[madcat]

Sounds more like a 2 legged thief to me 

Yep,  birds . . .  all my Gooseberries were taken in a couple of days when they were far from ripe,  will be netting then next year.

My parents lost theirs to the magpies.  They wondered about why the bird was sitting so long at the base of the bush - it was too full to fly!     They are now netted and the birds have remembered ...  They were walking round and round looking for the way in.   

[louiseyoungs]

I went to pick my first raspberry last week and someTHING had nicked it!  I was ranting and raving to myself that it was the new and mysterious neighbour that I've never seen (I don't even know if it is a new neighbour, I'm just so full of assumption) but when I spoke to my mum she mentioned that I should net them from birds but mice could have something to do with it too. *$&*£$*%!!!!! I reinforced the raspberries last weekend and fingers crossed so far I have some nice tasty ones to collect this evening.

Slugs on my strawbs is a different matter!!!!

[beesrus]

It certainly is just about the start of birds bingeing on fruit. I can't blame them I guess, we all do it. If one gets lucky, they can't help themselves. They need counselling 
Fortunately, my gooseberries were there to be harvested this morning... I had three nets over them this year drawn at the bottom ! Success.

[jaydig]

I know birds and animals can be guilty of stripping crops very quickly, but you get used to it, and can tell when they are the culprit. In my case (and several others on the same site), once this particular individual had left the site we had no more problems.

[Yana]

We have suffered really badly of late and I know for certain that  the culprits are the two legged type.
Strawbs, gooseberries and raspberries are all being taken and it just the odd one. In quite a lot of the cases, whole crops are being stolen. How do I know? I have a wildlife camera that is set up and I have hard evidence of the culprits. One of whom is a plot holder!! I checked with the police and it is perfectly legal to use a camera and not have a notice to that effect. The images can be used in a court of law. At the moment I am waiting for the chair of the allotment association to get back to me with how he wants to move this forward. If I had my way, the plot holder would be thrown off and I would put copies of the other culprits faces everywhere on the plot, particularly the path that bisects the site and is used by the general public.

[Handy Andi]

I also had fruit (blackcurrants) mysteriously go missing overnight, a couple of years ago. I'm convinced it was another plot holder, and I'm fairly certain who it was too   

[TheWhiteRabbit]

We're really fortunate that our plots are secured on all sides with high railings and we have a padlocked security gate, plus we're at the end of a cul de sac and you wouldn't know they were there. We've had one break in recently where they sheared the lock and stole equipment from sheds.

I'm happy to say we don't get any veg/fruit theft other than from the animal kingdom.