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timmy2green

Saving figs from theft

timmy2green
11 years ago

I thought I would post a funny post at the expense of myself and maybe in the process get some help!
It started with the outright disappearance of my prized figs. One after the next would disappear just after I would say "I'll give this one more day to get extra sweet." I'd come out in the afternoon and find a stem but no fig. Time and again it happened. One day I let the dogs out and watched as they snuck into my patch of trees and started ripping them off. I have two dogs, mom and daughter and they were tag teaming me like a pack of wolves. I would chase them from one side and while I'm chasing one out, the other would sneak in behind me and snatch another. I always hated being monkey in the middle.
As I smartened up and started guarding the figs, that's when the all day troop came in. That is...the ants! One by one I would pick those few figs that survived the dogs and as I cut them open, an entire community of those little black bugs would come pouring out of it! Needless to say I never just bite into a fig. Many a fig did the all day parade invade!
Ok I'm not done. Late in the season I thought well maybe the cold weather will finally keep the ants at bay. Moreover I figured if a bunch ripen all at once, maybe I can overwhelm them with sheer numbers. There's no way they can handle all of these figs at the same time?
I'm glad to say they couldn't and they didn't...
A classic case of too much supply and not enough demand. So that's where new demand was generated right before my salivating eyes! No not he demand of this desperately hungry grower. Nope because why would i possibly think I would get to taste the fruits of my labors. No I went to the back of the food line. Have you ever tried to take a fig from a swarm of hungry, drunken and angry wasps before? No, neither have I! As Clint Eastwood said 'a man needs to know his limitations'. I'm bigger but they're badder. So, I barely got to taste a fig last yr. For the first time my trees had plenty of fruit and thanks to global warming most of them ripened. But it was all a mirage. I was robbed by not one, not two, but three different bandits! Can I win?

Comments (11)

  • kngskid
    11 years ago

    I can't help you but that is a funny story. I wish you the best of luck.

  • foolishpleasure
    11 years ago

    The dogs should be put on leach and told not to come near the trees. As for aunts and I have about population more than China population I discovered the spectracide spray which really reduced their population tremendously.

  • Fascist_Nation
    11 years ago

    Dogs make great boots.

  • timmy2green
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Any ideas to protect figs from ants without chemicals? Maybe some kind of sticky stuff pasted on trunk?
    Tim

  • kngskid
    11 years ago

    I use Tangle Foot to control ants in my peach trees but you do not want to put this stuff directly on your trees. I tie a thin strip of Tree Wrap around the tree and coat that with the tangle foot. It controls the ants very well be it's extremely messy to put on and to remove at the end of the season. Bet it will work for you figs as well.

  • FlamingWok
    11 years ago

    This is a cute story but reminds me of the pesky squirrels we have to deal with. lol

    I never knew a dog would want to eat a fig :-)

  • timmy2green
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Flaming wok,
    Well if eating your own doo doo looks appetizing, imagine what a fig looks like? Don't tell them I told you, that's their dirty little secret. Figuratively and literally! Hehe
    Seriously though, one day I made the mistake of picking a raspberry and feeding it to them. As soon as they figured out they were edible it was all over! Now you have to look high and far from the fence to get berries. Needless to say they then observed me picking and eating figs and next thing you know, it's an all they can eat buffet. I never even fed them a fig.
    Good thing I love em!
    Tim

  • fignewby
    10 years ago

    Perception is reality, my resident mockingbird thinks I am stealing his figs. If a fig even has a part that does not have bite marks, I pull it, cut off the good part, wash and eat it. Dogs and other varmits eat low hanging fruit for sure. Wasps, honeybees,carpenterbees, bumble bees, yellow jackets, and other bee types all party together in harmony on one fig and in a short time, that plump ripe fig looks like a small limp cellophane empty bag with figs seeds in the bottom. Gotta learn to share by planting more trees. The wild creatures always pick the best figs.

  • fignewbies
    10 years ago

    Hi,

    It is instinct for survival of wild creatures to choose the best
    figs to eat!

  • berrysalesman
    10 years ago

    To keep ants from your figs, try applying olive oil to the trunk or trunks. That works for me. Good luck.

  • lilac953
    10 years ago

    Funny story now, but I bet it wasn't so funny as the figs disappeared! lol For ants, lightly sprinkle a mixture of equal parts white sugar and Borax (available in the laundry section of your grocery store) around your figs. If you don't want it on the soil, put a few teaspoons into jar lids and lay those around wherever you see ants. The ants take it back to their nests and in no time they're gone for good. I can't begin to tell you what a problem we had with ants until I started using this mixture and it doesn't take much to do the job!

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