Fox, coyotes bobcats are coming in closer to suburbia since the pandemic. I’ve heard theories that when everyone started staying home no one was out leaving food trash that the wildlife sort of depended on. so they are coming to us now as the food is scarce. Im in lower Ct and i’m seeing and hearing coyotes almost nightly. First time in almost 30 yrs. we have a fox that comes a few times a week and I no longer have a chipmunk problem! (not complaining) I believe a bear tore down my bird feeder last spring

So were it me I wouldn’t let the dog out byitself. Everyone I know is saying they’re seeing a lot more wildlife in their yards than ever before. Good luck and be careful

It could be a coyote but IME, they haul off their prey to a safe and secluded site to consume. A backyard decapitation is not really in their play book :-)

Also unlikely to be a raccoon. They tend to be omnivores rather than dedicated carnivores and will generally leave rabbits alone unless very hungry. They also have trouble catching rabbits as they are not very fast and kinda clumsy in their pursuits.

I think you are looking at some sort of mustelid - weasel, marten, mink, badger, etc. These are nocturnal hunters, fast and cunning, dedicated carnivores, rarely ever seen and decapitation of prey is common. And no fence in the world can stop them - they will go over, under or through whatever they can weasel their flexible little bodies through!.

Interesting. I just am unaware of any kind of weasel or badger in our neighborhood. We've lived here 40 years and the only small animal larger than a rabbit we've seen have either been woodchucks or possum. We never see raccoons. There are coyotes in the neighborhood about 8 blocks from us evidently. I saw two last year at night in the rain, trotting single file under a street light 2 houses away from us. I learned they have been in this neighborhood 20 years and I never realized it. We do see a hawk sometimes, but they wouldn't decapitate something right.

Either way, whatever can decapitate a rabbit, could do it to our small dog, I guess is the bottom line. Thanks for the information.

"I just am unaware of any kind of weasel or badger in our neighborhood."

And unless you are a game or wildlife warden, you wouldn't be :-) These are not creatures that tend to be readily seen....ever. They are also not necessarily bigger than any rabbit - just very fast, very wily and very strong.

The owl is a good possibility as well.

btw, raccoons and coyotes are now almost omnipresent across the country, even in very urban areas. They have learned to adapt to and cohabit with humans and city dwelling coyotes and raccoons have an unlimited food source - garbage, road kill, pet food, pets and whatever small mammals and birds they can find and catch.

I can understand not seeing a coyote but really in many other locations I've lived, we saw raccoons on a regular basis. In this location, not once, which I've always been happy about, because when they were around, they were a nuisance.

And sure, their could be badgers and weasels and I wouldn't know it.

I used to live in-city in a very urban area and my garden was fully fenced and with dogs....multiple dogs at that time :-) In almost 25 years there, the only wildlife I ever saw were birds and the occasional squirrel (had a cat, too). Then one late afternoon, I went to turn the water off and encountered the biggest raccoon I had ever seen! He was enormous and not the slightest bit afraid of me. In fact, he moved towards me rather aggressively and I got out of his way!

Where I live now is much more rural and wildlife abounds but still the coons are shy to show themselves. But that was the only time I ever saw one in the city......so they ARE out there even if shy about being very visible.

But I doubt the rabbit head and carcass can be attributed to a raccoon. That is really not their style.

Just fyi AFAIK there aren't any badgers at the OP's location (MA) or elsewhere along the east coast.

This is my daughter's dog and we dog sit, so it's not an every day problem, but since that incident, once it gets dark, we've been taking her out on a leash. She is a tiny sweet dog and we'd like to keep her around for awhile.

Actually, it was pretty sad to find a rabbit's head. We have only had maybe 4 dead birds in the yard in 40 years we've lived here, so we are not used to this. I used to feed the birds, but they were attracting a hawk so I stopped. The rabbit population skyrocketed about 3 years ago and I've been complaining about the damage they've done in the garden, but last year I was finally feeling like we were co-existing pretty well. I am expecting enough rabbits this coming season to still have to protect the vegetable garden.

Had the same thing happen in my yard 1 year ago. My neighbor has a motion activated camera……we saw raccoon, possum and one fox over the past year, no coyote. We are in a suburban neighborhood with fenced yards. The best guess is birds of prey or neighborhood cats, farm land and a river are within a mile. I have small dogs and they are never outside without my husband and/or I present. I found a rabbit nest in my yard with four dead bunnies, the bodies were torn up, one was torn in half. Cat damage??? I have a love/hate relationship with the bunnies at present, so much damage at times.

"We are in a suburban neighborhood with fenced yards."

Fencing is really no deterrent to wild prey animals. They can easily get over, under or through if the motivation is there. And suburbia is no deterrent either. A few years ago, a pair of raccoons took up residence in the cab of a construction cane in downtown Seattle........150' up in the air!!

Just as an FYI, coyotes can easily climb a 4 ft chain link fence so that is no deterrent.

We have recently moved into town (5 years ) after living out in the country for 30 something years.

I'm rather surprised to find skunk, possum, racoons, bobcats and mountain lions!

Of course the dog is on the hunt for those damn squirrels!

Do be careful with that little dog! We never let Cole out on his own in the backyard since he had a confrontation with a coyote there a number of years ago now. We hastily raised our 4’ chainlink fence to 6’, although they could easily go over that too - we hope it would at least offer enough deterrant to make them move on to an easier-to-access property…. It seems to have worked so far. Coyotes are a common sight in our neighbourhood. They drove out or killed the foxes that were here when we moved here in 1999. The foxes suffered periodically from mange and so do the coyotes since they took over the foxes den area. Coyotes are quite comfortable and breedprolifically in the neighbourhood so we all take precautions with our dogs to protect the dogs.

Just to clarify, we do have a 4ft fence on one lot line, but our lot intersects with two other properties behind us on that lot line and both those properties have 6ft fences. All the properties that are adjacent to us have 6ft fences. I have read that coyotes can get over a 6ft fence.

So Woody, you can't let your dog in the yard day or night by himself? I would feel the same way if a coyote had made it into our yard. I'm starting to think I might set up an outdoor camera to figure out exactly what is coming into the yard at night. Although I suppose if it will decapitate a rabbit, whatever it is could do the same to our dog, but I am curious.

If you're looking for a weasel-type predator, it could be a fisher or mink ... fishers are a bit bigger; minks tend to live close to water. I saw one ofthe two running, or perhaps better to say slinking, down our stonewall a couple years ago ... it came across the street from the neighbor's yard and caught both of our attention. I think both have a preference for rabbits/hares, so definitely a contender, and neither would be hindered by a fence. I haven't seen them much, though I'm sure we still have them, so I would sayit's one of the less visible predators.

Hawks, falcons, owls definitely live either in or around our yard (peregrines are up the hill from us ... barred owl definitely in our yard and one somewhere across the street; hawks I'm not sure if they live in our yard or just like our trees). Hawk dinner we saw left no residue of the squirrel; falcon meal left some feathers behind (from the prey, not the falcon). I haven't seen an owl meal to be sure what it does or doesn't leave behind ... you know, other than the pellets.

We've got a bit of everything here ... fox leaves in the back by the neighbor's pond. Coyotes live to all over ... I know there's a group up the hill (north) that's particularly vocal, and there's a group to the east (I think they're down by the river), and I'm pretty sure there's a different group to the south, too; I don't think there's any nearby to the west, but that may be because it's bobcat territory (there have been sightings, not by us, but reported). We had a coyote traipse through our yard just the other day ... not after anything, just getting from one point to another.

I would not feel safe letting out bichons out unattended with any of the above ... birds of prey most of all ... and that includes during the day, not just at night. Even if they wouldn't necessarily decapitate the dog ... any attack would be a serious matter: talons are very sharp; a bird could pick a small animal up and drop it ...

Does anyone know what kind of an outdoor camera you would get to try to keep track of what is coming into the yard?

Pm2 - we let Cole (20pound miniature poodle) out in the yard on his own - but we always look first to make sure we don’t see a coyote (or smell a skunk!) and stand on the back porch (where we have a big stick) to stand guard while he is out there… In winter (i.e.now!) I keep a down jacket near the patio door to wear when standing outside to watch him:-)

Does anyone know what kind of an outdoor camera you would get to try to keep track of what is coming into the yard?

There are a lot of trail cameras available with a wide variety of bells & whistles (Costs vary accordingly). We have several simple ones that have sim cards you can insert in a computer or a reader that comes with the camera. They take interesting photos!

I second the owl/bird of prey possibility. We have lierally seen this happen. We are rural and have most of the other predators, but they would leave other telltale sign/method of kill.

We have a smaller dog and a larger dog and we let them out supervised. Our back yard is fenced with 8 ft fences all the way around in the back. I have considered getting rollers for the top of all the fences though as I know coyotes can jump. Plus when our indoor cat decides that she needs time outdoors and roars out the door between our legs.

Rollers for tops of fences. I don't have any but I would DIY my own.

DIY coyote fence

https://youtu.be/YeGzt8u_Sy8

A system that you can purchase. It looks like it's more for cats than coyotes and dogs though.

https://youtu.be/OYfpa1mV1pI

“Does anyone know what kind of an outdoor camera you would get to try to keep track of what is coming into the yard?”

PM2, check with Jane/Corunum who sometimes posts on the New England garden forum; she has a trail camera in her suburban CT yard and has posted nighttime photos of deer, raccons, neighborhood cats, a bobcat and other critters that she has seen in her yard in addition to her daytime photos of birds and rodents.. I do not think she is posting here much any more due to the clunkiness of the software, but has many photos in Claire’s old threads.

I would never ler my little guy out alone. He is a fierce 22 pounds, but the only time we saw a coyote together he headed towards it - he is a friendly little boy who expects the best of everyone.

I've lived in a very rural place for over 30 years. I have a fox that has a den on a side hill in my orchard...I don't bother her, I figure she's doing squirrel patrol for me..when I encounter her, she goes the other way, so we're good. I have a mink living on the far side of my pond, I love catching sight of it...I had ground hogs that were just mowing down my garden last year..they're dead now. If you don't bother me, I don't bother you.

Years ago, when I got sheep, I asked the sheep farmer about fox and coyotes...his advice was excellent...he told me that they're territorial, and if they aren't bothering your livestock, don't kill them, because if you do, then the next group that moves in may like the taste of sheep, and then you'll really have a problem. In the 2o years I've has sheep, I haven't lost 1 to a fox or a coyote.

We can't sterilize our enviroments, only learn to live in them...not everything is bad.

We had a visitor in our yard today and he pointed out part of a dead mouse on the lawn, which I hadn't noticed. So I evidently have some kind of predator. I did notice just this morning that we still have a rabbit coming into the yard. I've been too busy to work on getting a camera.

Babs was here a few days ago and we are now in the habit of walking her out on the leash when it is dark out. She was recovering from blisters on her paws. A friend took her for a hike with 2 other dogs and her brother Fritz and she wasn't used to such a long hike and she had raw spots on 3 of her feet. Poor thing has not been her happy energetic self. We had to put booties on her every time she went out and she looked so funny walking in them. She'll be here for 10 days in the middle of April.

I have to agree with the owl.. they are such silent and isolated hunters you would never get to see them do it. Btw, I don’t know how big your yard is but I installed hardware cloth underneath my .75 acre worth fence with zip ties on each post to secure it(had to make holes because mesh holes are very tiny) and I don’t get any small animals other than wall climbers or tree jumpers like chipmunk or squirrels, just a suggestion if you feel insecure about predators intruding your yard.

You have very cute dogs btw, it’s great to have your dog roaming around when you’re outside gardening is it? Except when they start digging… But I let my golden retriever/jindo mix free in my yard all the time when I’m gardening and it feels great to have him near me while I’m working. He’s also 70 lbs so no worries about predators. Hopefully…

Edit: Forgot to mention that for the hardware cloth I let it curl inwards to the ground and then put slates/big stones on top so the cloth is nice and tight to the ground.

Heruga, that’s quite an interesting idea about the hardware cloth. We have a wood stockade fence on 2 sides and a 4ft high post and rail along the back lot line. that we did add wire fencing to, but rabbits dig under it.

I have read that some people add wire under the fence and dig it down a foot and curl it outward that is supposed to keep animals from digging under, but we’re getting too old to dig a foot deep trench along the entire fence. I like the idea of using zip ties, which we’ve used constructing trellis in the vegetable garden, but the way you’ve positioned the hardware cloth and used the rock? What kind of fence do you have? I don’t suppose you have a photo? You didn’t mention digging?

Thank you, the dogs are both very sweet. Babs is my daughter’s dog. She just got her last year. A friend of hers took Bab’s brother Fritz, which has been such a blessing. The two dogs just love each other and see each other often. Fritz comes here to visit sometimes when we are dog sitting for our daughter.

We’ve always had dogs but have had Retriever mixes for the most part. My son had a labrador retriever/pit bull mix, that we used to have every day while he was at work. Noodles died 2 years ago. She was my garden companion for sure. Loved to follow me all over the yard and just sit nearby. Not a digger or a barker. We miss her.

Last year was Bab's first year in the garden. She is quite a different companion in the garden. [g] Very busy, sniffing and exploring. Chewing sticks. Smells the cardboard we have under the mulch and loves to dig that out and race off with it like a treasure. Likes to eat fresh green beans. Climbs up into the raised vegetable beds and rolls around on any piles of compost materials or hay. She comes in the house a mess all the time, but she is very entertaining. lol But she was a puppy last year. And she is cooperative and responsive to instruction so I think this season should be interesting for her to really settle into a good gardening companion too.

You're the first person I've heard has a golden retriever/jindo mix! That is an unusual mix, is it not? The jindo is from Korea? I'd love to see a photo if you have one. What is his name?

Here are some pics showing what I did. Stones/slates can look unappealing but it definitely does keep the rabbits out. I thought of the option of installing the hardware cloth several inches underground but for my 275’ x60’ yard with additional sections in the back, it was just going to be too laborous and time consuming. I know rabbits/groundhogs can dig under the even rock anchored wires they just seem to avoid it. Maybe I have lazy animals. We have a lot of deer too but not one jumped over my 6 ft fence in the 1.5 years I had this fence. Now getting your hand underneath the fence to tie the zip ties is a big pain in the butt especially areas where the bottom of the fence is touching the ground but I just dug a little with a trowel to get my hand through and backfill once I’m done. But yea all of this takes a lot of labor and time so may not be an option for some. My fence is vinyl.

I’m envious you have an obedient dog, must be well trained! Sorry to hear noodles had to go, it’s always tough when you lose your companion, even if not yours. I also have a smaller dog of a mixed breed of all sorts that stayed at my dads house(had him since I was 16) when I got married and moved out that occasionally comes visit since my dad is always busy at work and my brother recently moved out too. He doesn’t like our dog though, a very shy one. And he’s also 12 so a senior disliking my prankster kiddo dog is no suprise. My jindo mix is indeed from Korea, when my wife went to Korea to help her moms fruit tree farm out her mom got some watchdogs to keep rodents and other critters away and Daebak(his name and it means wow in Korean apparently) was one of them. He was only 3 weeks when my wife met him. Even though he was supposed to stay there as a farm guarding dog my wife became so emotionally attached to him as the days go by even though she once sweared we will never have dogs in our house, and decided to bring him back here in NJ. Here’s both of them

Heruga,

Okay, I have the idea. It reminds me of something I tried to do at the base of a new line of fencing last year. I’ll have to take a photo this weekend. Not with wire but just with the stones. I’ve found the rabbits have avoided that section of fence too. They find easier sections to get under. I didn’t have enough stones to do the whole line of fencing, but with hardware cloth and stones, maybe I can. That looks much easier than digging a trench a foot down to bury the mesh.

We count ourselves very fortunate that we don’t have any deer issues!

My daughter’s dachshund is a big surprise to us. I was really against her getting the breed, because of many negative things I read about their temperament and stubbornness and difficulty house training. But none of those issues have been our experience. And we read that they are barkers. But she is not at all. She barks appropriately and most of the time, she communicates in little whines and cries to get your attention. [g] She is the most friendly dog, that she makes friends everywhere she goes. My daughter has spent a lot of time with her socializing her though and it has paid off. Still, we have a couple of issues, like she doesn’t want to go for walks where and when you want her to. My daughter is starting some training lessons with her to see if she can get the few issues working out better.

I LOVE the photos of your dogs! I was wondering what a golden retriever and a Jindo mix would look like. You can really see both breeds in Daebak and the expression on his face is just so cheerful and happy. The name suits him too and the story of how your wife became attached and had to bring him home is really funny.

It’s so good of you to take your second dog. We had the same arrangement once. We had a young dog and we took my sister’s Doberman who was 16 years old and too tired to cope with a young dog that wanted to play all the time. [g] It’s hard on the older dog.

I am an avid outdoorsman and I know quit a bit about wildlife. Most likely a hawk at night (rabbits are most active at night). Could be an eagle. Extremely unlikely it was a yote - they do not leave much. Nothing to worry about. In fact be happy there is 1 less bunny to eat your veggie. Rabbits increase 10 fold in summer. 10 rabbits becomes 100.

Thank you Donald. I could believe a hawk. We do see those from time to time. I used to see a lot more of them when I fed the birds but I saw too many birds killed by hawks, that I stopped feedling the birds. Now I just put out water for the birds and try to plant berry shrubs as often as I can.

I am definitely happy to have one less bunny, they make vegetable gardening difficult.

Would my 12 lb dog be in danger from a hawk over the property at night if I let her out in a fenced in yard? I am definitely going to put a camera out and figure out what I have to worry about out there, but I am curious.

Yes. Having seen a hawk catch a squirrel, a 12lb dog would not be safe. I think 4-5 is a hawks limit for carrying off, but it doesn't have to be able to carry its prey to kill or maim it. Our spent quite a bit of time with the squirrel right where it found it, wings around it and not doing the squirrel any favors ... it moved a bit towards the woods near the end of its meal. Hawk talons are something ... A great horned owl would be a danger to almost any dog (and the hawk ...)

Dead mouse wouldn't mean much to me ... that could be a neighborhood cat. My mum used to get "presents" from the neighbor's cat; the neighbor's comment was that Mackie must like her since he gave her the whole mouse ...

Thanks, BBCake for sharing your experience. We are being very cautious with the dog outside at this point. And I was thinking that a hawk can do a lot of damage. We're trying not to become paranoid. It kind of takes some of the comfort away from having a fenced in yard. [g]

Skipped down to say large birds of prey (hawks, eagles) occasionally drop mangled squirrels, etc. in the park at my work. And a large domestic cat could go for a rabbit too, I think...

A friend of mine who lives in a gated senior community in the Daytona area just emailed me that she frequently sees bear prints in her yard and last night a bear decided to walk right through her bird of paradise. Never mind pets I would be worried about me!

fox, coons, opossums, & skunks have been in most cities for decades. being nocturnal you rarely see them. yotes have been moving into urban areas in the midwest since the mid 90s. raptors as did crows figured out cities were fairly safe & easy pickins' & have been increasing their numbers over the last 40 years. i lived in mid st louis city & saw all the above regularly. i had a pair of kestrals, red tail hawks, cooper & sharp shinned hawks hunting my neighborhood regularly. i built a 1 1/2 story shop. while nailing down the subfloor i stood up & felt something soft graze my cheek. it was a redtail diving to catch a mouse across the alley. he was at the end of his dive & focused on the kill. his wing tip grazed my cheek. if i'd been one step to the right he'd have knocked me off the building. i had a cooper hawk build a nest in my tulip popular & have a cooper hawk building a nest across the street from me now. i was lucky enough to spend 8 months restoring the roof & eaves of the henry shaw house at the missouri botanical garden. if anyone remembers the hose surrounded by scaffolding in 2011 i was on that job. being there at dawn i got to see a lot of the critters. the garden releases quail once & year. the inside joke amongst the staff is that they are feeding the foxes again. as far as your issue do not rule out feral cats. they kill a lot of wildlife. the botanical garden was overrun with them. at my current home i had a 40' by 125' patch of brush. while clearing it i came across feral cats, some with litters daily. i live trapped & took over 30 to the local shelter. and that's only the ones i caught. i'd put a great horned owl or a cat at the top of your list. my current enemy are skunks. i live trap them & relocate them. skunks will tap on the front of bee hives at night & eat them when they come out. 2-3 skunks can wipe out a hive in a week or two. note: if you find a critter with no head that's an opossum. they eat the heads of carrion. and as far as 2 rabbits making 100. that may be true but very few survive the season. bunnies have high attrition rates.

We have had ground hogs, oppossums, one or two stray cats, deer and coyote in a wooded area on the edge of some lots about 8 blocks from my street. We used to smell a skunk every season but I haven't noticed one in a few years. We see a lot of squirrels and chipmunks and a group of turkeys went through the neighborhood last year and that's the first time I've seen turkey here. I've never seen a raccoon here, although a house I used to live in was in the suburbs but bordering conservation land and we had raccoons in our rubbish all the time. We've seen hawks and crow but never an owl. We used to see bats, but haven't seen one in five years. Not surprising the way people spray for mosquitoes. We found a full rabbit's, head and a partially eaten body on the other side of the yard.

Rober - in the city, I'd think there are opportunities to see wildlife near parks, Especially at night when there are fewer people in the parks. I live in a neighborhood with no parks or conservation land or even a few acres of undeveloped woodland nearby. It's pretty developed here. Small 1/4 acre lots that are mostly fenced.

Sounds like you have had a lot of wildlife experiences. That close call you had with the hawk on the roof...pretty scary and unexpected. I guess a hawk is not going to pay attention to a person if he gets in the way of dinner. [g] I remember well, coming out to trash all over the ground when raccoons were in the neighborhood. Not fun.

I see the same two cats out here at night and assume they are a neighbor's. I haven't seen a group of cats or suspected there were any ferral cats in the neighborhood. Lots of dogs and people walking dogs in our neighborhood.

It should be understood that urban wildlife is totally different from rural wildlife. The latter is easily repelled with unfamiliar noises and smells, and I think are somewhat smarter about threat avoidance. The former is "hardened" with regard to people, and are used to life on the streets, including rummaging through garbage that is full of people-smells. These tricks people try to use to repel pests with scarecrow-like structures, and salting the soil with pepper, urine, and various spices are things that urban pests just laugh at. By the same token, urban pests are less intimidated by threats like hawks, owls, and coyotes, making them easier pickin's.

That sounds like a reasonable idea and makes sense to me. Something I hadn't thought of. I have had some luck with red pepper powder but not every time. And I took Babs out to go the bathroom at 1am on the leash and was rushing out the door and forgot my flashlight. She started heading toward the veg beds in a focused way and turned down one of the paths between raised beds, all of a sudden she started moving fast and I had to move fast to keep up. I couldn't see a thing and I felt something go past me. I think it was a rabbit. [g] I didn't know for sure though, but I grabbed Babs and quickly went back in. Needless to say, I'm not forgetting my flashlight again! I am hoping that a run in with my dog, who btw, didn't even bark at it, might scare the rabbit away? I have noticed they have already chewed down some of the crocus foliage.

Crocuses and tulips (especially red ones) are bunny delicacies.

Yup, I have only a couple of tulip and I noticed they've already been nibbled on too.

I managed to get some photos in the garden today and it reminded me, that I used to have a lot of crocus all over the garden, but whatever was eating them wiped out quite a bit of them. Lots of different varieties. One area where I never seem to lack crocus is under my Maple that has a thick Vinca planting. Whether it's just not evident the crocus are coming up or they don't like going in there to find them, I'm glad they leave those alone at least. And these two crocus are very prolific reseeders....

They also haven't touched these early tulips.... They're also in Vinca, not sure that's the reason.

So far this Spring the critters appear to be sparse around here. None of the usual deer, possums, skunks, groundhogs, racoons, and not even any moles to be found (so far). But there are plenty of squirrels out there, too many. I set a couple of Hav-a-heart traps baited with apples but they ignore them. They seem more interested in digging up pecans (from a neighbor's tree) that they buried last fall. I'll switch to pecan halves for bait today, otherwise the squirrels will be attacking the fruit trees and blueberries soon enough.

I used to set out to trap squirrels, until I figured out that possums were my most serious garden pest. But the no-fail rodent bait (including squirrels) is PEANUT BUTTER. Smear some on a slice of apple, and they'll be jumping over themselves to get it. They can smell the stuff from far away. FWIW, I've heard it works pretty well with rabbits too. I go through almost a whole jar every season and I trap loads of critters.

Thx, my wife suggested adding peanut butter to the apples too and it can/does work well during the winter, but sometimes (when it's warm like now) the ants get to the sweet PB too quickly before the squirrels and that seems to turn off the squirrels. I augmented my HAH traps with a "hook" on which I can attach one pecan half with a small piece of the nut at the entrance to give them a small taste. They then enter the trap, grab the pecan half which then triggers the trap. If this doesn't work I'll try the BP bait during the next ant deterring cold snap which may be coming up this weekend.

That's a good point about ants and PB. I started putting my traps on a plastic sheet to keep that from happening. But another strategy might be to hang the apple slices with PB on your hook.