What is stripping peel off lemons on the tree.

by Bill
(New Zealand)

I am finding lemons still hanging on the tree and which have had all the peel stripped off them, leaving just the fruit itself. Whatever is attacking them starts from the bottom of the fruit and works round and round until the fruit is bare. It is not bird or wasp damage and I suspect mice or rats. Thanks

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What is stripping peel off lemons on the tree.

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Jun 06, 2010

lemons stripped of peel on tree
by: Megan

Sounds suspiciously like rats, or even hungry mice. These animals are expert at shinning up trees to get at fruit, and they like citrus peel, but not so much the flesh.
Could possibly be possums too, and/or snails will also do damage to peel.
Have a look for some small animal droppings around the tree to identify the culprits, and it wouldn't hurt to look for snails under leaves and go out with torch at late dusk or early dark.

Jun 06, 2010

Lemon stripping
by: Bill

Thanks megan for your suggestions. Yes, I suspected mice or rats but what puzzled me was that the stripping started from the bottom of the fruit which were at the end of relatively long thin "twigs" and well above the ground or other branches.
.

Jun 19, 2010

same problem
by: dr. d

I have been waging rodent wars all season this year - my peppermint oil solution has driven them from the more tender vegis to the lemon tree which is now stripped bare of rinds, with exposed fruit hanging everywhere. I think I will hang peppermint sachets and see what happens.

Jun 11, 2011

Naked lemons
by: Charlie

I am experiencing the same problem and have just had a sighting of mice . There is a small army of them that have pretty much wiped out my lemons. They do not seem interested in the limes or oranges.

Charlie from Lakewood Ca

Jun 11, 2011

Peeled lemons
by: Shirley from Hemet,CA

I, too have peeled lemons, and grapefruit with the insides eaten. These are not left on the tree,though. Very strange looking.

Jul 01, 2011

snails or rodents
by: Ben

I've seen snails and slugs eat the outer layer of skin on fallen lemons, but the problem on my tree is that the whole skin & the white pith are all gone. We have a mice plague around here at the moment so it's probably them. Don't get why they start at the bottom of the fruit & work their way up, though! Maybe the skin tastes better down there.

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