Where did my apples go

[yoteslayer]

i have a mature apple tree that had dozens of Apple's on it. I put stove pipe around the trunk to keep raccoons off of it.

I went and checked it tonight and all the apples are gone. What are them?!?!?! Squirrels???

 

[Appleman]

Are you on a spray schedule for insects based on degree day units or 1 inch of rain or more? How tall are your trees and could deer reach. ? Is the stove pipe 24 inches off the ground so that a raccoon can not stretch out and pull itself up. Are there trees close enough for a coon to climb and cross over? Lets work to figure this out.

 

[yoteslayer]

Yes, I spray every other weekend imidan/captan unless we get a lot of rain. The deer have the leaves eaten as high as they can reach. This mature tree is 14' tall . I tried to trim the nearby trees so nothing could climb onto it from another tree.

The stove pipe is 24" long and 24" off the ground.

2 weeks ago there were dozens of apples 7'-14' , now I cannot find an apple

 

[homerj]

Squirrels and/or crows most likely

 

[Appleman]

Yes, I spray every other weekend imidan/captan unless we get a lot of rain. The deer have the leaves eaten as high as they can reach. This mature tree is 14' tall . I tried to trim the nearby trees so nothing could climb onto it from another tree.

The stove pipe is 24" long and 24" off the ground.

2 weeks ago there were dozens of apples 7'-14' , now I cannot find an apple

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. I have never seen this so early in the season where a whole tree is robbed by Squirrels and crows. I lost 50% of my Honeycrisp last year due to the extreme drought conditions here in Vermont. The apples were still on the trees with lots of bird pecks. I don't think a crow will remove green apples from a tree. Don't really know what to tell you.

 

[yoteslayer]

I think it had to be squirrels because the nearby limbs from other nearby trees would not support a raccoon's weight. The apples were about double the size of a golfball the last I saw them.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Squirrels. I watch them during hunting season take apple after Apple. They drop them out of tree then get them on ground and go to their hideout lol