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Nearly my entire crop of muscadines has been lost to the birds this year. I have 29 vines ranging from two to six years old. Had reflective mylar tape and fake owls out to scare birds away but they quit being afraid. Too late now. Thinking of going to full chicken wire cages for next year.
Another odd thing...I have not seen one single bee of any type or yellow jacket all year! I have not used any pesticides, so that can't be the cause. Very strange.
Sorry about your grapes. Mother Nature is hard to beat.
Can't blame the birds, I love those muscadines, too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Redge
Yea, I think I have lost my entire crop of pecans due to the drought we had earlier in the year. We got some rain, but I think it was too little, too late.
Sparrows will knock them off but not eat them, mocking birds will eat the ones that have bursted open on the ground but I've been raising them 17 years and haven't ever had a bird problem. Have you seen the birds in action? I have had problems with rats, opossums, and coons.
Most of the muscadines are only pecked but some are partially consumed. I have seen crows, mocking birds, and some smaller, unidentified birds in the vines. Had game cameras out and saw coyote and deer at night, but no coons or possums.
What happened to our pecans and satsumas this year is back when both were in full bloom we had a bad thunderstorm with high winds knocked down some branches in the hood and the power went out for 2 days. The wind seems to have blown the blooms off. The lemons which had flowered earlier and oranges and grapefruit flowered later and are plentiful. Thanks to our yard cats we have picked grapes for 2 years in a row now. Also picked a bunch of bird feathers.:biggrin
Coyote and deer will eat them. I don't have crows. They may be your culprit. Mine are fenced in by a 7' wood fence and are on a 6 1/2' trellis so we probably aren't talking apples and apples.
A friend of mine has a pretty big orchard with several varieties. His problem was coons. woods behind his house was crawling with them. We would ice down a bunch of beer and spend the night drinking on his back porch and shooting coons with .22's We would take them over to smokin 'Sams who would hang them in his smoke house then we would make a big gumbo for the hunting camp or cook them up for a friendly get together. It kinda sorta became a tradition for the annual coon gumbo. Friend Tod was soon back to having plenty muscadines for wine making and assorted distilled things.:cheers2