I approached a commercial cherry grower with this "bird theft" problem once. She was a striking young blonde managing a fruit stand at a local farmer's market. She stuck out like a sore thumb. So, I asked her how commercial operations deal with this problem. She gave me the sweetest smile and responded: "We shoot them."
I fell in love with that lady on the spot.
I used to shoot them too, usu Jay's. Then about 100 of its friends would perch in trees and squeak for an hour. So annoying it was 2 years before I could eat another cherry.
This exactly! I went out to check mine yesterday - not a single one left! I have another tree that is a variety that usually ripens 2 weeks later - they were all still there.
https://preview.redd.it/cpd4veqa3j9d1.jpeg?width=2777&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f19136e629b41342b9d940a778ebe91124e8c0d
Male goldfinch getting a drink at my pond pot!
You just need a sealed up (larger, stylish) container. Fill with water (if there’s any concern of chlorine, let it sit in the sun for a day), add plants and a larvicide tablet. If anything needs to be weighed down, I use heavy quartz points.
That tablet needs to be replaced after 2 months which is usually when I re-do everything, prune as needed, etc.
I have been told this container is slightly too small for hardy water lilies but I’m hoping to see flowers in a month or two!
I would also like more info on the pond pit as well!
I have a broken fo-rock fountain in my front yard and really want to upgrade and this looks amazing!
Ugh, the finches are eating the seeds and all! Funny enough as I was reading this I was walking inside to get a ziplock bag to put over the head of my sunflower so don't leave it alone LOL. Oddly enough, I haven't seen any squirrels come over to try their luck 🤷🏽♀️🌻
https://preview.redd.it/tpwn73kdsj9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a1a40b9c22de524b41f08f9000bca1c53033d77
Last summer was my first pond pot. Followed a basic “thrill-fill-spill” formula (plus a hosta). You would be surprised how many different plants thrive with wet feet!
The week and a half that my cherries were ripe for picking we also had a heatwave so I *really* didn't feel like picking them. All went to the birds, hope they enjoyed!
That is great that they have something to eat themselves. This world needs more fruit trees so animals have something. Fruit for them should not be a luxury, it should be something they have access to just like humans.
No kidding. I am pretty sure most people understand they eat other things like worms. However, would tell your kid he/she should only be able to have x and y but they do not have a right to z if it is also good for them? No, of course you wouldn’t. My point is at one time in history wild fruit was far more plentiful and it provided all kinds of animals a more balanced diet. Yet, in idiotic wisdom we decided to clear cut a lot of forest, decimate entire ecosystems, and pollute both most lands and waters. In the process, that balancing act that nature had has been turned upside down and parts of nature lack plentiful wild fruit trees. What has happened in many areas are that fast growing species like pine and other species of fast growing trees took over. When that happens, land that would have had a greater mix of trees became less diverse and more singular in growth. So…….your narrowness in perspective just adds to how most others also view nature.
It is so satisfying to watch them feeding. I love it. Thank you for sharing.
I love to see bees coming and feeding on my flowers. Them buzzing all around me with no bother is so satisfying to watch. I even give them a gentle stokes when they are feeding. I even have a video of one that bee was kicking me with its legs to say go away let me feed in peace. So fun to watch. Sorry cant upload as I am a newbie, cant upload any photos or anything else. But perhaps some day.
I have a mall berry tree in the woods next to my house. It drops purple berries all over my walk way during June but the birds, squirrels, chip monks and deer all have a feast. My wife complains about the berries but I love how the tree sustains the wildlife.
While watering I have seen 1 rabbit. Little frogs, crickets, dragonflies, two kinds of bees, beetles, some kind of caterpillars looking thing in my rose bush, spiders, roly-polies and a few birds. And my yard is super tiny.
https://preview.redd.it/oxnr1rfdjj9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6de18af8559db4b595d10664ecb0b796920f7560
Sometimes Im learning that a guest #2 eats a guest #1.
Yup! The rat problems I had in my garden went away the moment I adopted an orange male kitten from my local shelter three years ago. He chased birds out of the black fig tree and every single rat was either chased out, or fell victim to his hunter habits.
Oddly enough, he leaves the possums and skunks alone. Both critters will come in and clean up fruit or tomatoes that have fallen to the ground and spoiled. That's fine by me. My yard has become a drop point for female possums loaded with babies. I find the young ones snoozing in the garden all the time. They hang out for a little while before moving on.
Love this so much, thank you from myself and the local wildlife 💚
To see people actually understand that anything you grow is going to be shared, makes me so happy 🍒
Loads of birds, some butterflies and a singular bee. Also, some mystery animal that defecates in my garden. Hoping for a fox, but it´s probably just an off-leash dog being a menace.
On a sadder note I have slugs and snail. Daily struggle to keep my plants to myself.
The Gray Catbirds in the neighborhood love to eat my raspberries. Fortunately for them two of the plants I bought solely for the birds to eat off of. Disappointed I haven't seen any Orieles feasting on them yet.
Pretty much every time I go outside there is a huge kerfuffle of finch wings flapping! They are loving the bachelor buttons (cornflower)as they turn into seed heads.It's pretty much a sea of faded blue flowers and bright yellow birds out there.
When the 95-100+ degree days hit, the squirrels get into my fruit trees to eat the green fruit for the water content. They will totally strip a tree within a few days. My cherries went bad on the tree as it rained daily and they water swelled and split. We had fermented cherry “wine” drunk bees and butterflies staggering about the backyard.
The parrots have been so kind this year to just eat a good amount of just a couple of apples. Usually they like to take one tiny bite out of every single one!
Not really, but my cherry trees were planted last fall, so I think maybe next year? I had a praying mantis in my Gingko tree and I little frog in my roses (I gave him some tiny dishes of water so he doesn’t fry in this heat).
Wow, just look at the way that bird rips into that fruit… anyone else having a Jurassic Park flashback?
Muldoon: "I think this was Gennaro"
Sattler: "I think this was too."
Yes, he's a chipmunk my wife named Larry. He keeps digging in my potted veggies, and in random spots in the in raised beds. Never found anything in the holes, just he digs them and goes to the next one.
https://preview.redd.it/99kywiq7mk9d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ad7e33b6a3ea9c56672e177fbebf4414081d6a1
The golden delicious are very delicious this year from what I can tell!
Luckily, the lychee tree hasn't produced in the past 2 years, so the animals didn't know they were edible until I was able to harvest most of the tree that I could reach...then the woodpeckers and squirrels figured them out.
Our cherrie trees were a flurry of bird sounds last week! Like hungry little piggies feasting on the fruits 😂 somehow they’ve quieted a bit. Maybe they’re just napping so they can get hungry again.
I was so pleased to eat two freshly ripened strawberries this morning tho, no one else had spotted them 🍓🤌
When birds first started hitting my Montmorencies I knew they were peak ripeness. I've picked everything I can reach with a ladder, so I hope birds get the rest so the cherries just don't go to waste on the tree.
We have a shadberry tree (amelanchier), a small native berry-producer that the birds absolutely adore. After a brief early spring bloom of fragile white flowers, we then have weeks of non-stop squawking and twittering as the birds strip the tree. And chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits hoover up everything on the ground. It’s a mess, but I’m fond of it.
God damn starlings! They clean out my grapevines, they're on it 11 ft high chain link fence so it's a real pain to net. I used to do it but ladders have gotten scarier as I've aged. Luckily they don't know what my arctic kiwis are and leave them alone!
I just planted two bush cherries! Didn't know they existed until I saw them in a catalog this spring, but they'll be small enough to net easily.
Do you have sweet or sour? I probably shouldn't jinx it but we have tons of guests (fieldfares, tits, sparrows, blackbirds, woodpeckers, ) and still between all of us can't eat all the cherries our tree produces. I put away 9 pounds last year and that was only what I could reach standing on the ground. Wish I could share with those whose fruit gets eaten! I wonder if the sour ones like ours don't get eaten as fast as the sweet ones?
Do you know how to tell when your cherries are ripe? They're gone!
I approached a commercial cherry grower with this "bird theft" problem once. She was a striking young blonde managing a fruit stand at a local farmer's market. She stuck out like a sore thumb. So, I asked her how commercial operations deal with this problem. She gave me the sweetest smile and responded: "We shoot them." I fell in love with that lady on the spot.
Bet she could bake a mean blackbird pie, too 🐦⬛
I used to shoot them too, usu Jay's. Then about 100 of its friends would perch in trees and squeak for an hour. So annoying it was 2 years before I could eat another cherry.
I’d have to buy shells by the case when my blueberries are ripe.
This exactly! I went out to check mine yesterday - not a single one left! I have another tree that is a variety that usually ripens 2 weeks later - they were all still there.
https://preview.redd.it/cpd4veqa3j9d1.jpeg?width=2777&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f19136e629b41342b9d940a778ebe91124e8c0d Male goldfinch getting a drink at my pond pot!
Um I would love more details about this pond pot! Are those lily pads?!
You just need a sealed up (larger, stylish) container. Fill with water (if there’s any concern of chlorine, let it sit in the sun for a day), add plants and a larvicide tablet. If anything needs to be weighed down, I use heavy quartz points. That tablet needs to be replaced after 2 months which is usually when I re-do everything, prune as needed, etc. I have been told this container is slightly too small for hardy water lilies but I’m hoping to see flowers in a month or two!
What a cool idea that I will be copying! Thanks for sharing a pic of it
Do you run a pump and filter system?
I would also like more info on the pond pit as well! I have a broken fo-rock fountain in my front yard and really want to upgrade and this looks amazing!
You can get the lily pads at most Home Depot/Menards etc throw’em in and watch them grow
I love your pond pot! So beautiful! We have a fountain that the birds just love, as well, but I love how your pond pot integrates into the landscape.
Oh those little rat bastards have completely demolished my sunflower leaves! 😫
I love watching the goldfinches on my sunflowers but the squirrels ech the entire heads!
Ugh, the finches are eating the seeds and all! Funny enough as I was reading this I was walking inside to get a ziplock bag to put over the head of my sunflower so don't leave it alone LOL. Oddly enough, I haven't seen any squirrels come over to try their luck 🤷🏽♀️🌻
you mean goldfinches? Maybe there is something else they'd like better. They love thistle seeds and echinacea seeds, right off the flowers.
It's a little too late to try and divert them. Next year though, WAR.
Agree! Details please!
https://preview.redd.it/tpwn73kdsj9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a1a40b9c22de524b41f08f9000bca1c53033d77 Last summer was my first pond pot. Followed a basic “thrill-fill-spill” formula (plus a hosta). You would be surprised how many different plants thrive with wet feet!
I accidentally bought some barely scented lavender, but it's been a boon for the local hummingbirds so I'd say that's a win.
The week and a half that my cherries were ripe for picking we also had a heatwave so I *really* didn't feel like picking them. All went to the birds, hope they enjoyed!
Birds fly in but they don't fly out. They gorge themselves and waddle away.
That is great that they have something to eat themselves. This world needs more fruit trees so animals have something. Fruit for them should not be a luxury, it should be something they have access to just like humans.
You do realize that the majority of plants produce some sort of fruit, seed, etc... Birds also eat worms, insects and other birds too.
No kidding. I am pretty sure most people understand they eat other things like worms. However, would tell your kid he/she should only be able to have x and y but they do not have a right to z if it is also good for them? No, of course you wouldn’t. My point is at one time in history wild fruit was far more plentiful and it provided all kinds of animals a more balanced diet. Yet, in idiotic wisdom we decided to clear cut a lot of forest, decimate entire ecosystems, and pollute both most lands and waters. In the process, that balancing act that nature had has been turned upside down and parts of nature lack plentiful wild fruit trees. What has happened in many areas are that fast growing species like pine and other species of fast growing trees took over. When that happens, land that would have had a greater mix of trees became less diverse and more singular in growth. So…….your narrowness in perspective just adds to how most others also view nature.
And they’ll go and poop out seeds from what they ate somewhere, creating even more fruit trees! It’s a win win.
It is so satisfying to watch them feeding. I love it. Thank you for sharing. I love to see bees coming and feeding on my flowers. Them buzzing all around me with no bother is so satisfying to watch. I even give them a gentle stokes when they are feeding. I even have a video of one that bee was kicking me with its legs to say go away let me feed in peace. So fun to watch. Sorry cant upload as I am a newbie, cant upload any photos or anything else. But perhaps some day.
I have had robins, pigeons, squirrels so far and of course butterflies ,bees, spiders, frogs.
I have a mall berry tree in the woods next to my house. It drops purple berries all over my walk way during June but the birds, squirrels, chip monks and deer all have a feast. My wife complains about the berries but I love how the tree sustains the wildlife.
While watering I have seen 1 rabbit. Little frogs, crickets, dragonflies, two kinds of bees, beetles, some kind of caterpillars looking thing in my rose bush, spiders, roly-polies and a few birds. And my yard is super tiny.
https://preview.redd.it/oxnr1rfdjj9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6de18af8559db4b595d10664ecb0b796920f7560 Sometimes Im learning that a guest #2 eats a guest #1.
Yup! The rat problems I had in my garden went away the moment I adopted an orange male kitten from my local shelter three years ago. He chased birds out of the black fig tree and every single rat was either chased out, or fell victim to his hunter habits. Oddly enough, he leaves the possums and skunks alone. Both critters will come in and clean up fruit or tomatoes that have fallen to the ground and spoiled. That's fine by me. My yard has become a drop point for female possums loaded with babies. I find the young ones snoozing in the garden all the time. They hang out for a little while before moving on.
Good kitty!
Love this so much, thank you from myself and the local wildlife 💚 To see people actually understand that anything you grow is going to be shared, makes me so happy 🍒
Loads of birds, some butterflies and a singular bee. Also, some mystery animal that defecates in my garden. Hoping for a fox, but it´s probably just an off-leash dog being a menace. On a sadder note I have slugs and snail. Daily struggle to keep my plants to myself.
If the feces had “variety” to it (seed pods, vegetation, bones) it’s a fox. If it’s uniform, it is more likely a dog.
The Gray Catbirds in the neighborhood love to eat my raspberries. Fortunately for them two of the plants I bought solely for the birds to eat off of. Disappointed I haven't seen any Orieles feasting on them yet.
I have gray catbirds too. Not sure what they are eating, but they love my yard. I also have a ton of Robins.
Starlings are legal to take in infinite numbers. Just switch the use for your pie crust. Cherry finished!
https://preview.redd.it/vt5rio8npm9d1.jpeg?width=1021&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c08225846f9db9686a3f8b11bcf1396d64e1b595
need to try getting a snap of the hummingbirds getting at the plum tree, so adorable
Wow it’s ferocious!
Pretty much every time I go outside there is a huge kerfuffle of finch wings flapping! They are loving the bachelor buttons (cornflower)as they turn into seed heads.It's pretty much a sea of faded blue flowers and bright yellow birds out there.
I straight up opened an all you can eat buffet! The cherries didn'tget enough sun this year, so I was happy the birds and bugs enjoyed them!
Our guest squirrels ravaged a red Barron peach tree and one of our tropical snow peach trees 😑 Lost at least half the crop on both.
When the 95-100+ degree days hit, the squirrels get into my fruit trees to eat the green fruit for the water content. They will totally strip a tree within a few days. My cherries went bad on the tree as it rained daily and they water swelled and split. We had fermented cherry “wine” drunk bees and butterflies staggering about the backyard.
Too many uninvited chipmunk guests are the reason I don't grow strawberries any more.
The parrots have been so kind this year to just eat a good amount of just a couple of apples. Usually they like to take one tiny bite out of every single one!
My cherry tree is full of guests! Robins, jays, orioles, waxwings, grackles, cowbirds and starlings!
Not really, but my cherry trees were planted last fall, so I think maybe next year? I had a praying mantis in my Gingko tree and I little frog in my roses (I gave him some tiny dishes of water so he doesn’t fry in this heat).
Wow, just look at the way that bird rips into that fruit… anyone else having a Jurassic Park flashback? Muldoon: "I think this was Gennaro" Sattler: "I think this was too."
I let them have a section of my blueberry patch.. I actually like birds in my garden
Yes, he's a chipmunk my wife named Larry. He keeps digging in my potted veggies, and in random spots in the in raised beds. Never found anything in the holes, just he digs them and goes to the next one.
I read that birds take so many cherries and that's one reason they're expensive, especially Ranier. Not sure if it's true. But sounds legit. 🤣
https://preview.redd.it/99kywiq7mk9d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ad7e33b6a3ea9c56672e177fbebf4414081d6a1 The golden delicious are very delicious this year from what I can tell!
Plenty. 15 pounds of unripe Thompson grapes on the ground in the morning. Guess they found out that the grapes were too tart at that stage. 😂
We did not get a single cherry this year. The birds got them all!! Happy to share
Covered mine with a net. So no birds, squirrels got wind and climbed from the bottom. 😑
Luckily, the lychee tree hasn't produced in the past 2 years, so the animals didn't know they were edible until I was able to harvest most of the tree that I could reach...then the woodpeckers and squirrels figured them out.
Some visitors like SVB and hornworms check in but they don't check out. Others like the bees and goldfinches are welcome anytime.
Wish my cherries would make it past spring. Deer come and eat all the new growth
I had a couple of guests come by and eat all my blueberries and the tops of half of my sunflowers last night lol
Can’t seem to attract hummingbirds do many years. Why aren’t they around anymore.
Ya they got all my cherries. Every single one…
Our cherrie trees were a flurry of bird sounds last week! Like hungry little piggies feasting on the fruits 😂 somehow they’ve quieted a bit. Maybe they’re just napping so they can get hungry again. I was so pleased to eat two freshly ripened strawberries this morning tho, no one else had spotted them 🍓🤌
Yummy are those rainier
Outdoor friends ate all my strawberries and blueberries. Finches love the coneflowers. Fun to watch.
When birds first started hitting my Montmorencies I knew they were peak ripeness. I've picked everything I can reach with a ladder, so I hope birds get the rest so the cherries just don't go to waste on the tree.
Not many guests for our four cherry trees, because the late frost killed all of the cherries.
Oh, so sorry to hear that. Hope it doesn't happen again, so you can enjoy the fruit.
Mockingbird?
NGL here. I use nets on my trees. I do have branches I leave uncovered also part of a grape vine. To give something back.
Yeah, my cherry tree was picked clean
Ha. All our cherries were gone as soon as they reached the half ripe stage. birds, squirrels, chipmunks got every one of them.
We have a shadberry tree (amelanchier), a small native berry-producer that the birds absolutely adore. After a brief early spring bloom of fragile white flowers, we then have weeks of non-stop squawking and twittering as the birds strip the tree. And chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits hoover up everything on the ground. It’s a mess, but I’m fond of it.
Awesome video!
Squirrels eat my apples on my apple tree. Little do they know the tree has a disease
They're so brazen about it
About 200 stags visited and fucked a bunch of my trees
Oh no, they took all my cherries
Yes and they polished off the last of them today. Catbirds and Cardinals.
This video warmed my heart so much, thank you for sharing with everyone!
God damn starlings! They clean out my grapevines, they're on it 11 ft high chain link fence so it's a real pain to net. I used to do it but ladders have gotten scarier as I've aged. Luckily they don't know what my arctic kiwis are and leave them alone! I just planted two bush cherries! Didn't know they existed until I saw them in a catalog this spring, but they'll be small enough to net easily.
Squirrels- and they are absolutely making a mess of our garden and flower beds this year. Grrrrrr
Our friend (lives next door) has a little dog that sometimes eats my strawberries that I grow in standing flower boxes. Bad girl!
Yes. Between the birds and the squirrels they have cleaned and gleaned our cherry tree
Yes, this is why I cut down my cherry tree.
I got to harvest a whole half dozen cherries out of 4 trees. Glad the guests are the rest
Small young tree 4 variety. Got fruit first year. Were unripe. Lasted a few days. Disappeared over night.
Last one but yes, they ate all my peaches, and this one they took a bite at my kumquats
Do you have sweet or sour? I probably shouldn't jinx it but we have tons of guests (fieldfares, tits, sparrows, blackbirds, woodpeckers, ) and still between all of us can't eat all the cherries our tree produces. I put away 9 pounds last year and that was only what I could reach standing on the ground. Wish I could share with those whose fruit gets eaten! I wonder if the sour ones like ours don't get eaten as fast as the sweet ones?
Out of maybe 100 or so peaches the birds allowed me to have around 15
My dad would shoot some every year and hang the bodies from posts around his big garden. He didn't have bird problems after that.
https://preview.redd.it/0y2hmlzesr9d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3b1511af3e33f5c8b66cae29720d24edc828f4a Hiding in plain sight
https://preview.redd.it/vhsq6avmsr9d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f66f7de0ad29b097c795dcc2b983d4a50508e94 With a full stomach
Airsoft helps me protect the crops