A long time ago I heard from a normally reliable source to put the growing melon in a nylon stocking. The stocking will expand as the melon grows. What he told me was that critters teeth can't get thru' the nylon stocking... as in women's hosery. Disclaimer: I haven't had the opportunity to try this.

I have had success in bagging the lemons in paper lunch bags. The lemons get ripe and don't seem to get damaged at all. Could you bag your melons in grocery-size paper bags?

Another thing that did work until this year was wrapping each ripening fig in foil. 'Someone' has figured that out and has stolen quite a few figs. They just tossed the foil on the ground and ate away. grrrrrrrrr. Maybe I will need to put each fig in a paper bag....but I'm not sure about the doing of that. hmmmmmmm

Good luck with whatever you decide to try.

Those are interesting ideas. I have to say that I'm skeptical about nylon stockings repelling raccoon or possum teeth though. I guess I could try that with one melon. A paper bag sounds even less secure, BUT it may prevent the animals from smelling the ripening melons, which normally is a powerful attractant. The same is true with foil, but for large fruit, that's a lot of foil.

The only cantaloupe damage here has been due to turtles taking a bite. We do have other critters here which pose a threat but to deter them I'll save my urine (as nasty as that sounds). As the melons get close to ripening (but still green) I sprinkle it around the perimeter of the entire plot each evening and esp after a rain. This "aroma" seems to repel the critters and also masks the sweet smell of ripening melons. It's a simple task, much easier than the more laborious options.

I've tried sprinkling used cat litter around, and, as I said, that doesn't seem to faze them. But it is good to hear that urine, which is a very simple strategy, works sometimes. Exactly right that the sweet smell of ripening melons attracts them.

Dan, I left out one important detail. Like yours my garden is pretty big and I use this method around all of it and not just the melons. The detail is that I used aged urine, at least 1 month old. Fresh urine isn't as effective regarding it's "aroma" but if it's a bit aged (maybe even 1 week would work better) it's much more repulsive, even to its source (me). I start accumulating it during the winter months, for a big garden it's used up fast during the growing season.

Hmm. That's interesting. The aroma of fresh urine is dominated by ammonia, but that ammonia is gone after a few days or weeks. But maybe aging affects what is left? You would think that animal pests would be most put off by urine that smells like it's fresh.

You could try spraying them with hot pepper spray and perhaps add some garlic into it. Most furry critters don't like the hot stuff.

If you want some serious stink, you can try dissolving a fertilizer spike in some cola and letting it ferment for a few weeks- that's an incredibly noxious stink. Some predator urines work too, but you gotta be aware that those can attract the predators and not just ward off the prey critters. I've heard aged human urine can work, and vgkg seems to be vouching for it.

Some folks swear by using Irish Spring soap, other folks use commercial animal repellants.

Used kitty litter does not really work too well since a lot of furry critters aren't usually cat prey and so aren't afeared by their scent- it tends to work a bit better on smaller rodents when it works.

Trust me, aged urine is 100X more putrid smelling than fresh urine. I spread it around after sundown once my neighbors are all indoors, no ammonia required. Even Bigfoot would stop in his tracks and turn around ;-)....the best part is - It's Free and plentiful!

Nah, as I said, my urban rodents don't give squat about pepper, garlic, and soap. They are completely used to all people-smells. These are animals that will invade dumpsters and garbage cans to find food. Tried those smells long ago with zero success. Though aged urine might be worth a try.

What about those motion-activated sprinklers? Most critters don’t like getting sprayed with water, even critters that aren’t afraid of people.

But you might have to rotate methods, especially with raccoons. They will learn which things aren’t a real threat and how to get around any barriers between them and food.

Hi Laura, welcome to the forum. I've often thought about getting one of those motion detector water sprinkler gizmos but worried about malfunctions where it doesn't turn off. Anyone here use one? Have successful outcomes?

Would also like to invent a solar powered scarecrow where every 10 minutes it wakes up and spins around waving its arms, or makes some other scary motions or sounds which would startle deer and other critters during.

I have to be a little skeptical about water as a deterrent. When you smell a ripe canteloupe, and you live out in the rain, a sprayer isn't going to make much of a difference. I know at least one gardener who tried one of these and was disappointed. By the same token, urban wildlife is pretty immune to scarecrows. If I confront one of these possums, they'll just glance over at me and keep eating, unless they really feel threatened, and it takes a lot to threaten them.

That's a very smart idea. Thank you, gardengrl66. These colanders are very strong, and would ventilate well. Your success with these on pumpkins is noteworthy. But I'd probably need four or five, and at ten or fifteen bucks apiece, they are a little pricey compared to plastic pails. I'll keep that idea in mind. As I said, one advantage of the pails is that in principle they would keep the ground dry under the melon. My melons are propped up on tuna fish cans, but moist soil will attract insect pests. Also, less ventilation means less of the smell of ripe canteloupe emanating from them, and attracting these beasts. Of course, that isn't an issue with pumpkin. A coon or possum is less likely to have a battle with a rock-topped pail. On the other hand, I could see the stem through the colander mesh, and I wouldn't have to remove it to see if the melon had slipped. That would be handy.

Thanks for the welcome, Vgkg!

Back to the topic, dollar stores, secondhand shops or yard sales might have metal colanders. A few dings, scratches, or a little rust wouldn’t matter for this use.

Fair point about looking for used ones. But it occurs to me that plastic strainers/colanders are cheaper than metal ones, and might suffice. The issue is that I need pretty big ones, that have a depth of 8 inches or more. Most are not that big.

There are chicken wire cloches made to protect plants. A little expensive but apparently effective.

I could make boxes out of hardware cloth or chicken wire, but I was hoping for a simpler option. Re plastic strainers/colanders, the largest I can find online are 11 inches wide (plenty big) but only 6 inches deep (not sufficient). I'm liking the gallon bucket idea more. A few bucks apiece. Actually, ice cream comes in plastic 1 gallon tubs, so if I wanted to eat a lot of ice cream, that would give me what I want. I seem to only be able to buy empty ice cream tubs in quantities of 50 or more, though.