You might try bird netting. It can be purchased at a garden supply, Walmart or hardware store.

I'm having the same problem too.

Next year I am going to use netting as well but would have to find something to keep the squirrels away too.

I was leaning more towards a 12ga. shotgun XXX buckshots or Federal Max load 3.5" Hi-shock Slugs.
Wouldn't have shoot them, They'll just die of a heart attack. JUST KIDDING LOL

All jokes aside but I think chicken wire would work the best on both birds and squirrels and any other critter mother nature has to throw at us.
Just need to find the side where they can't squeeze through.

Rafed

Rafed,
i was gonna mention some sort of coupe built around fig plant , but then thought how many folks only grow 1 or 2 plants. More than that one would have to build something as large as a dog run that some folks have for there dogs out of small diameter wire.
Im with you though, put my 12g accu choke on modified this way i cant miss em but im not kidding ; )
Luckily i dont have critter problem here yet anyways.

I've seen this product effectively used in some fruit orchards in my area. Obviously it is intended for rural areas and is not practical for the average gardener to use......but it sure works!! It keeps the blackbirds from pecking citrus fruit for its oil and the mockingbirds from eating the figs and persimmons.

Dan

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird Cannon

socks are better than plastic bags, they breathe. I take my mismatched socks and put one on each of the best figs that i can reach. I then fold the sock over the other nearby figs. As the figs ripen, i move the socks. I guess it wouldn't work if you only have tiny figs. (You could use little kids' socks!)

madelaine I hope the socks are clean ;) just kidding.

I use aluminum foil strips on my tree to keep birds away.
cut 2" strips the width of the roll, fold in half - to make long 1" strips - and hang on the tree with string. They twirl in the wind and reflect the sun, birds won't go near. Looks kinda funky, but hey it works....

for whatever its worth

Sally

I think I'll stick to my 12ga.

Martin, What do you think about a 45/70?
Would that take care of the squirrels?

LOL LOL LOL

Rafed

Rafed, it would only work if you didn't want to save the tail to tie some fishing jigs.

"gene"

ps: I've got you cutting chilling for a bit then I will try to root them.

Sally's idea is similar to one I've heard, but haven't had to try yet - save up used CD's and tie them onto branches. They're nice and reflective, and very durable.

This is just my two cents worth, but being a south Georgia country boy there isn't too much out there that tastes as good as squirrel, I imagine bar-b-q'ed squirrel and stewed figs would taste good together. Using the shotgun method, the only problem I have with squirrels is I don't get enough coming around my fruit trees.

HAHA

Some good ole Southern Humor

I love it!

Cecil

greyghost61,

Up here in the north ( Michigan ) I have your typical brown squirrel and some black squirrels and believe it or not a couple of weeks ago when I was home for a few days I even saw grayish color squirrel!

Now in my friends property in Gladwin, Mi. I've seen some albino squirrels

Ever wonder how the gray one would taste?
First we would have to spray some Everclear whisky on it.
You know, the 190 proof?

And I'd even invite Cecil to join in the feast.

Rafed

P.S.,
You might want to google the squirrel on airbag videos.

No squirrels here in Australia, but I have wrapped figs in torn-up rags held on with a clothes peg, just as the fig begins to ripen. No problem with condensation but persistent rain will keep the rag damp and cause splitting. You can check the ripeness of the fig by how squishy it feels without unwrapping it. When the ripening season progresses I give up with this bother and let the birds take their 20%.

I'd sure like to join in on a good squirrel hunt and then the chow down. It's been a while.

From the bayou,
"gene"

I use the netting every year now. The birds still get a few figs in the top, not the whole fig but poking holes in them. I keep the fig trees pruned small enough so I don't have to stand on a ladder, and the netting is easier that way.

It also works well on cherries, which birds LOVE but not when the netting is in place.

I attach the netting using wooden spring-loaded clothespins.

For figs that I really want to get fully ripe (especially black ones) I cut the bottom off of an aluminum can, cut 2 or 3 slits for the stems of adjacent leaves and the branch itself and slide the bottom of the can over the fig. Before I put it on, I punch a few small hoes in the bottom to let the rain out. Once the can is over the limb, I fold a crimp in the aluminum. Add a nice big plastic snake or plastic owl to the tree and move them every day. Takes some time, but you can reuse the cans and allows you to leave the figs on another day or two to get them fully ripe. You can usually see the figs through the slits.

hanging aluminum foil strips from the tree, doesn't work on the cardinals, here in mississippi

about 10 seconds after i hung strips of foil all over the tree and stepped back a few yards, a pair of cardinals came in and started eating figs, what a waste of time

i rigged some covers for individual figs out of netted fruit bags (like limes come in) and wrapped a few figs with them

what a pain, there must be 200 figs on the tree and i got 5 or 6 covered

then i looked online for a net to cover the tree and it's just as i thought, a 14 foot net is $120 plus shipping

i could buy a whole lot of figs for that

I tried those nylon wedding bags to no avail, but my little rubber snake works great: Check him at guard on the ledge. The fig is Mary Lane Seedless.

My mother has a fig tree in her backyard. And they're growing nicely. Problem is the birds are eating them all. ! We need a solution quick!!!

Birds want the fruit of your labor, i say give them lead instead, and prepare to eat tiny drumsticks! Habitual offenders should have a nice figgy taste to their meat. You could also try hanging a picture of Janet Reno next to the tree, that might scare them off.

I have several of these in my garden facing different directions to zap deer. I am sure it would work for birds. You can adjust the spray to be a hard jet or a light spray which would be better for figs so they aren't damaged. They work great!

https://www.amazon.ca/Contech-Scarecrow-Motion-Activated-Sprinkler/dp/B000071NUS

Just found a way that works to get perfectly ripe figs. Where my tree made clusters of figs I secured a brown paper bag like the kind from the corner store. A spare mesh onion bag is also working, as well as simply draping a hand towel over the figs.

I have learned that birds are a. Real dumb and b. Easy to outsmart.

Unfortunately, squirrels are neither dumb nor easy to outsmart. Another site recommended Christmas tinsel garland for birds, that seems practical and easy (strips of it hanging, not draped like a Christmas tree).

I like the rubber snakes, especially moving them around.

Has anyone tried fox urine? I have seen that for bird feeders to keep squirrels away. It seems as though it could work on a fig tree. I can buy it at some garden shops.

I've been working this out for years, and caught snakes, not birds, in my netting. This year I'm getting my "fair share" of figs by draping shade cloth and floating row cover over gropus of ripening fruit, pinning them to branches with hair, paper, and laundry clips.

I have a problem with birds, squirrels, rats and racoons in my garden. And I am in the middle of Los Angeles! I think the squirrels and racoons are worse here than in the country! Maybe because we don't have enough predators. If they only took 20%, as one commenter said, I would be ecstatic! As it is I rarely get any fruit unless I do something. The bird tape, tinsel, cds and snakes haven't helped. I used paper bags on a Loquat tree a couple of years ago and it worked almost every time. It's a pain to have to remove them to check ripeness. Harder to put them on figs since the fruit isn't all at the tips of the branches. Cut some tiny holes in the bottom corners of the bag for air and secure it with twist ties or wire.

This year I built a big cage around 2 fig trees with netting and pic pipe. Took me hours. They somehow managed to still get in and get all the ripening figs before they were ripe enough for me. I'm thinking it must have been rats. I'm going to try the socks, rags, shade cloth and see if it helps.

I dont like to kill animals but Im so pissed that I'm considering the Kania trap for the squirrels. Two friends of mine swear by it.

Alisa, if you add a little cayenne pepper to the bird seed the squirrels will usually leave it alone. They can taste it but the birds can't. I bought a "squirrel proof" feeder, which helps a lot. They can't get to the bird seed in the feeder but they have learned that if they jump on the feeder it knocks some seed to the ground, where they then eat it. I got lazy after I bought the feeder and will have to start adding the cayenne again.

My grandmother grew huge fig trees and the way she was able to keep birds out of fig tree was to hang aluminum pie pans (cheap at dollar store) just hang them in different areas throughout the tree. Another thing grandma did was to put artificial snakes throughout the tree in addition to the pie pans. Hope you try it and works for you. We have been doing it for years with success.

this guy swears by christmas ornaments. Im gonna give it a try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fld361hhAnw

dcrews21 did it work?

I have done every thing I can including reflector's tape, clear water bottles, aluminum foil, bells tied to diet pepsi cans and even bubble wrap. They actually appear to be eating more!! ANYONE out there have a solution?! :)

Aluminum pie plates didn't. The birds just flew past them and ate all they wanted.

Last year I covered my fig with a cotton net. First I had large poles attached on four corners of my fig and then tied the net around. i made sure the net was fixed to the ground as well. This worked well and we had plenty of figs to eat. But it looked quite unsightly so this year I am going to try cotton bags on each fig.

I got organza bags with string at Amazon . I read that if you wrap the figs if this bags, the birds would not eat them. I bet it will work.

put a frame around your tree with chicken wire thats the only way you get all your figs lol

What the above poster Rycooder said .

Martin

I just let my fig tree get huge. It is probably 40 to 45 ft. There is enough in the top for the birds and enough at the bottom for the chipmunks. The raccoons and squirrels forage in the middle. I have more than enough for me and still more frozen for whatever. It is a Brown Turkey and I live in North Alabama, zone 7a, maybe 7b..

I fought varmints in my massive blackberry garden to the point where i built a cage 8 ft high by 40 feet totally enclosed sauirrels would crawl all over the cage and look in longingly, as the chipmunks ate my strawberries,,,,so i resorted to extreme measures on the ”cute” chipmunks eradciation you dont sound like a moustrap type. but you INSPIRED me to get priactive on my GIANT fig tree in Palm Springs …..will feed the birds elsewhere but we aee bats!

Last year, I covered some fruit with tuille, i left the higher fruit for thrm birds. last year i harvested about 10-20% of my figs, that's ok with me, i rooted some more figs this year.