Alright fig lovers, this is Ross the Fig Boss
Today's video we're talking about protecting your fig harvest from squirrels and birds
And no doubt these are the two major animals or critters that you're going to see damage
and attack your figs when they're ready to be harvested. So, birds are pretty easy
I actually use either nets, and I'll wrap my entire tree with a net
or I'll use this, which is an organza bag. It's a 3x5 inch party favor bag
I'll put a link to these in the description. I get them on Amazon, shipped to me in packages of 100
And then what I do is, to protect the figs, I wrap them around the figs that are turning color
starting to soften, and become susceptible to critter damage. Actually, not these. These are still green and hard and indestructible
No animals will go for these, but as a demonstration, you'll wrap it around the stem
and then tie the bag there, just tighten it there with the drawstrings
And that is enough to protect your figs from most, if not all, bird damage
Now, it takes a while to go around and bag every single fig
I've got literally hundreds of bags, and it takes me a lot of time
even to unbag them when I harvest them. So, it's an extra step, but it's worth it, because you can see this bird damage is pretty severe
I can't eat this. That's most of the fig. So, if you have a lot of bird damage, and you have a lot of trees
then think about using nets instead. Nets are going to cover the whole tree
You don't have to bag every single individual fig, and you're going to be better off
In terms of squirrels, if you have squirrels in your neighborhood, which a lot of people do, and especially in more humid places with a lot of trees
they're tree rats after all, you're going to want to use traps
The bags and the nets can only do so much. Eventually, the squirrels can learn to get through them
And so, what I would recommend is using traps. You can shoot them. You can use traps that kill them
Or you can have a heart, and use a have-a-heart trap, and relocate them
It's up to you, whatever you decide. But typically, these are going to be the two major pests
If you have other pests, like groundhogs, raccoons, or maybe even deer
fences are your best friend. You can usually go after them. It's pretty rare, but definitely groundhogs will, and they can jump pretty high
Raccoons can obviously climb trees, so they're not just blocked by fences
You have to think about what they can climb on top of. But even just a really small fence, like a chicken wire
that's only 3 feet in height up to your waist, you can get a roll of that at Home Depot
and construct a very simple fence with some stakes. That's enough to keep out most squirrels and other land animals
that don't have access to your fig tree by climbing. But if they can climb on top
you're going to want to start using traps for things like those. But that's it. Thanks for watching, guys
Hope you enjoyed this. Hit the like button. Hit the subscribe button. You'll be eating some good figs in no time, alright? Take care