Of the hundreds of blueberries that have rippened, I've eaten 2 almost ripe ones, the birds and chipmunks have gotten them all! I said no more! They will chew down a entire cluster of 30 berries for one ripe one destroying a entire cluster of green berries that will never ripen! I've tried coyote urine I've tried plastic owls and snakes, it doesn't work! What does work are guns and rat traps, sorry if I offended anyone but here it is! And yes the remove the organza bags too some how!

If you have the space, consider building a PVC bird-netted enclosure for your blueberries.

Ahhhh,the anticipation of eating your harvest and the chipmonks beat you to it.I feel for you.Im going through
it right now with figs and racoons.The live trap is going out
again tonight.
Oh and yeh the pictures are a bit graffic and offending.

The birds are relentless with blueberries in my yard too. The catbirds will strip every raspberry and blueberry. Last year, I had a flock of catbirds that spent the entire day just eating all my berries. I netted my blueberries, and they spent the entire day trying to find a gap in my rush job netting. It's seriously frustrating to have all these berry plants loaded with fruit and only get eat a small handful of it.

It took me a while to realize that chipmunks not birds were the main predators of my blueberries. Bird netting works for the birds but has to be sealed tightly on the bottom to keep out the chipmunks. A cat with good hunting instincts will help a lot. They will kill the chipmunks for the fun of it!

This pic make me very happy. Dem birds are eating all my figs.

Wow, you got em good didn't ya?  I have 3 medium blueberry plants and we made an A shaped frame out of scrap lumber which we put over the bushes and cover with a net.  That works for the birds.  Chipmunks haven't been a problem here for the blueberries, but they dig tunnels around the house so we get them with a pellet gun or .22 and have to wait them out with gun in hand. They are quick and sneaky little varmits.

I use those traps too, unfortunately, it's the only solution to my pest problem.  Tried every non-lethal method under the sun short of covering my entire patio with netting.  

I've had some traps disappear, so my advice is to drill and hole in the wood (of the trap) so you can anchor it to something.  You never know when you might catch something that can run off with it. 

Sometimes bigger critters will run off with the trap to eat what was caught in the trap.

I just received my order of mosquito netting from amazon and will try that over the pvc frame I already have built.  The bird netting catches birds and the chipmunks get tangles in it too.  I once had a chipmunk get stuck in the netting and twisted around the base of the blueberry bush.  It then frantically chewed all around the blueberry bush trunk completely girdling the trees bark off.  I let it go and the next day it was tangled again and there was no reprieve that time.  

I have used the chipmunk "bucket of death" with success in the past.

For now my sacrificial crops (strawberries) are feeding the chipmunks and low hanging raspberries are going to the raccoons. I think my blackberries and Blueberries are bird free due to being out in the open and the large population of Red Tailed Hawks here, birds are an easy target. My fig are protected with Organza bags which worked well for me last year. My Mulberry tree is still small but will be a great thing for the birds as the can feed in a tree with safety from hawks. I find it less trouble to work with the animals than try to exterminate or untangle them from nets. I will go out to the garden in a few minutes and expect about a half pint each of Blueberries, Raspberries and Blackberries. Possibly some Strawberries and Alpine Strawberries. At least myself and the critters have a temporary truce!


Today's morning quickie harvest/breakfast......all plants 3 years in ground and right now at least bird free. Blackberries are the last of the Natchez (early), Navajo and Triple Crown are just starting and will provide 4-5 pints. Raspberries are mostly Meeker which do great here, Heritage, Its all Summer and Canby will be moved to a powerline easement for the critters as they just do not produce 1/4 of what the Meekers are doing. I will have mainly Red Meeker, Fall Gold (wonderful berries!) and Glencoe, Brandywine Purples. Blueberries are a mix, still deciding what stays and what goes.