Author Topic: Fruit thieves rant  (Read 7727 times)

horseshoe_bayou

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Fruit thieves rant
« on: May 29, 2020, 04:59:43 PM »
Many of us wait for this time of year to enjoy the fruits of our labor but regrettably It's also fruit thief season.  Besides the typical iguanas, racoons, possums, birds, and squirrels, people are the worst they're out and about at all hours.

 A few people knock on the door and ask, which is the polite thing to do but they knock  even at night  sometimes. Even then I must confess it still gets on my nerves a bit. These people are not neighbors on my street, I have no idea where they come from and how they make their way to me almost at the end of a dead end street?

They'll knock asking for mangos, june plums, jackfruit etc and if you say no but you can buy some they quickly lose interest. I guess stolen fruit taste sweeter.
I'm sorry to feel like the little red hen but no, grow some in your own yard or purchase them. and unless you see fruit spoiling on the floor as an obvious sign that the residents of the house dont care for the fruit don't even knock to ask. 

I wonder for everyone I catch how many get away with it.

Those who reap where they don't sow are the worst kind of people.
post and wire fence going up tomorrow; because I'm sick of it.

I'm at the point I can spot them when they drive past the front window and begin to slow down. I'm considering video recording them from now on, and putting printed still shots of their faces at local supermarkets to publicly shame the thieves; who knows, maybe a youtube channel in the works.  ;D some good should come of it.

anyway, I know y'all feel my pain.

Mic

roblack

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2020, 08:36:05 AM »
Several people drive and walk through my neighborhood daily, snatching whatever fallen mangoes they can. Go all up in people's yards, right by their windows and such. Got my hose ready.

Budtropicals

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2020, 09:31:21 AM »
So perhaps there are some benefits of having a tiny secluded yard, but then again, even I have had a fruit thief or two.  My tree was full of Carambolas last season and one day we just woke up to find them all gone...   And that's the story to how I decided to get a fence.  But this was at the start of the whole covid problem so besides the usual approval waiting and other stuff, it was all delayed because suddenly just about everything closed down for the quarantine... I still don't have my fence.   

Fence always works, not because they can't pass it (unless you got barbed wire all over it) but usually because they don't even bother out of fear or laziness.  Maybe some threatening sings? Fake cameras if you can't get real ones? Plenty of ways to stop those thieves.   

knlim000

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2020, 05:26:25 PM »
home grown fruits taste better than store bought fruit.

that is why we grow our own fruits and veggies.  Plus it's pesticide and chemical free.

my worst theives are the squirrels and rats.  they are so smart.

Budtropicals

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2020, 05:45:00 PM »
Squirrels seem pretty dumb to me, either that or they are plain rude.  Eat half a mango then just let it sit there. If you are going to steal a meal at least finish it don't just leave it on the ground and alert me of your presence.

knlim000

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2020, 07:43:55 PM »
Budtropical,

 watch this and you wlll see that squirrels are smarter than the average human species.
https://www.facebook.com/MarkRoberYouTube/videos/727828361391817/

Anolis

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2020, 07:51:30 PM »
No problems for me. Fenced in yard with house in the middle, and two oversized dogs on patrol. No trespassing signs don’t hurt! ...I love your idea of publicly shaming the thieves though! 🤣

SeaWalnut

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2020, 08:01:05 PM »
I found one of my newly planted trees missing.
Then i saw the tree 20 meters away dumped on the road.It was paonted with white paint ,thats why i could see it.
Aparently a human took it out of the ground to steal it then because he could not identify the tree he throwed it on the road.

I picked the tree ,wetted its roots and i planted it back in the same hole.
It started grow leaves,didnt died.

Budtropicals

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #8 on: May 30, 2020, 08:20:47 PM »
I found one of my newly planted trees missing.
Then i saw the tree 20 meters away dumped on the road.It was paonted with white paint ,thats why i could see it.
Aparently a human took it out of the ground to steal it then because he could not identify the tree he throwed it on the road.

I picked the tree ,wetted its roots and i planted it back in the same hole.
It started grow leaves,didnt died.

That's horrible. At least you got it back! Este atit de trist ca avem asa oameni in tara noastra!

Jaboticaba45

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #9 on: May 30, 2020, 09:29:08 PM »
Yeah at my old house we had a huge persimmon tree and it produced way too much fruit. So much fruit that I would give away bags full to all my neighbors. Random people would ring the doorbell asking for persimmons and I gave them away because we had so much.  But I got mad when people didn't ask and stole the fruits. >:(

Tommyng

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #10 on: May 30, 2020, 10:06:52 PM »
I was on my way to work when a lady asked for some mangos from my tree. I said,” sure you can have a couple”. When I came home the tree was emptied. You lose faith in humanity sometimes.
Don’t rush, take time and enjoy life and food.

Budtropicals

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #11 on: May 30, 2020, 10:58:05 PM »
I think the moral of the story is don't let random people take your fruit, it usually ends in trouble.  Then again, that isn't going to happen every time, but you can usually tell who will take everything.

knlim000

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #12 on: May 30, 2020, 11:57:43 PM »
I was on my way to work when a lady asked for some mangos from my tree. I said,” sure you can have a couple”. When I came home the tree was emptied. You lose faith in humanity sometimes.

ha ha ha. Next time, you need to take a picture of their ID first., then say, you can pick only 3, anything after than is $5/each.  Now you know where the person lives and you can report it to police if three is empty.

Tropheus76

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2020, 08:59:52 AM »
We have a lot of palmetto in my area and in my yard there are some large patches and my hedgerow from the road is 4-8 feet tall of saw palmetto. We get the berry thieves who come through in their cars and climb around in the patches to steal the berries. Sometimes they don't just take the berries, but see other trees with fruit and take them too. When I was deployed one of these guys picked all the citrus from one of my trees in addition to the berries, and then walked up to the front door with a bag of fruit in one hand and a machete in the other and asked my sick wife if she minded if he took them. She was scared to death and called the police who as typical took almost an hour to show up thanks to the piece of manure sheriff(now mayor) who felt saving money for his campaign was more important than putting deputies in the field.

knlim000

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2020, 01:36:48 PM »
or you can get some type of food coloring that looks like blood and splash all over the fruits and put a sign up "coronavirus blood" .

ntpphong

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #15 on: June 01, 2020, 02:07:30 PM »
It is worse here in SoCal, thieves are hitting the nurseries and stealing whole trees from people’s yard.

KarenRei

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #16 on: June 01, 2020, 05:13:21 PM »
I'd be tempted to saboutage some.  Inject capsaicin oil into say 5-10% of fruits, the most appealing / accessible ones.  Keep careful track of which ones you did it with so you don't eat them yourself.

Thieves should learn the lesson pretty quickly.  ;)

Honestly, saboutaged bait is a pretty good tactic.  I once had thieves steal a toolbox and two full cans of gasoline (back before I went electric).  So I left out several additional gas cans, which were all promptly stolen as well.  And to be fair, they did contain gasoline.... on the top.  Anyone who smelled it or poured off a little would see gasoline, no question.  But it was only half the liquid in the cans, flowing atop a denser layer of... concentrated hydrochloric acid.  Which eats steel  ;)

The only downside is you never get to see the thieves faces when they realize how badly they screwed up. 
« Last Edit: June 01, 2020, 05:42:27 PM by KarenRei »
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SeaWalnut

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #17 on: June 01, 2020, 05:22:56 PM »
15 km ( 7 miles) away from me,2 idiots have cut an entire walnut orchard on a field ,at night ,then sold them as firewood.
I think they cut about 60-80 trees that were about 15-20 years old.
Lucky i am that i live in an area wich has natural gas from our hills and nobody heats theyr home with wood here.
But in the place where the orchard was cut theres no natural gas and everybody has central heating that works on wood.
Off course they thieves got jailed and i think for a long time because they allready had criminal record for stealing wood.

But the most famous theft ive read is from a botanical garden in China.The thieves got in the botanical garden at night to steal a branch from a tree with precious wood( a rosewood tree).
They cut the branch and got away with a fast boat.
Off course they were caught and jailed.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2020, 05:29:16 PM by SeaWalnut »

knlim000

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #18 on: June 01, 2020, 06:28:31 PM »
I planted some purple sweet potatoes cuttings on the sidewalk infront of my house.  Some asshole stole it.
They dug the topsoil off  where I planted the cuttings.


Bush2Beach

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #19 on: June 01, 2020, 07:33:17 PM »
Are you sure the assholes weren’t raccoons ?



I planted some purple sweet potatoes cuttings on the sidewalk infront of my house.  Some asshole stole it.
They dug the topsoil off  where I planted the cuttings.


roblack

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #20 on: June 01, 2020, 09:40:11 PM »
getting me a moat with venomous snakes and gators, and dogs that bark killer bees

EnglewoodFlorida

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #21 on: June 02, 2020, 12:33:39 PM »
Game Cameras. (animal trail hunting cameras). easy to place several around the yard.. even the cheap $25 ones we have work pretty decent.
Simmons makes a 4 pack for 90-150 dollar range depending on sales.
 

« Last Edit: June 02, 2020, 12:37:17 PM by EnglewoodFlorida »

irun5k

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #22 on: June 02, 2020, 01:28:15 PM »
Almost as annoying as the thieves themselves are the idiots in our neighborhood that believe the homeowners growing the fruit are the bad guys.  Someone could clean your tree completely off and if you post about it on the NextDoor app, you'll be shamed.  You'll hear everything from how you don't like to share, how nobody should be able to own anything that grows on the earth, etc.

I had someone (caught on camera) steal several large cuttings from a rare plumeria in my yard.  When I called the police non-emergency line to report it, the officer shamed me and tried to make me feel as small and ridiculous as she possibly could.  I'm sure had I called about a $20 stolen yard ornament it would have been OK but calling about hundreds of dollars of cuttings stolen was apparently out of line.

zands

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #23 on: June 02, 2020, 03:28:35 PM »
Game Cameras. (animal trail hunting cameras). easy to place several around the yard.. even the cheap $25 ones we have work pretty decent.
Simmons makes a 4 pack for 90-150 dollar range depending on sales.
 


How many mangoes did she steal? They look less than ripe. It looks like she is squeezing fruits like in a supermarket and looking for a ripe enough fruit. Keitt?

JulianoGS

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Re: Fruit thieves rant
« Reply #24 on: June 02, 2020, 06:01:22 PM »
I'd be tempted to saboutage some.  Inject capsaicin oil into say 5-10% of fruits, the most appealing / accessible ones.  Keep careful track of which ones you did it with so you don't eat them yourself.

Thieves should learn the lesson pretty quickly.  ;)

Honestly, saboutaged bait is a pretty good tactic.  I once had thieves steal a toolbox and two full cans of gasoline (back before I went electric).  So I left out several additional gas cans, which were all promptly stolen as well.  And to be fair, they did contain gasoline.... on the top.  Anyone who smelled it or poured off a little would see gasoline, no question.  But it was only half the liquid in the cans, flowing atop a denser layer of... concentrated hydrochloric acid.  Which eats steel  ;)

The only downside is you never get to see the thieves faces when they realize how badly they screwed up.

Good one mate!
Be very careful and mindful of what you sow, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.