We have been growing Mexican Piquins for several years now. Beautiful plants about 4 ft. tall with hundreds of bright orange/red fruit (1/8" X 1/4"). This year we had a big problem with one type of bird. We call them "cat birds" don't know what they really are we just call them that because they make sounds like a cat and have long tail feathers. Anyway, these critters love the Piquins. the fruit is erect and falls off just with the slightest touch so it make them easy pray for the birds. The robbery started late summer and continued into the fall. There were only 2-3 birds at first but quickly increased to several dozen! We had 25 plants and could pick about a quart a day before the birds hit, then, down to less than a quart a week. The only thing that worked to keep them away was good marksmanship. Sorry animal lovers, but nobody picks my Chiles but me. As a point of interest, I gave a hand full to our chickens who eagerly went after the bite sized treats as they do with anything we toss oven the fence. I think they can feel the heat (unlike some birds), because in just a few seconds they stopped eating the Chiles and started rubbing and dragging their beaks on the ground as if to rug off the offensive taste. They also will not eat habs. Question for Piquin growers. Do any of you have an easy way to harvest the fruit? I have tried to wrap a sheet around the bottom of the plants to catch them as I rub the top of the plants to make the Chiles fall. This work well if the plants are spread 3-4 foot apart, but with row planting spaced 18-20 inches between plants it takes a lot of time to place the sheet and move down the row. I have heard that experienced pickers can pick as much as 6 quarts a day in the wild. Maybe a 10-12 hour day. Our best is about a quart in an hour with 3 people picking. Any suggestions or helpful comments? Steve ======================================================= Uncle Steve's Hot Stuff 1998 product list is available by auto response Email to: mailto:hot.chiles@usa.net =======================================================