What's eating my oranges?
Question:I grow about 8 or 9 citrus trees in an inner city backyard in Melbourne Australia.
In the last couple of weeks I've noticed something's been eating my Leng navel oranges (Leng is a type of Washington, I think). About a third of the skin of the fruit is missing, and all the pulp has been chewed out, leaving a hollow partial sphere hanging on the tree.
It's very bizarre, and I've never heard of anything like this before.
With global climate change, we see fruit bats more and more in Melbourne, even in near winter. We also see lots of parrots, especially lorikeets. I have no idea who the culprit is, though.
Any ideas, especially from citrus growers in more subtropical climes?
Answers:
It sounds like birds Snout.I don't think an insect would do that. I have a lovely big orange here in my garden in New Zealand. Never had that trouble. Tell you what though,why don't you put some bird netting over tree?At least then you could rule out birds. I have seen those Mynah birds getting into the fruit that falls down, but never on the tree. Good Luck!
You surely have an animal, not a bug unless it is the size of a cat. I'm in America so I defer to another OZ-lander to help ya out mate. Good luck.
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