Q: Could you suggest what to do about squirrels that take all the apples off the tree before they're even ripe? Is there a spray or something that would keep them away? We just moved here last summer ...

Q: A persistent squirrel keeps stripping the bark of my maple and licking the sap. It is killing the branches of my tree. I have tried everything. How do I get it to go away and stay away? A: ...

Dear Gary: After seeing and hearing barn owls in our backyard last summer and fall, we decided to put up a barn owl nest box. It is on a pine tree trunk, approximately 20 feet above the ground.

DEAR JOAN: I have a mature almond tree in my backyard and every year the squirrels eat all the almonds. This tree is next to a wood fence so the squirrels run along the fence and hop on the branches.

The summer foliage of deciduous trees has dropped and their bare limbs are exposed. What is discovered in the bare canopies? The bare winter tree limbs reveal what busy neighborhood squirrels have ...

DEAR JOAN: I have a mature almond tree in my backyard and every year the squirrels eat all the almonds. This tree is next to a wood fence so the squirrels run along the fence and hop on the branches.

Q. We have a 30-year-old blue spruce tree. This winter it began dropping the tips of its branches. The fallen pieces were still green and about 3 to 4 inches long. What could be causing this? A.