"So it was a drive-by then?""Yeah, my neighbor saw it happen. Two guys drove up in a car, jumped out, grabbed some pomegranates, and then took off."
The pom-thievery has already begun for poor Elise. With the pomegranate tree out in the front, it's easy for people to slyly pick a peck of poms. One year, over half the tree's fruit was purloined in the night, the day before they were going to be plucked.
"So I saw you've already marked them."
"All that are in my reach, so if anyone is taller than me, it's unlabeled. I just hope the ones they got were the one's I marked."
"I still cracks me up that you write 'Please Do Not Steal!' on every pomegranate. Maybe you should invest in a motion sensor device."
"I actually looked into that," she paused for a sip of grape juice, "But dad mows the lawn twice a week, and there's all the extension cord and buying a camera and alarm. It just won't work."
"Mousetraps. Hang 'em from the tree in inconspicuous places."
"That's an idea. It hurts just enough."
"And it won't break bones, so no lawsuits. Though I think the wind and branches might set them off. Then there are innocent squirrels who will be caught in the madness."
"Maybe some kind of wireless motion sensor alarm...?"
I'm sure there must be a solution out there. Still, I must admit I'm still a fan of the mousetrap idea if we can work out the kinks.
You could always get a guard dog. Dare I say it - a Pomeranian! ;-) Enough ankle biting power to deter the would-be thieves; in a small, unassuming package they wouldn't suspect.
ReplyDeleteYou need a Pom for your Poms. :-D
These are so pretty, no wonder people are making midnight raids. Great photos... poor Elise!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's too funny but sad, really, that people would steal her pomegranates. My grandparents have a tree, and while I haven't heard any stories of thievery perhaps I should warn them!
ReplyDeleteI've even marked a few of them "Shame on you!".
ReplyDeleteGrrrrr.
Same thing happens to my neighbor across the street. It happens during the day!
ReplyDeleteOne day, she was standing on the side of her house and this lady in her 30's and a guy with her walked right up and started taking them off the tree. She came around the corner and said, "what are you doing?" They simply said, "oh, we thought they were for free". She told them to get off of her property and they took the pomms and left!!
I have permission to go over and take some...thankfully.
I suggested hanging a "no trespassing sign up".
Good for Elise! My mother was having a problem with people stealing her giant blue hydrangea stems and she also stapled a sign. It seemed to work... good luck! I'm all in favor of the mousetraps as well!
ReplyDeleteMust be really annoying but writing on the pomegranates is just hilarious!
ReplyDeleteMaybe inject a few poms with some Exlax or rub some hot sauce on them.
ReplyDeleteI'm recalling a line in Mrs. Doubtfire that was something on the line of, "It was a run-by fruiting!"
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't seen the movie then please forgive this inane comment!
They have those motion sensor sprinklers... when it detects motion the sprinkler goes off. That could be a thought...
ReplyDeletewhat about a little fence? like a short white picket one around the front yard? anything that makes it slightly more difficult acts as some sort of deterrent...
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be some sort of heat-sensor wireless alarm. Motion's too sensitive to squirrels, wind, etc. Or, like tknoppe says, a serious attack dog. Why do people feel so entitled? Grrrr
ReplyDeleteMy mom caught some folks stealing her Hydrangea flowers years ago and she still talks about how much nerve some people have.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of writing on the fruit - at least you know that someone has to read it before they can shamelessly eat it.
How about a LARGE sign saying "Do not consume these poms as they are an ornamental variety and are TOXIC to humans'. It would take a brave person indeed to eat them.
ReplyDeleteShe needs to invest in a high-powered water gun, and set up sniper duty. Love the messages, though!
ReplyDeleteNo way! Unbelievable. I love that Elise wrote warnings on the fruit. But really- sad, sad, sad.
ReplyDelete(Great pics, Garrett!)
I really chuckled at "pom-thievery." You could try what a former neighbor of mine did when people kept stealing her oranges: she set out a "donation box," asking people to drop money in it if they took the fruit. Would you believe people actually left money in it? They thievery slowed down some but never quite stopped.
ReplyDeleteI think that writing on the fruit is a great idea. At least they can't turn around and re-sell them!
ReplyDeleteI also love the motion-detector sprinklers idea.
Some people are shameless in their fruit stealing.
We don't even eat ours (*blush*). Too much work, they are. There's probably a secret method I don't know about. But mostly, I put a few out for decoration and am happy to let the squirrels raid the rest.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we could hang "Free Poms" cards with my address on the tree.
hahaha ... this post has just got me in splits....poor guy...imagine how frustrated he must've been to to write that.
ReplyDeleteit is damn pissing off to have someone steal your fruits. Imagine u wait n watch and wait almost forever to have your fruits grow ...n to have someone steal it ....arrggg !!! shoot the f*****s !