So I sit down to have a beer last night on the back porch and I notice what looks like some freakin' squirrel has been digging for nuts in my 1 gallon nursery pot with a Desert King.  I tried terminating this tree already putting it out in the sun and toasting the leaves completely off.  It recovered nicely, but then came the squirrel digging around in the roots. Then I'm thinking OMG there isn't a squirrel for miles around and they found my fig trees.  What's gonna happen when the trees have figs, I'm not going to get any.  Those rats with bushy tails are going to eat all my figs.  Come to find out, things aren't always what they seem to be.  ; )

Caging them seems more and more  appealing.

Look here, even in paradise planting in Australia... they must protect the trees so they get fruit.. check out these amazing cage and the amazing espaliers inside... there is a 3 layer fig tree that is absolutely stunning!
http://www.rarefruit-sa.org.au/Espalier/Frame/Frame.htm

That's hilarious Steve. I'm always having frogs jumping out at me while I'm watering pots.

Ha!  I didn't see that one coming.

Yea, as long as toads don't eat my figs they can stay and eat the bugs.  : )

What gets me is they don't even have the good grace to be afraid of me. They get wet, jump out of the pot and sit there giving me the stink eye like I did something wrong!

I would like to have that "cage".....I hate fighting bird netting.  Seems like somebody would have invented something easier for work with/use by now.  And why is bird netting black?  So you can't see it....cause I sure can't see it. 

I'm confused. How many beers did you have? How many does it take to think a toad has a bushy tail?

I was keeping count, but then the pink elephants showed up.  The sight of elephants in my backyard completely erased my memory at that point. : )

Squirrels are allergic to mint. Plant mint around the area where you keep your figs and you shouldn't have a problem with squirrels, chipmunks or mice.

Meet the Posse

Thanks for the pics. Love the frog and such. Thanks for posting the cage. I may have to build something like that to grow in. 

Zone 8
South West TX

i'm waiting for the leaves to get big enough for the tree frogs to visit. they are neat.

If you are going to 'plant' mint, make sure it is in pots and put the pots on a tray - you do NOT want mint roots spreading.  Mint is almost as invasive as kudzu.  We once had a spot in a community garden 10' wide; mint had been planted in the ground 4 plots over (40').  We dug down several feet and chopped out and pulled roots from those plants to keep them out of our space.

If ever "All your base are belong to us" had a ring of truth to it, mint was being referenced.

Of course, if you are actually trying to grow mint, ignore this - it will just die on its own (or is that just me?).

Andrew