How to protect fruit trees from animals

By: Bonnie L. Grant, Certified Urban Agriculturist

Table of Contents Show

Why Worry About Squirrel Proofing Fruit Trees?
Squirrel Fruit Tree Protection
How to Keep a Squirrel Out of Fruit Trees
Fencing options
Repellents
Frightening techniques
Methods of vole management

Squirrels may appear to be cute fluffy tailed little critters, but their damaging feeding behaviors and digging can cause problems in the home landscape. In spite of their non-threatening demeanor, squirrels eating fruit tree buds limit production and stunt new growth.

They dig up bulbs and eat tender new plants. In extreme cases, the rodents can jump from trees and find ways into your home, nesting in your attic or crawlspace. Knowing how to keep a squirrel out of fruit trees and other tall plants will help you enjoy their antics without worrying about their destructive natural habits.

Why Worry About Squirrel Proofing Fruit Trees?

There are numerous varieties of squirrels throughout the United States and North America. Most of them are not considered pests but some find nesting, feeding, and playing in your fruit trees utterly irresistible.

This poses no problem for the gardener who has an excess of fruit and where the rodents aren’t displaying chewing behavior. But in some cases, squirrels eating fruit tree buds may also chew on bark, causing tree wounds that invite decay and fungal diseases.

Squirrel proofing fruit trees can protect young fruit and prevent the rodents from accessing power and phone lines, disrupting service. They will also chew on siding and gain entry to your home.

Squirrel Fruit Tree Protection

Most gardeners are familiar with squirrel baffles for bird feeders and some forms of tree barriers. Many a homeowner has lost the battle with the cunning local squirrel. Squirrel proofing fruit trees starts with management and planning.

Keep limbs away from the home where they will often gain access to the tree. Consider better planting sites at installation of trees. It is difficult to achieve total squirrel fruit tree protection due to the animals amazing climbing ability.

Try simple things like netting the crown of the tree to protect new buds and young fruit.

How to Keep a Squirrel Out of Fruit Trees

When the pests have gotten on your last nerve, it is tempting to attempt lethal methods. This is inadvisable unless you know your species. Some squirrels are protected species and killing them may hold a fine. Poisons and traps can inadvertently harm children or pets. Trapping is sometimes effective, but you will have to release the animal into a wild and appropriate habitat as part of good animal management.

Extreme problem animals will require extreme squirrel deterrents for fruit trees. Scaring the heck out of them is a good way to reinforce the notion that your yard is not a good place to stay and live. Fluttering flags or streamers in the trees can be a preventive measure that is simple and not dangerous to other animals.

Common squirrel deterrents for fruit trees include Ro-Pel, capsaicin, or hot pepper oil, and sticky topical applications for trunks and limbs. A simple metal collar 2 feet (0.5 m.) wide around the trunk of a tree prevents entry to the canopy of the fruit tree too.

Squirrel fruit tree protection is a challenge and may be a losing battle, but it couldn’t hurt to try some of these simple methods and maybe your favorite tree will produce beyond your wildest dreams.

Keeping agile and clever squirrels out of fruit trees, along with other fruit loving animals, takes some cunning of your own.

Every year backyard fruit trees are robbed of their bounty, frustrating gardeners. Here are five tips for protecting your trees.

Pruning

Critters can’t eat what they can’t reach. Prune trees about 6 feet away from buildings and fences. This might not be possible in smaller lots where trees are planted alongside structures, but do what you can and take that into account the next time you plant trees.

Climbing deterrents

When delicious fruit is the reward, even poor climbers can find the motivation to scale a tree trunk and get to it. To stop the climbing, loosely wrap trunks in metal flashing, extending about 4 feet above the ground.

The flashing should be tight enough to keep animals from slipping in from the bottom and squeezing between the flashing and trunk, but loose enough that it gives the tree room to grow. You also can take the guards off during the dormant seasons.

Baffles also can work. Install the umbrella shaped baffle just below the first branches on the tree. The animal may climb the tree, but won’t be able to get around the baffle to access the rest of the tree and the fruit.

Other barriers

Netting can be effective for some animals, but it depends on your fruit thief and the type of fruit you’re trying to protect. Squirrels and rodents can gnaw through plastic netting, and birds can peck through openings in the net.

Nets also are difficult to install, especially on very tall trees. They can, however, preserve much of the fruit. If you keep your fruit trees small with pruning, you can more easily cover them.

Some gardeners use PC pipes to build structures over the trees that can then be draped with netting, or covered in wire mesh for added protection.

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Getting creative

To discourage birds and some animals, hang reflective ribbons in trees. The movement of the ribbons in the wind, coupled with random flashes of light, can help keep animals out of your trees.

If the fruit thief is a rodent, you also can try spraying the tree and the fruit with a hot pepper spray that you make yourself or use a commercial spray. Squirrels have a particular dislike for the smell of capsaicin, the stuff in peppers that give them their heat.

Recipe: You’ll need powdered red pepper (the hotter the better), water and some liquid soap. In a large jug, stir 2 tablespoons of the pepper into a gallon of warm water, then add six drops of liquid soap. Stir well, put the lid on and let it sit overnight. Early the next morning, pour some of the solution into a spray bottle, shake well and spray your plants, fences, or whatever the squirrels are after. At dusk, you can apply a second coat. Continue this for a few days or until the squirrels get the idea. After that, you may only need to spray once a week. The mixture will keep for two to three weeks in the refrigerator.

Some critters also have an aversion to the smell of mothballs. As mothballs can be toxic, use caution. The balls should be placed in a mesh bag — old pantyhose is a good material — and hung in trees.

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Back to Resources

The problem animal can be trapped but before doing so check with The Nuisance Wildlife Information Line, a service provided by MD Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Wildlife and Heritage Services, and the US Department of Ag., Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services Program (USDA-APHIS) for information. Call them toll-free at 1-877-463-6497.
A barrier of some fashion can be constructed to prevent animal access.
Repellents can be used to discourage animal activity.

Timing, persistence, and diversity.
You should install barriers around fruit plants before an animal problem occurs.
Unlike insect pest control, you cannot wait to correct a wildlife problem. It is important to act at the very first indication of their presence. If left unattended, some animals will destroy fruit plants in a very short time.
In many cases, a single approach to control may not work, and the effectiveness of a single control method is not guaranteed just because it worked before.
Animals differ in their habits and can use their ingenuity to get to your fruit plants. Typically, you will need a variety of strategies and devices for animal control.
A good first step is to surround new fruit plants with a cylinder of 1/2-inch hardware cloth that extends from below the soil surface to the top of the plant.
Alternately, keep plants covered with netting. This will prevent problems with deer, voles, birds, and rabbits.

Can severely damage fruit plants by feeding or by rubbing their antlers to remove the velvet. It is difficult to break behavior patterns once they are established so plan a deer management strategy before planting. The only sure way to eliminate deer damage is with fencing.

Fencing options

• A solidly constructed fence of deer netting or wire mesh 8 feet high. • A solid 6-foot privacy fence or wall. Although deer can jump over it, they seldom go into an area they cannot see into first. •Build two 3-foot-tall fences made of three strings. The fences should be 3 feet apart. This double fence confuses deer and they generally won’t jump over it. Tie bright tape on the strings to make them more visible to the deer.

•Two-strand electric fences have also been used successfully. Hang squares of aluminum foil spread with peanut butter at intervals. These will attract deer and the resultant shock will make them wary to return.

Repellents

• Need to be kept fresh for maximum effectiveness. • The two kinds of repellents are contact and area. Contact repellents are applied directly to the plants and repel by taste. Area repellents are applied near the plants and repel deer by smell.

• There are many types and brands of commercial animal repellents to choose from that are helpful in deterring deer. Read the product label before application to see if it is labeled to be used on edible plants.

• Some homemade repellents: 1) Hang small nylon bags of human hair or deodorant soap on fences or branches. Hang them 30 inches from the ground and no more than 3 feet apart. 2) Spray a formulation of 1 to 2 tablespoons of Tabasco sauce and 1 tablespoon of liquid soap in 1 gallon of water. 3) Spray a mixture of 3-4 raw eggs mixed with 1 gallon of water.

Frightening techniques

• Devices using such techniques as bright lights or loud noises usually only work for a short period of time. A dog on a long run can keep deer out of a limited area. Dogs can be trained to guard against deer.

Deer Damage

University of Maryland Extension Managing Deer Damage in Maryland

Voles

Are also called meadow or field mice, which are members of the rodent family. They are compact animals with stocky bodies, short legs, and a short tail. They are usually brown or gray, though many color variations exist. They are active both day and night throughout the year and live primarily aboveground, in runways at the surface, or in mole tunnels. They eat the lower bark of fruit plants during the fall and winter and can girdle and kill young trees.

Methods of vole management

• Mow lawn and turf areas regularly. Pull mulch away from the trunks and crowns of fruit plants to prevent voles from hiding in the mulch and chewing bark. • Voles will avoid digging in pea gravel. Lay it at the base of fruit trees before winter.

• Use mouse snap traps. Place the trap perpendicular to the surface runways with the trigger end in the runway. A peanut butter-oatmeal mixture or apple slices make good baits.

Rabbits

Can damage fruit plants by gnawing bark during the winter. They can be easily controlled with a two-foot-high fence of chicken wire with the bottom tight to the ground or buried a few inches. Commercial tree wrap is another alternative in preventing rabbit damage to tree trunks. Effective repellents for rabbits that act upon their senses of taste (e.g. hot pepper flakes) and smell (e.g. dried blood) can be sprinkled around plants. They must be reapplied periodically, especially after heavy rainfall.

Birds

Are a particular problem for blueberry, cherry, and grape plants. In the past, to protect vegetable gardens and fruit plantings bird netting was recommended but it can also trap and injure the birds. Many gardeners grow their blueberries in large cages using chicken wire to protect the ripening berries.

An inexpensive Mylar tape with a shiny silver coating is also commercially available. The tape is effective when wound around plants one week before the fruit is ready to harvest. Sprays made of table sugar and grape juice extract have also shown some promise. Various visual or sound frightening techniques, such as loud noises, lights, and bright shiny objects, can also be very effective if used as the fruit begins to ripen. Most birds, especially crows, however, can become accustomed to them over time. Ultrasonic sounds are not effective because birds cannot hear them.

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