It's hard enough with the weather, bugs, diseases, and animals to grow fruit. When your trying to do what your doing in an area where people can just feel free to take your stuff it will be a lot harder. You can put up surveillance cameras and see who's and soon to be what's doing it, but that might not help much either. The guy who took your plant might be wondering why his blue berry leaves are turning color because he probably knows nothing on how to plant them. You will have a hard time with fruit left at bay with just animals. I wouldn't do it. Your in for a lot of aggravation.

I have a neighbor who is a muscadine and garden tool thief. He did ask if he could have some of the muscadines when they ripen, and every year, he got SOME. Well, one day, we left, and we came back to every single muscadine gone, and they weren't picked and taken away. They were picked and eaten right off of the vine, as the hulls were all over the ground. The only thing I can think of was that he probably paid for it on the toilet that night. People stopped stealing fruit and garden tools after I got large dogs, but the animals still steal as much fruit as they can, especially squirrels. I believe we also had a sneaky armadillo that liked to eat persimmons too. Now, there are armadillo holes all around the outside of my fence around my yard. They aren't living inside of the yard, because they know the dogs are there, but all of the fruit trees I have is drawing them in.

Can you fence your property? Mountains usually have deer. Both deer and gophers will eat an entire tree... well, the gophers will kill the roots. Rats will eat a tree too. I'd put a sturdy chain link all around the property, and if the trail goes through it, on both sides of the trail.

That camera seems really cool. I would really like to know what critter is eating my fig trees branch by branch. We caughtt a possum, and thought the problem was solved, but the eating continues...... Might have to get one of those!

OK, now I have a really simple idea for a cheap fence. Plant a row of fast growing (non fruit) trees. We have Moringa Olieferra trees we started from seed grow to 8' in one year! The entire tree is an edible vegetable. They are drought lovers and need no water.

Or you can take cuttings from local fast growing trees, root them, and let them grow. Let them get some girth, then hit them with round-up AKA, kill them. Stop their growth. Their roots will anchor the trunks. Saw off the tops once the trees are dead, thus no shade, but free fence posts!

Now, using the posts, create a barbed wire fence. That stuff is cheap. In your shoes, I would anchor it to the trees and weave it like a latice between posts. That will stop the meanest dog!!

A natural barrier would be a long row of prickly pears. Nice fruit, but nothing will cross it. Big thorns!

Also there is nothing easier to root cuttings from than a grape. Buy one grape and keep it near your door. Take cuttings from it, root them, and now you have a free vineyard.

Those are some good ideas. The area next to the trails is about 10m on the west side add maybe 100m on the northside. The 10 m side was cut clean, and that's where the plants went missing from. The hundred meter side I left a thin line of trees to act as a barrier. Stringing Barbwire would be very practical and not so expensive I think. I had been hoping to avoid poisons, but Roundup might be a good way to go now.

If you do decide to plant Moringa Olieferra, you can keep it alive and use it's trunk for fence support, but your wife can use the leaves in so many recipes and teas. It's the healthiest tree on earth! But I doubt the thieves will even bother with it. Just keep it pruned or it will grow to 80' and shade your beautiful orchard.

Flying dragon.

The soil is shallow, so your sawed-off-tree-fence-post idea is interesting. Add barbed wire and we have a strong yet non-competing fence. Round up has been suggested a few times. Is the poison bad to have in the soil for human fruit consumption?

I had another perhaps more efficient idea. There are a lot of small trees I've cut and piled up, they form a natural barrier. They're in the way, and a real thicket to try and get through. They could also block theif eyes. I could drag them into banks along the edge. Wondering how I can get access? Perhaps a locked gate?

A locked gate would definitely keep thieves out and let you in and out.

Would it? I'd climb a fence if I wanted to steal something. And no I'm not a thief. Razor and barbed wire were made for a reason.

I'd still consider flying dragon. But ask 50 people and you'll get 51 answers.

In case you don't know Flying Dragon is a thorny citrus tree that can be made into a hedge. It is often the rootstock for dwarf citrus. YEP it is evil. OK so now I"m thinking, get a pit bull and train him to defend his land.

Imagine a wall of this with all the thorns

Maybe try planting gorilla style; off the beaten path. Or, just closer to home where you might be able to protect it. Sounds like a horrible situation. Very sorry for you.