Melon Thieves

Damaged cantaloupe

Over the last couple of weeks, I'd been checking regularly on my cantaloupe vines, as a couple of melons were growing closer to ripening.  This morning I went out to the garden, and found that overnight, something had got hold of the melons and eaten them.


What a disappointment!  I really love cantaloupe, and look forward every year to fresh-picked, vine-ripened melons.  They have so much wonderful flavor!  Unfortunately, someone else knows that too.  It seems likely that the melon thief was a possum, or possibly a raccoon.  Both of these are known to live around the area; particularly the possums.

I like to grow my melon vines on trellises, and use old stockings or knee-high hose to  tie the little melons up to the trellis, like little hammocks. This keeps the melons off the ground, which helps avoid some bug and slug problems. Unfortunately, these two melons were down too close to the ground, so they were within easy reach of whatever critter invaded last night.

A basic line of defense for a garden is, of course, a fence.  I have a chain link fence around my yard, but the kinds of animals that would be eating melons can easily climb over a fence.  It may keep dogs out, but that's not my problem. A simple chicken-wire fence a couple of feet high might keep out rabbits. Since they can dig under, it's good to get fencing wide enough to bury several inches into the ground all around.

A variation on using a fence that might work well for someone that has plenty of room around their garden plants is described at this website. I don't have room for this approach.

One approach to protecting ripening melons I've read about is to place a plastic milk crate over each melon, and use earth staples or tent spikes to hold it firmly in place. Placing a brick on top of the crate to hold it down can cut down the sunlight reaching the fruit.

A handy gardener could also make a small cage from chicken wire or hardware cloth to put over melons or other vulnerable crops, and lift it off to reach the plants when needed.

Theo tries his best to keep critters out of the yard, but he is a house dog, so he's indoors most of the time, and unavailable for protecting the garden.