Solution to mice and birds in cantalope

[AndyS]

Andy comments:

My solution seems to be working well, and I wanted to share it...

Last year, mice, or birds, got to my cantalope as it started to ripen and pecked holes in the side..... I got very little yield.....

This year, as soon as the fruit got to baseball size, I took the WalMart plastic bags that they put your groceries in, and wrapped the fruit...

I just carefully put the bag around the fruit, and tied it loosely, giving plenty of room for the fruit to grow.....

I am getting a good yield, and NONE of the wrapped fruits have been attacked by predators..... A couple of the fruits I missed have been eaten, as in last year....

It seems to work......

Any comments or improvements that can be suggested ???

Andy in Eureka, Texas

Eureka, where none of the women here think they are too fat to wear tube tope.....

[Pat Kiewicz]

Nylon stockings/pantyhose legs used to do the trick when I grew melons. The hosiery expands with the melons, and doesn't trap moisture.

Haven't grown melons in a while. Wilt is the problem and cuke beetles are the vector. I'm unwilling to spray (lots and lots) as a solution.

(I don't grow cucumbers any more, either. I was growing seedless cukes in a screened box, but began to trouble with fungus.)

[AndyS]

Andy replies:

Thanks for the tip, Pat. I do have a bit of a moisture problem, but your solution would fix it. I think any type of web stuff, like the bags that onions and oranges come in, might do the trick, also, as I don't have access to panty hose.....

Andy in Eureka, Texas