My strawberries are gone!?

Question

I have five strawberry plants , that are kinda small, and there was a ton of red ones and some green ones that were not ready to pick yet! Then i went on a 4 day vacation and when i came back my strawberries were gone! The plant was still there but the berries were all gone , even the green ones were gone! The little bushy stuff at the top of strawberries was still on the plants but the entire berry was gone!

What could have eaten all my strawberries?

How can i protect them from being eaten?

P.S. i am on a tight budget!

Answer 1

Birds are the culprit.  You can get a tomato cage and put some cheese cloth or screen netting to cover it all over and make sure it is buried a little into the dirt so the birds can not remove it.  and when you are ready to pick the berries it will be a simple thing to lift it out of the dirt and put  it back when done.  Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I did it!!! You caught me.... I promise I will replace them

Answer 3

Birds are a big problem with berries also maybe squirrels .Make screen inclosure over top of strawbeerries.

Answer 4

Bunnies like strawberries, and so do the neighbors.

Are they everbearing strawberries?  If so, you might get another crop; don't go on vacation when they are ready to eat.

We stopped planting a garden because the  local wildlife was getting more benefit from our garden than we were!

Good luck!