raccoons, opossoms , roof rats and things that go munch in the night...

...a few years ago, I planted a Fuji apple tree and a pomegranite tree...I did this because I love both Fuji apples and pomegranites ,but I should have known better... I have a comice pear tree that is in too shady a spot to give me pears, so I have to buy them...my necture[white]peach tree gives me peaches if I am a)quicker than the birds and rats b)the spring conditions were just right and c) I'm really lucky...my relationship with my cherry tree and apricot tree are pretty much the same as with the peach, ...considering all these "bad experiences", a smart person would conclude that backyard fruit growing is "iffy", at best, and not waste the effort...so why did I plant the apple and Pom. trees after all the other experiences ? I guess because I grew up on a farm eating tree-ripe fruit and the stuff in the store tastes nothing like what I grew up with...and because for the few times that I have been successful in snatching my meager harvest from all the forces of nature lined up against me, the taste and smell, not to mention the juice running down my chin, have transported me back to the ranch and the "real" fruit of my youth... for the last few years since I planted both the apple and pom. trees, I have watched during the spring for blossoms...last year ,there were finally blossoms on both, but they never set as fruit... this spring they did and I was excited ! I watched the apples swell and the pom. flowers bloom and set and they began to swell also...about 2 weeks ago, I noticed the apples were starting to show red and decided to wait another week or so as they also showed some green still...the poms were begining to weigh down the branches, so I propped them up, noting the fang marks but knowing that until Halloween, they wouldn't be the level of ripeness I craved[ I had tried one that had split open and it was about half ripe]...I then made my way to the apple tree...there had been over a dozen apples the last time I had looked,but now...not a one !... I looked closer and they weren't on the ground, they were just gone...gone, with my zucchini crop, the last of my tomatoes [few that there were to begin with...] a "pest control" expert would cost hundreds of dollars and would trap and kill the critters...I considered it, but I remember the possums when they were babies [they were so cute...] and I just can't bring myself to have them so callously "exterminated"[they'll probably die this winter anyway...]...the raccoons are probably the biggest problem and they are too smart for traps anyway and trying to get rid of roof rats in this area is like spitting into the ocean....so for now , I'm keeping a watchful eye on the 6 or 7 poms on the tree...and hoping the bitterness of the skin will keep them safe for me until after Halloween, when they will be sweeter....