Looks Are Deceiving

Last August I took this photo of my backyard with my three Elberta peach trees off to the side of my main garden. There were so many blossoms in the spring that I had to prop up a few of the branches with clothes poles. I expected a bumper crop of delicious peaches. Didn't happen. There was one teeny tiny problem. In my neighborhood there are more squirrels than humans. I mean it. Every day in the summer at least four of these shaggy-tailed creatures hang around my backyard, waiting for me to fill up my bird feeders. Over the last few years they have destroyed countless feeders and to make matters worse, when my peaches are just about ready to be harvested, they pick and devour almost the entire crop. Last year one of them had the audacity to sit beneath one of my three fruit trees eating the last of a juicy peach, waving his tail at me as if letting me know that I was too late to enjoy most of my crop. The little critter left me only the two peaches you see in the photo. I've tried covering the tree with netting but they only laugh at my efforts. That's not the only trouble they get into. I spotted one of them walking along the top of the wooden fence that runs along the side of our house, holding a giant sunflower between his teeth. The little son-of-a-gun chewed it right off the stem. And wouldn't you know it, the sunflower was a volunteer and the only one I had in my garden. At this point I've all but given up. They are a lot smarter than I, that's for sure.