This is the first time this has happened. My Sam cherry had most of the cherries ferment as they ripened. What could have caused this? Usually raccoons eat all the cherries that are higher than I can pick, but this year only a few cherries were eaten - I guess they didn't like the taste.
Recent hot weather perhaps? I do know that because of the raccoon roundworm hazard - it is fatal in humans, with it being said that all raccoons down here in Washington should be considered infected - I would not eat out of a tree these had been climbing around in anyway. Also, if you netted your tree at fruiting time to keep these out it would eliminate losses to birds as well.
I once had to deal with raccoons nesting on a roof of an office/shed at a nature reserve and thought this info might be of use. I think it is extremely unlikely that anyone could be infected from a raccoon climbing in a tree. The eggs of the roundworm need to be ingested from 2-4 week old raccoon feces. Handwashing after any garden chores would likely suffice. raccoon-roundworm-baylisascaris-procyonis-infections-in-people baylisascaris-procyonis.php baylisascaris-procyonis-people.php
It will be easy to avoid raccoon feces - they're easy to spot because they have cherry stones in them. Fortumately they have been deposited far from any area I actively garden - under an enormous conifer.
Washington Department of Health web pages on the subject - to which several pages are devoted - warn that anyplace a raccoon has walked should be considered infected. This says to me that eggs are expelled at times other than when defecation is taking place. Otherwise, the greatest number of cases in North America is among children and forest workers - the eggs linger in a viable condition long after the fecal matter has disappeared. And can cause infection through inhalation.
