Doug and Sara: Peach Picking

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Peach Picking

Today we decided it was time to pick the peaches. Some were ripe, some were still a bit hard. Sara decided that it was best to pick them all and end the squirrel war.

Doug versus the Squirrels

It was a war of attrition. After the squirrels picked the apple trees clean, I was determined to save some peaches.

Phase I involved blocking the leap from the neighbor's fence by hanging netting between two huge swimming pool poles that were left by the previous owners. Why do we still have those poles from 10 years ago? Good question.
Phase II involved installing bird netting along the ground. After we watched the squirrels chew through the netting we entered phase III. During phase II the good guys scored a major victory. After watching a squirrel get around the various obstacles, I ran out the garage armed with a baseball glove, a tennis ball, and an rotting peach. After circling the house, I sneaked up on the squirrel, who elected to reach safety by climbing to the top of the peach tree. Little did the squirrel know he was facing a 4-time retired rec-league baseball pitcher. Grabbing the tennis ball, I reached back like Scott McGregor and hurled a fast ball ... thud ... right in the gut. The squirrel quickly leaped out of the tree, scampered up the adjacent Maple Tree and licked his wounds.
Phase III required installing chicken wire around the base of the tree and installing bird netting to block upward jumps. Simultaneously I started putting out a live trap baited with peaches and peanut butter. From our observation post from the upper bedroom, we noticed that one squirrel was not able to find his way into the trap. Learning quickly, I turned the trap so the open end faced the maple tree and put a piece of bait closer to the entrance of the trap. This method made catching squirrels relatively easy, but getting rid of them was a pain. I had to put the cage it the back of the pickup truck, drive to some woods, and release the squirrel without getting bit (x2) or get rid of the body (x2).
Phase IV involved putting up a second layer of chicken wire. However, the best plan was to be very diligent between 6:30am and 8:30am - then run outside like a madman when a squirrel was spotted trying to get up the tree.

For those of you who like to keep score, the final tally ...