They’re certainly nocturnal, we hear them are screeching here at nights. Our cat is a rodent hunter, the squirrels just face up to him. My son also had 2 hunter cats.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Voles love fallen fruit … ripe, unripe, they care not … they love them. They’ll eat them where they fall or they’ll take them and stash them for later.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Voles love fallen fruit … ripe, unripe, they care not … they love them. They’ll eat them where they fall or they’ll take them and stash them for later.
Sounds a more likely option to me as these have been brought in by our cat on occasion in the past. They were very small though but I guess their must be adult ones around somewhere too or if they were the adults then they're pretty strong.
Actually thinking about it they were shrews (long snout) so maybe not?
Even if it is voles (our garden is in the city and not exactly wild or much cover), I guess it doesn't change the fact that the fruit has obviously dropped.
I'm still half wondering about the biennial theory, and that it may have shedded even after being thinned if that's at all possible.
As for the cat, sadly he's somewhat disabled following an accident and can't run like he once used to, and since the accident has barely caught anything at all.
The dry weather in June would deter a lot of trees from fruiting heavily this year, I suspect. I've got an apple that does produce every year, but three that have a distinct biennial cycle, but all of them are a bit light this year compared to what I'd normally expect and the June drop was very noticeable (and still happening). As I said, I've not grown pears so they may behave differently
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I have an espaliered Concorde pear which normally fruits well. Last year the crop was less than normal but I put that down to some sharp frosts at blossom time … fruit set was confined to the more sheltered side of the tree. I watered with washing up water and water used for rinsing veg etc throughout the drought and the few fruit produced were fine. This year we have more fruit set than last year and there doesn’t appear to have been much of a June Drop 🤞
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'm going with the theory it may be tired following last year's crop, which I had thinned heavily but was excellent in quality and bigger fruits than ever. Not so this year. I think pears and plums can also show biennial tendencies, I know plums do for sure.
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Actually thinking about it they were shrews (long snout) so maybe not?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'm still half wondering about the biennial theory, and that it may have shedded even after being thinned if that's at all possible.
As for the cat, sadly he's somewhat disabled following an accident and can't run like he once used to, and since the accident has barely caught anything at all.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I'm not sure re: the pears but guessing it's possible after the great crop last year even after thinning.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.