Peaches for Everyone, Friends and Wildlife

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Today I spent a few hours picking and peeling peaches from one of our trees that bloomed early this spring. It luckily avoided the frost that nabbed several of our other trees a week or two later. As I was peeling, I noticed a few remarkably human-looking tooth marks on one or two peaches. Assuming my neighbors aren’t sneaking into my yard to take a few bites while leaving the fruit still hanging, I’m going to guess that either deer or squirrels were testing the fruit for ripeness.

When my trees are producing, like this year, I get more fruit than my family will actually eat. So, I typically take a bag to work and share with friends and coworkers. I’m also fairly generous with wildlife, because fruit is a good source of nutrition for many animals.

Generous with Wildlife

Two years ago, we noticed a skinny, unhealthy-looking gray fox hanging out in the yard. Initially, we thought she was probably hunting our cottontail rabbits. Then, I watched her one afternoon as she parked herself under a peach tree and feasted, sometimes jumping up to pull a fruit off a low-hanging branch.

After that, I left a few more peaches under the tree than usual, and we were rewarded by seeing this fox fairly frequently for the next year. We still see her, rarely, and she isn’t nearly so emaciated. She’s beautiful, actually, with red highlights in her coat, and I’m happy she decided to stick around. We might be overrun by rabbits without her.

I’m sure raccoons and opossums will eat windfall fruit, also, but you might not necessarily want to feed them. However, you might want to help birds and butterflies. Rotting fruit is a favorite treat of many butterfly species, and if you leave any overripe fruit either on the tree or under it, you are likely to collect some. You’ll also see a variety of birds snatching up smaller fruit like berries and plums (often to your chagrin).

Mourning Cloaks

The first Mourning Cloak butterfly I saw was feeding in deep shade on smashed mulberries. Since then, I’ve noticed a pattern: Leave overripe fruit in shade under the tree, and Mourning Cloaks are fairly likely to find it. With Mourning Cloaks, I often see Commas and Questionmarks (the butterfly kind, not the grammar variety, though I am fond of both, of course). These are butterflies you rarely see out in the bright, open sun, so it’s always fun to get a glimpse of them in a predictable location.

On fruit left hanging higher up in the tree, I’ve seen Emperors (both Tawny and Hackberry), Viceroys, Ladies, and Monarchs. I’m sure there are more species that will nectar on fruit, but those are the ones I have personally seen in my yard. (The picture shows a Viceroy and Hackberry Emperors on an overripe apple.)

One caveat: Don’t leave fruit that has been treated with pesticides. This could harm or kill any insects coming in contact it. I tried using a commercial soap spray one year, and that seemed to work pretty well to keep worms away. But I never treat my trees or my fruit anymore; if a fruit looks like it has too many worm-holes or damage, I just leave it. I know it’s safe for everyone: foxes, raccoons, deer, squirrels, birds, butterflies, and people. If you’re picking fruit this year, consider leaving a few for your wildlife, too.

Meet Leslie Miller

Leslie Ann Miller shares 3.5 acres in rural Oklahoma with birds, butterflies and wide variety of animals. She is currently transforming her yard with plantings…

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