With and without my baby snakes (Frank Zappa music optional).

Good idea mgginva! I was thinking of getting some, to scare away the darn ground squirrels.

Michael looks like this is very good idea thanks for sharing!

That's an awesome idea.  Thanks for sharing.

Is it working???

yes it's working - for how long I can't say.

Fantastic idea , thanks !

Careful with that one with the yellow and red stripes next to each other....

Hope it works. If I tried using those, I'd be the one too spooked to get near the fruits, lol.

Gina what spooks me are the darn brown wasps that guard my figs as if they own them. The other night I reached through my LSU Purple for a fig and got stung. The wasps actually sleep next to the figs they've claimed. I have to be very careful at times picking my figs as their dang venom hurts.

I had the same thing and actually had two build a nest on the underside of a leaf.

LOL I have to go to the dollar store and get me some snakes fast!!

Mike those wasps must be a southern thing.

I got 12 cool 14 inch snakes on Amazon for 5 bucks.

My first post...Hi everyone!  But it's something I know about.  Mgginva, you're right they DO guard them.  Growing up in Missouri wine country I picked grapes at harvest time.  It seemed like every bunch you reached for had a wasp guarding it.  At the end of a day my hands would look like they were about to burst from the stings and swelling.  Luckily, I'm not allergic to them and the swelling subsided with a little ice and rest.  That's a job I don't miss!

Welcome Dale. I'm not allergic at all either but I still don't like getting stung. Fortunately these wasps aren't anywhere near as bad as say bald faced hornets - but still . . .  

If you can locate the wasps and get a clear shot before getting attacked, you might try loading a spray bottle and squirting them with a jet of water mixed with a little dish detergent. It works quite well with bees--they were taking up residence in a brick wall at my house, and once I had blocked the opening, any bees trying to return to the hive would land on the wall or fly around near their former entrance. I came out periodically to squirt them down, which killed them without any toxins or nasty smells.

Thanx Ken.
I used to spray that on their nests. I usually just try and get along with them as their behavior actually amuses me. I try and grow enough so everyone can have a little.
The wasps, though, do a thing called hill topping - my house is on a hill and they like to build their nests as high as they can. When they are defending their nests they are out of control nasty and I've been stung multiple times at night by them. They aren't that bad when guarding the figs.

That is just wonderful. Pretty too. The big inflatable snakes certainly don't work. And welcome Dale!

I never really had much luck with the rubber snakes. The worst thing was when they figured out they were fake and actually stopped to eat an apple on top of the snake. You might try the closed berry containers with a rubber band around them.

If you did that and put a baby snake inside the might not figure out the snake wasn't real because it would then move if they knocked the container.

Matt, 
Any time you use an artificial lure or deterrent you need to do something to prevent the offending critter(s) from getting used to it.

My baby snakes are part of a rotating group of deterrents. Shiny metal, balloons with eyes, motion sensor lights, etc. all run the risk of loosing their effectiveness due to habituation.

Squirrels and some birds are very intelligent and just leaving these little snakes sitting on a branch for days will end in them loosing their effectiveness. But I don't do that. And because I don't they are very effective. I have not lost figs that were/are guarded by my methodology so far this year.

This does not mean I don't loose some figs - I do - but I loose the ones I don't covet, the ones I don't actively protect. I'm selfish with my favorites and a bit loose with some of the others. But so far my snakes have done an excellent job. 

I've collected those blueberry containers and have them on hand should I need them, but so far so good.
thx
mgg

Those are scary.  I'm gonna have to try them.   I tried those plastic fruit containers and in the heat, I have to say it didn't work well at all.  I took them off after maybe 3 minutes and leaves were already getting crispy.   I might try tying the square green strawberry containers though since they have a lot of ventilation.   

When I pass through Washington St. I pass by the apple orchards and they place shiny red and shiny silver/chrome strips on the trees. Each strip is approx. 12" or 15" long and roughly an inch wide.

They place quite a few on each tree.

I use much smaller strips of ribbon but also of reflective tape and a metallic material. The thing that scares them is the movement if it's unpredictable. I rotate stuff every few days.

I used to make my scare crows so they'd move and be really creepy. It was really fun. Used to creep out the main squeeze, though.

I just checked out ebay and they have six ct. baby snakes at but it now for $3.99 plus under $3 for shipping.

I just wonder/worry if the owls or the hawks might mistake them to the real stuff and try to make a meal out of them.

I've wondered the same thing, but I have a ton of raptors here and I haven't lost one yet. But I also have a resident murder of crows and very aggressive mocking birds and even though I do see a lot of hawks they don't hang around. As far as Owls go - there is nothing crows hate worse and I just don't see them and rarely hear them at night.
I think you'll be OK.

Thanks for the welcomes!