Has this ever happened to you? In my backyard there is a pear tree, Every other year it does really well and this year it was loaded. This morning it was stripped bare, someone in the night picked it clean. The sad part is if they would of asked they could of had them for free, I don't think they were even ripe. I hope they enjoy them.

ah that is so sad! & just so very wrong too! I do like the idea of a big dog lol

yes, it has happened to me.
I have an orange tree in my front yard and one year some kids stripped it clean. The terrible thing was, they didn't eat them, they smashed all the oranges all over the roadways, such a waste, I was furious!

So, I fenced my whole yard with a 6 ft high Colourbond aluminium fence.
Problem solved!

1 comment

by bevintex 30 Jul 2016

I like your solution. it's a shame they were wasted

Maybe next year, put out a big sign saying smile your on camera.

Oh my what next****So Sorry to hear this ***

That happened to me a few years back with my Peach tree. I could not wait to taste them and they all disappeared. Human animal ! hehe Oh well what can you do. Not a one was left behind not even on the ground

We always pick our pears green and let them ripen in dark room

1 comment

by bevintex 29 Jul 2016

they pick theirs in the dark. lol

So sorry about it. Maybe video next year so you see all. :-(

1 comment

by bevintex 28 Jul 2016

or get a big watch dog.

You might tell the suspect how sad you are as you had hoped to share the fruit with them, but now have none to share.

How awful.........we had 2 beautiful spruce trees on the back of our lot that we grew from just 6 inches high.....they got to about 5 ft and someone came and chopped them down one night in December..both of them.........I was just sick.......I just hope they were used as Christmas trees for someone who couldn't afford one.........

1 comment

by sewtired 28 Jul 2016

I've heard stories like this before. How can you feel the Christmas spirit if you've stolen your tree from someone else?

I love the reply from pcamp. Think I would add that I had sprayed them with something nasty. Did have a neighbour once who cut down someones fruit tree while they were away...

should be named 'n shamed, as they will probably sell them.

It's sad people do this. It makes me wonder: did they just want to steal the pears to have them for free, did they think they had to pay and had no money,.....or was something else the matter; animals perhaps?....Well it's a shame if this was done by people, some don't have respect anymore for other people belongings and just take what they want.

I think I would strike up a conversation with the suspected neighbors and just say how disappointed you were that someone had come in and stolen all your pears when you would have gladly given then to them and it would have been nice to at least get to try out your pears since you had just moved there. Maybe then, they will at least ask next year. We pick pears green and ripen in a dark room, spread out on newspapers to ripen before canning them, which was the way we were taught from a pear orchard and Harry and Davids a company that ships fruit boxes world wide from their Medford, Oregon location. In the orchards the crates are almost 3-4 foot square by 3-4 foot high. The forklifts go through picking up all the filled crates. Back in the 80's the seasonal workers would make just $10 per crate so they had to be very quick. We had the opportunity to be able to go in and glean after they had finished in that section. Pears bruise so easily that the weight of other pears would swash them if not very careful when harvesting them. Hope this situation can be addressed otherwise it could make it very hard to be "neighborly" with people stealing from you, whether or not you were going to use the fruit or not. I have not been able to can in quite a few years and we have not been able to find people willing to come and pick our trees. Even living in other areas we had an over abundance and people wanted us to pick and bring it to them for Free. These people were at least willing to work for the fruit, but that does not excuse theft. Sad when food goes to waste but sadder still is if it is stolen especially when it would have been given and would have allowed both parties to have been blessed one for the need of the fruit and yourselves for the gift of giving.

If they were not ripe I hope the pears give them pains in their tums.

I had my cucumbers stolen one year. I am sure it was some workers building a house. They missed one so at least I got to taste my bounty. Hubby had some materials stolen also,. again workers at the neighbors.

Last year,a stall was selling stone fruit at the markets which comes from their large orchards.During the week someone got into one of the large orchards at the rear of their farm & stripped it bare.They didn't hear a thing.The culprits would of had to have a truck with a few helpers to do this.It is bad enough when , the flying foxes get into the fruit.

People are sick!!

For the last 3 years our pear tree was picked clean. all the pears that fell on the ground was gone. I was really mad, until I found out it was squirrels, birds,bear and deer was what did it!

1 comment

by sandra2 28 Jul 2016

this has happened to us too , thought it was the neighbor but found out the critters were hungry

What a shame that someone could be so dishonest and take them away from you and your family. I hope there is at least some fruit left for you to enjoy when it is ripe enough.

We have local parrots that steal our cherry tomatoes, they take one bite and leave the rest! We finally seem to have sorted that problem and now the snails have moved in! I had no idea they liked tomatoes.

Post a big sign that says warning, pear trees under experimental spraying and fruit should NOT be eaten.

1 comment

by queenofhearts 27 Jul 2016

I really like this idea. Maybe the suggestion that they could get sick will trick their mind into feeling sick. That would serve them right for stealing.

My friend planted a hedge of blueberries the depth of her backyard to have lots to eat and freeze. Every year when they were not quite ready, she would go to the beach for a week and her neighbor would strip it bare. She would tell her they were ruining. She asked me how to fix the problem. I suggested she get a new neighbor, or move the hedge to the other side, or change her vacation time three weeks!

1 comment

by queenofhearts 27 Jul 2016

Your neighbor might want to post a warning the blueberries have been sprayed as suggested above.

Feel so sad that people can be so destructive! Have a good day.

That used to happen a lot to my Uncle with Watermelon. He used to get so angry as they would break a lot open until they found an area where they were ripe. He was a Market Gardener and said had they asked he would have given them more than they could eat for free.

Stealing is wrong. I only hope that they really needed the food. But probably not.
So sorry this happened to you.

That was not a nice thing to do. Hope they get stomach pains if they eat them.

I am so sorry to hear this. You are right. One likes to be asked. It makes me feel good to be able to share with others by saying yes. Just taking them would make me feel like being robbed.

Ripe or not they should have asked, as it wasn't theirs for the taking. If not ripe they make get an awful bellyache. Nora just ate pears for the first time. She broke out afterwards and that's the only thing Ashley said she ate differently. No change in washing detergent, etc....I need to show a photo, but she has an appointment with an allergist next week. A lot of us have food allergies. May not be the pears but we will see..........

1 comment

by bevintex 27 Jul 2016

yes they should of asked, I don't know why they needed the whole tree worth.

Oh that is so frustrating and so unnecessary too. I hope you tell them you would have been happy to share them when they had ripened so they know you know. I've had the same thing happen to me, but it was firewood. I would have been happy to share. I hope they don't mind the pin bark beetles the wood was infested with.

1 comment

by bevintex 27 Jul 2016

the beetles were just an added bonus. :)

Oops--people may not be to blame. My pear tree was and still is loaded. My son and I cut off a ton of pears just so the tree and the remaining fruit would get all the energy and nutrients. Now the branches look like a weeping willow tree. I thought maybe from high wind and storms we had but other fruit trees aren't hurt. My neighbor said it was most likely a squirrel, raccoon or opossum. It or they must have sat on those branches and the weight did it. All around the tree is fruit that has no bites, one bite, or the whole way around the core eaten. Hope they save me some. Now I know why my other neighbor put electric wire up the trunks of his fruit trees.

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by bevintex 27 Jul 2016

My yard is fenced and so is the neighbors and the tree borders the fences. I know who did it and they are welcome to them, I just wish they would of asked.

I can't believe what people would do. That would have broke my heart and made my blood boil. How Rude!.

2 comments

by bevintex 27 Jul 2016

It must of been a lot of trouble picking them in the dark.

by gerryb 28 Jul 2016

LOL! Wish you'd been able to see them up a tree in the dark!! Hopefully they don't do it again