Brent, Yes, luckily I live in an established 70 year old neighborhood. And yes, I have limited sun - and becoming more limited every year. I am surrounded by treasured shade trees. In just my yard I have a 70' + pine tree and 60' + tulip popular, a hackberry that probably saw the Battle of Nashville (I live on the Confederate line of the Battle), 50+ y.o. walnut tree, 30+ y.o. Black Cherry, 50+ y.o. sycamore, 50+ y.o. ash, 50+ y.o. mulberry, a younger mulberry, a wild grapevine that is well in excess of the 30 years I've lived in the house, and many younger trees. I even have a pear that was mature when I moved into the place so it is probably 50+ y.o. also. I had to cut down 50 y.o. hemlock, holly, and mimosa.
In all but two years the pear tree has been absolutely loaded with pears. In all those years I have never been able to pick a ripe one - squirrels have gotten every single one of them - many with just one bite out of them and then thrown down. Same with the walnuts. My almost 30 year old micro mini apples - most years they bear many fruits - but again - never have I been able to harvest any apples. The first years there I also planted a couple of peach trees, a japanese persimmon, a plum tree and a cherry - all espaliered on a fence to utilize as much as the sun as I could. I cut them all down 10 years later after having spent untold dollars and time spraying, tending, fertilizing, netting, etc.....and not being able to harvest the first piece of ripe fruit. The first few years, I could not grow tomatoes - as soon as they started turning pink - off they would go. It seems as if I'm resigned to buying these products at the store or farmer's market. It certainly is easier and less expensive than to tend to the plants/trees only to lose it to the squirrels. One of my "bucket list" type dreams is to grow sweet ripe juicy grapes. Haven't been able to do that yet because of the squirrels. So decided to try to be smarter and plant the grapes in big pots and grow on the deck. Good intentions, but haven't been able to harvest the first grape either. I imagine the same will be the fate of the figs - but I am hard headed and have to try. I have wanted to try paw-paws, but haven't been successful yet. I have yet to find any pot grown trees locally to buy, and the two times I've ordered them - the trees did not live. Seems that they have a long tap root and delicate roots. I'm still looking.
I have also had to give up bird feeding as they eat up all the food. Bought a number of devices to make it harder for them to get to the food, but none has worked. The last was a feeder that fooled them for a long time. If they put their weight on anything close to the food, it closed over the food. A bird's weight would not cause it to close. It worked until our raccoons decided they wanted a try at the seeds and they figured out how to unhook it and let it fall to the ground and then they and all the squirrels would have a feast. Then I securely wired it to the hook. That worked for awhile until they found out how to make the pieces come apart and the bottom piece would fall to the ground for the inevitable seed orgy.
I'm with Jason - how long is it acceptable to wait before taking action? I grew up hunting. Not at all opposed to hunting - in fact, I support it, but then I found Fly Fishing. Standing knee deep in a cool water stream with a bamboo fly rod in hand, gentilely casting feathered hooks to the finned gemstones of the cold waters we affectionately name trout - almost obliterates all memory and want of hunting.
Squirrels aren't the only problem - can you say moles. And this year is the year of the 13 year cicades are to emerge - no, emerge is too mild of a word - the cicades are set to rain their fat bodies upon us, pierce and lay eggs IN the twigs of our cherished plants, and to almost drown out all other noises of our everyday world while staring at us with those menacing and piercing red eyes! Also have mice, voles, and cockroaches big enough I can strap on my feet and use as my personal living Segway! Now, I do things to rid ourselves of the mice and roaches. I used to try with the moles, but none of my neighbors do anything about their mole problem and theirs just multiply and reinfest my yard. Why is it generally okay with society to do something about these pests, but not about squirrels? As a logically minded construction manager, I don't get it? Maybe I'm not supposed to.
30 years ago my brother-in-law married one of those Delaware type Yan..... err ....Northern women. I was still pretty fresh from Texas and still liked my ten gallon Stetson, my bullhide boots, tooled leather belt, big belt buckles and tight wrangler jeans. And so did his Best Man - although he was a different type of redneck - a Tennessee one. At the reception, the Best Man and I decided to liven up the place and put on our boots and hats. Mind you this was in a proper ballroom, with a tuxedo-clad 4 piece string ensemble to entertain us. Apparently sometime during dinner, I got a spot of grease on the front of my tuxedo jacket. I eventually asked the Bride's Elderly Aunt (from New Hampshire) to dance. Vivid mental picture - a less than100 pound dear frail, little old, proper Northern lady dressed in her best, in the arms of a 250 pound six-footer wearing a black tuxedo with cowboy boots and a Stetson. A little into the dance she noticed the grease spot and mentioned it. By this time, I was ready to restart the Civil War because of all the condescending attitudes, so I muttered something that it was just "squirrel grease"! Without a second's hesitation, and with all sincerity the Aunt proclaimed "that you boys do eat those things down there"! This was well before the Christmas Vacation movie where Cousin Eddie's wife says about Eddie eating squirrels "Not recently, Clark. He read that squirrels were high in cholesterol". If I had been a quicker wit, I'd have said something about giving them up because of high cholesterol or giving them up for Lent of something – but I just quietly sat down, put my head in my hands and daydreamed of fricasseed squirrel!
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