccoons, on the other hand, own the night.

I'd suggest using sandwich bags (frozen ziplock bags are thicker) for the fruits.  These bags need to be punctured with small holes and bottom corner edges cut for rain water drainage.  I normally wrap each one with a bag when they are half way to ripen, around May/June for my pear fruits.  For peaches, you may need to do so earlier.  When sealed tight around the stem, the squirrels/chipmunks/birds can not get the fruits, especially the thicker zip lock bags.  Not sure about possum or raccoons because I have not spotted them here.  

You normally can tell what have eaten your fruits by the "crime" scenes left over by them.  Normally squirrels/chipmunks can not finish a pear or a peach in one sitting.  What I did was I just sprinkle Borox or borate acid on the leftover fruits on ground for them to come back to finish them off later.  This will teach them a lesson or two so they will not go after your fruits the next time around. Did I mention about deer?  They do tremendous damages to your young shoots and fruits.  I tried every methods to defeat them, and gave up.  The only way to defeat them is to put up a fence around the plant.  You can use wood posts and plastic garden fence to set it up for less.  They will not jump over it if the space in the middle is small so the fence does not need to be tall. 

Gardening is a hard/tough hobby for anyone who wants to harvest his labor of love.  I can not tell you how much fruits/veggies were lost to those elements (including insects/bacteria/viruses) over the years.  It is a never ending struggle for me, but so are these little creatures :-).  

<< I use those in combination with a 12 gauge for mole control. >>

Sadly not legal here, unless the mole is attacking me in my house.

Justin I'm with you on eliminating the peach eaters. My tree WAS full of peaches. The other day I picked 5 juicy peaches. Today I got a basket and was planning to pick some to make a pie and give to a friend. When I got to the tree and looked up, I couldn't believe it. There were only 3 peaches left and those were half eaten.
So far this year the wildlife ate all my strawberries, blueberries and now the peaches. I need to do something before they eat the figs. Traps, bullets and baseball bats are the weapons of choice.

This totally sucks!  Did these "squirrels" take off the top of the netting?  I've never had a squirrel do that.  If these pictures are showing the exact state of how you found the trees, then I don't think it was squirrels, but more likely humans eating your peaches.  

If not humans, I'm going with raccoons.  They are strong and dextrous and clever and persistent.  

Time to build metal cages I guess.

Squirrels will easily tear through metal netting like those in a window. I know since we left bread to cool with an open window in the evening. In the morning the window screen was torn and there was a squirrel sitting on the bread chomping away. I don't know who was more scared, us or the darn rodent when we walked in the kitchen. 

Completely understand. This was my first year getting peaches from our tree. They were almost perfect. I just wanted to leave them a couple more days. Then woke up to go pick them, and found only one peach left on a tree. All the other were complete gone!

Dude,whatever you do,dont use a poison.I can totally see
one of your neighbors dogs or cats getting a hold of that dead squirrel,rat or whatever and getting sick .Or even
worse dieing.Poison does not discriminate. ////Very Bad Idea// lol

omg, so sorry!  

I feel your pain. Mice chewed a bunch of my varieties at the base over the winter. On the other hand, no more ground hogs or raccoons. If you know what I mean.

https://ibb.co/nsTx0F

If your yard is fenced in, get a larger rescue dog that enjoys being outdoors. It will keep an eye out on the squirrels/raccoons/possums. 

That was raccoons not squirrels. Coons attack at night, squirrels during the day. Coons damage the tree more than squirrel.

You need a stronger structure or you need to trap them all out ahead of ripening. I have to trap about 6-10 each yr. If I get them all in spring the fruit is OK. If not they take everything.

I used rabbit cage wire to make enclosures and it worked pretty well for short stuff, stronger than chicken wire and they couldnt press thru to reach and pull out. Rabbit cage was nice and strong and plastic coated wire to sew up and make doors.
I noticed decrease in population after neighbor cut tree but they also moved onto garbage as I saw one running with a piece of foil and chicken leg in its mouth and another buried a bagel in my strawberry planter so mold killed plants.)
But even in city limits its been an on going battle and I have to sprinkle hot sauce in strategic places.
Its been raining so I havent tried the grape koolaid trick yet. I'll see if it attracts or repels by Tuesday since the marauders will be out in the good weather this weekend.
I lose half my peaches to the tag team of bird and squirrel and most of my cherries but I have built a fortress around my potted figs. Thats where I draw the line.

Agreed it was coons and or opposums. Squirrels were just cleaning up.