Came home to find my pear tree stripped bare overnight

[fridgefullofplums]

Returned home to find my pear tree (back garden) stripped clean. No sign of any on the ground or anywhere nearby. I am gutted!!!! It was my best ever crop and those pears were a thing of beauty. Any ideas if any bird or animal could have done this is such an efficient and successful way?

This.

I came home a couple of weeks ago to find a man in our garden, helping himself to our tomatoes, courgettes and spring onions.

I have a camera now and keep the gate chained when we aren't here.

They have simply dis ap pear ed....

There definitely is an animal that will strip a fruit tree overnight and that’s parakeets. We sadly live in the south east and have had our plum trees stripped completely overnight and there was not a single plum left anywhere. Tree is full sized and positioned in the back garden so it would be incredibly difficult for a human to access all the fruit at the top - even with a ladder. I will say though that they are less keen on our apple trees and tend to attack the blossom more than the fruit.

I saw a flock of starlings descend on next door’s fig tree and eat the whole lot over the course of a few days. They came each morning about 7:30am. No yummy ripe figs overhanging my garden or on the ground for me this year 😭. If the pears were very ripe or you’ve been gone a few days I can believe starlings could eat them all

Someone's nicked them, there is no other explanation. The squirrels didn't organise a mission to take them on the day you were out 😂

Mine all disappeared too. Three one day and gone the next. They were not yet ripe or ready when it happened though. I think it was squirrels.

Wow. What did he say when you saw him?

My neighbour has a pear tree which is laden at the moment

It's not squirrels. We have one that strips the walnut tree opposite, over the course of numerous days. It picks one or two walnuts, crosses the road, and goes round our garden looking for somewhere to bury them. The pears wouldn't be buried, because they'd go off, so they'd have to eat them immediately. Parakeets sounds more likely, although I suspect humans.

How many pears roughly? I think mine currently has about 100 pears on it. It could only be humans if mine disappeared. Unfortunatley, the local kids have pulled some off and thrown them around the street.

Blimey, what a cheek! Did you find out who he was?

Strange how it happened when you were out

@CelticSilver I don’t feel your excellent comment got the lols it deserves

I saw a man pruning a holly bush last year in a front garden. He said he did it for free, then kept the holly to make wreaths - win-win for all. Turned out he was stealing the holly.

My cousin had exactly the same happen last week to her fig tree and some other tree - I can’t remember what. She was mystified as to what had happened. It would be difficult for anyone to climb into her garden.

Where do you live?
I’m in London and every year the parakeets strip our pears before they are ripe enough to pick. Annoying.
Perhaps a net might work next year. It would be tricky to do but not impossible as it’s a dwarf tree.

But surely there’s some evidence on the ground if the parakeets have done it

Usually there are traces though when nicked by wildlife ... our cherry tree was picked clean earlier than usual by the birds this year. Not a single cherry was left, but plenty of cherry seeds hit the ground.

Hedgehogs nibble the pears that hit the ground in our garden, that's kind of cute. But birds/squirrels are ignoring our pear tree otherwise

I reckon squirrels. Our plum tree was stripped. I believe they like the kernels. It's a heavy crop and humans could possibly eat them all. They bruise quickly and wouldn't be saleable in say a car boot. Processing them all for jam or chutney would be really hard work because, they're not blemish free in the way commercially grown fruit is.

I was about to post this or is there a local facebook page ?
Id be posting something on the lines off, ' someone came into my garden and stole from me. If the stolen items are returned or monetary reimbursement given then I wont post your face on WhatsApp or facebook.
Id even post it if you have no cameras. You might get something back and put the wind up them !
Id also mention it to the biggest gossip in your street.

Starlings! I watched a flock strip a pear tree bear in a matter of hours the second they ripened - the efficiency was terrifying!

Our apple trees are stripped bare overnight by crows and ravens. It happens every year, they always beat me to the fruit.

I have pear trees and this happens regularly. The first time it happened, I thought a neighbour had pinched them, because they do disappear overnight. It's tricky timing it to not pick them too early, but I leave them one day too late....an animal has the lot away, no evidence left. It must be either a climbing animal or a bird...but it's definitely not the neighbours.

Perhaps they've all gone to the conference.....

Sorry, I'll get my coat!

This happened to an apple tree on our allotment.

One day it was absolutely loaded with apples and there were masses of windfalls on the ground.

Next day there wasn't an atom of apple ANYWHERE on tree or on the ground!

I had seen a flock of parakeets nearby the previous day and my moneys on them.