Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Possums 1, Humans 0.5

Ok, I officially surrender! After taking perhaps half a dozen apricots each night for a few nights, the possums invited all their friends over for a party and decimated the crop.  Tying the net up around the trunk only put them off for a night and then the little buggers managed to get back in by chewing holes in the net.  The moth balls didn't seem much of a deterrent,  and I was trying blood and bone until I saw just how many they'd chewed and gave up. But somehow I doubt it would have made much difference. I was just contemplating shelling out some big bucks to get an ultrasonic repeller, but it doesn't seem that clear that they work either.  This weekend I'll be building wire cages for the strawberries.

So I decided to harvest the lot while there were still some left.  Most are close to fully ripe anyway.  I estimate it at 45% to the possums,  45% to the humans and maybe 10% to worms or caterpillars.  We got just under 70 apricots unscathed.  A taste test and final weigh in will be done later.

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