Journal Entry

For the last couple years my imperial ep. Plum is the first plum to ripen and we are starting to see color in the plums now. The first to ripen always seem to get hit the worst. During the day squirrels and at night rats are getting at the fruit at the moment, notice the rat trap in the background. Last year I noticed with the camera just putting up the traps, not baiting or loading them, seemed to deter them from the tree, not this guy. They don't seem to go near the traps no matter what bait I put in them. It's something you'll need to deal with if you grow fruit in Seattle. Plums, figs and peaches are all favorites for squirrels and rats, although they'll eat almost anything you grow, maybe not garlic but besides that good luck. Rats get much easier to trap in the winter when they're hungry, trap hard all winter long and the problem will be reduced come summer, although never completely. That's been my strategy so far. Would love to find a way to trap them in the tree but nothing works so far, let me know if you have any ideas.