I was waiting for it anxiously, checking every day, covered with a mesh bag and today … those damn whoever it was ruined the fig for good :(
I was ready to cry. It is my first Paradiso, very large breba, looked so good.

The animals chewed through the bag without any problems and got almost a half of the fig. The other fig has some teeth marks but still intact.

I have an infrared outdoor camera, will set it up to find out what bastard is that. 

I wonder where we can get chain mail bags.

Maybe metal screen would work.

Let us know if you get the thing on film.

I was thinking about the metal screens. They are still light enough to hang on the figs trees but protect much better. I am afraid that now every mesh bag will scream “hey!! the food is here!!” :(

I will connect the camera to an old laptop, the camera is supposed to have some kind of motion detection and will start recording when the motion is detected. I hope not to get many false alarms. I was taking the photos of the birds at my bird feeder and the camera worked very well (but I was taking the photos, not the movies).

Here is a sample of the photo. 


    

Greenfig sorry for your loss, I am dreaming of my first Paradiso breba! Let us know who the critter was-probably a bird.

Thanks! Unfortunately, I think the critter was a squirrel or some larger animal. The birds peck and leave a lot of mess around, and that fig was eaten out cleanly.

Havahart trap if you want to be humane, Kania 2000 if you want to thin the herd fast...

That's unfortunate, Igor! If it happened during the day, it may be squirrel.  If it happened at night, maybe a raccoon.  Maybe you should put up some small traps around the garden.  I like the gardenias, by the way!

Nate

I like the havahart better, at least I do not need to clean up the mess. Since I have quite a few pots that will get ripe soon, the granules and spray is an easier solution:
http://www.havahart.com/store/animal-repellents/bdapb

Anybody can share how effective is this with squirrels and raccoons?

Nate, give me a day or two and I hope to find the criminal!
Thanks for the complement! The gardenias are very worry free and forgiving plants, I like them.

Conibear 110 - problem solved

deer? they take nice big bites and leave half a fig hanging

What a bummer. My next door neighbor hates squirrels and has three traps setup all the time to get them out of his pecan trees. to date he has caught 88 of the varmits. I have not seen one in about a month. So the traps from harbor freight are well worth the 29 bucks. Now the birds may be a different issue altogether. Oh I stand corrected he has caught 4 bluejays trying to get to the cracked pecans. So you might want to look into some traps as another thought to getting rid of the scumbags. Richard

Thanks for sharing very nice photos and sorry for your loss.

Best,
Tam

that must have been an one determined vermin..

Not long ago there were some posts about using tabasco diluted with water to keep the animals from eating the fruit.  A couple reports that it seemed to work for rabbits and squirrels.  Reapplication is needed after a rain.

Is that Paradiso from Joe Morle? 

That is a Paradiso from Jon. I got the cuttings last winter. It didn’t say more than just ‘Paradiso’, C450.

I think I will try Tabasco until the Conibear 110 arrives and havahart. Will see tomorrow how they like the figs, spicy or not !
It is getting expensive :(

I feel your pain Igor, my chickens decided to eat the green baby figs off of my Black Maderia and Preto today. I didn't think I would have to protect them until they were nearing ripeness, but now I have to figure out how the protect all the other plants.

I got my Paradiso years ago from Jon, at the time, he only offered Gene's variant.

Mike in Hanover, VA

I think this is the very fine Paradiso Gene. Def. not Morle. Dr.Phil I am giving away my Morle in October if you are interested...

Sorry that some animal wrecked your anticipated feast.

I guess the organza bags can help, but not eliminate, any foul/fowl play.  Nature wins, usually.


Frank

Hi Greenfig,
Sorry for your loss - it is always frustrating !
It looks like rodent's damage not birds - could be coons or some rat as well .
I found some strawberries eaten in the same way, and I'm sure it was a rodent ...

I would hang Tabasco or piri-piri on paper or tissue piece around the tree.
Animals have a far better smelling ability than we do and hot sauce  hurts/disturbs their smell.
If you have too much rodents, trapping is the only long term solution.
This Tuesday, I myself found a new hole next to my damn "Longue d'aout" (as soon as I water and the weather goes hot and dry they come in) ... That one of my trees is cursed ! - I did setup a trap .
For now the tree is still doing fine and started showing some maincrops - after setting no brebas at all ! ...

Ok! Tabasco applied!  With a slightly higher concentration …
If I could smell it, a dead squirrel could as well.
Will see if it works. 
In the meantime, a few Conibear 110 are in a mail already, no mercy!! 

Thanks everybody for the suggestions! I will post an update.

I think the Tabasco spray worked! No new damage the morning after pill :)
I will keep spraying ones a week until all the figs are consumed by me and not the unwanted guests. Well, that means December.. Wow, I need to get a Costco size Tabasco bottle.