I don't have little ones getting to the berries. As far as birds getting the berries, I have a plastic owl perched on top of a post nearby and the birds are leaving my Triple Crowns alone.

That's as fine an example of homo hogus subsapiens as I've seen since visiting my grandchildren last month. Seems to show good survival instincts (note the two-handed approach) and appears to have a pleasant demeanor. Probably ought to keep him around a while and see, ay?

:-)M

Wait until you get a dog that is smart enough to pick them.

Yeah. I've got an 18-yr old who eats - no joke - at least a half-gallon of blueberries a day. I can't stay ahead of him! - I'll pick 3 gallons, and a day or so later, they're all gone.
He came in from work the other day, and said, "I've eaten too many blueberries(loose stool, maybe?).", but within an hour after supper, there he was, sitting at the dinner table, shoveling in one fresh blueberry after another....

I've got one of those hanging around my place too! I really don't mind the loss of fruit, but she always wants to pick the fruit before it's ripe. I can't seem to explain that it will taste much better if you wait a few days. She just says, "I like them sour!" - well that's probably because she has never waited long enough to taste the ripe ones!

I've got three of those critters after my fruit. I would set a trap (baited with video consoles, the best bait these days I hear), but they are just too cute.

Scott

These critters can generally be deterred with a little prophylactic.

I've had two dawgs that understood fruit and vegetables pretty well. The more recent was a Yorkie who would lie under the apricot and wait for them to fall, and who could not be taken hiking into huckleberry areas unless you were willing to pick her up and tote her away from whatever bush she'd come to. She went absolutely gaga over fresh-picked green beans.

My first was a mid-sized mutt who would graze through a patch of raspberries and carefully pluck them off one at a time with pursed lips.

Good memories.

:-)M

Just yesterday, my girls actually didn't want to go to the park, and wanted come straight home when I told them that the first two Triple Crowns had ripened! Good lookin' berries you've got there! -Glenn

Ahh yes, I have 3 of those. No traps because they are actually very beneficial to the soul and make everything a little sweeter! Great pic!

My brother has a dog that eats bananas. Its the weirdest thing!

Kids are awesome. Mine seems to have a fascination with the bugs (beetles/spiders/moths/butterflies/bees)... Still needs to learn how to be a little more gentle! A few ended up "broken"... Also loves to pick flowers. I have a second, but she isn't quite crawling yet. Maybe soon.

Scott,

I'm afraid trapping with video consoles will not prevent crop loss with this species. It will just draw more in. They can come from miles.

You've got a cute one there Frank. Reminds me of my kids who were toe heads at that age too.

And I'm very pleased to see that the extended parental paw is slightly grubby. Helps build up the sprogs' immune systems. Now if I could just get mine (larger specimens of the same species) to pick as well as eat we could just about keep on top of the berries.

That's one of those 2 legged squirrels. They will decimate a crop of any kind of fruit.

If they are trained to like fruit, they can be trained like a truffle dog to go out and pick lots of fruit for their master.

That one looks a bit small for serious training, but I see the fruit eating is being properly conditioned.

Be careful about the video trap and especially about putting out a feeder. They tend to run in large, very hungry packs and it's common for them to invade inside the house, eating everything in sight.