The apple is a globally cultivated, calorie-rich food source in both natural and suburban environments. Its sweet, fleshy pulp and easy digestibility make it a target for a vast spectrum of the animal kingdom, especially during the fall harvest season. Numerous species, from large woodland foragers to small orchard pests, seek out this concentrated source of sugars and nutrients.
Large Mammals That Seek Out Apples
White-tailed deer are among the most common large mammals to feed on apples, often consuming fruit that has fallen to the ground or browsing on low-hanging branches in orchards and yards. Their feeding style is identifiable by the ragged edges they leave on twigs and branches, as deer lack upper incisor teeth and must tear foliage rather than making a clean cut. Though they primarily eat fallen fruit, deer can inflict significant damage to young trees by browsing the terminal buds and new growth.
In forested regions, black bears and brown bears are major apple consumers, capable of causing extensive damage to trees quickly. A bear seeking apples often climbs the tree, using its weight and strength to break or strip branches to access the fruit, a behavior that can severely deform or kill a young tree. Raccoons, known for their dexterity, frequently target ripe fruit on lower branches and carry the fruit away to consume it. These larger mammals are drawn to the easily digestible carbohydrates in the fruit, which provides an energy boost for winter preparations or daily activity.
Small Ground Dwellers and Orchard Pests
Smaller mammals often focus their feeding efforts on apples that have dropped to the orchard floor, but they can also damage the tree structure itself, particularly during the dormant winter months. Rabbits and hares, for instance, feed on the bark of young trees, creating a clean, diagonal cut on the bark and twigs because they possess both upper and lower incisor teeth. This girdling—the complete removal of bark around the trunk—can be fatal to a tree by severing the cambium layer that transports nutrients.
Mice and voles are destructive ground dwellers that feed near the trunk base, often protected by snow cover or ground vegetation. Voles chew the bark and roots; meadow voles cause visible girdling just above the soil line, while pine voles damage the roots and crown entirely below ground. Squirrels also eat fallen apples but are more likely to carry whole or partially eaten fruit away from the tree, leaving distinct chew marks as they process the fruit. Their presence is often detected by the small pieces of dropped fruit or core remnants scattered beneath a tree.
Feathered and Winged Apple Consumers
Avian species, such as robins, starlings, and jays, are common consumers that typically target the softer, ripening fruit still hanging on the tree. These birds use their beaks to peck holes into the surface of the apple, consuming the exposed pulp. They often leave behind damaged fruit that is then susceptible to rot or secondary insect infestation, ruining a larger volume of the crop due to surface damage.
Invertebrates present a different challenge, as they consume the fruit internally. The codling moth larva, often called the “apple worm,” burrows into the fruit to feed, frequently tunneling toward the core and seeds. Conversely, the apple maggot, the larval stage of a fruit fly, tunnels randomly through the flesh of the apple, leaving winding trails that cause the fruit to bruise, decay, and drop prematurely. These insect larvae spend their feeding stage completely enclosed within the apple.
The Dangers of Apple Seeds and Pits
The final component of the apple, the seeds, contains a compound that is chemically distinct from the fruit’s flesh and poses a potential risk to consumers. Apple seeds contain amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside. When the seeds are crushed, chewed, or thoroughly digested, this compound can break down and release hydrogen cyanide. Cyanide is a potent toxin that interferes with cellular respiration, the process by which cells use oxygen to generate energy.
While the chemical potential for toxicity exists, the risk to animals that consume whole apples is low. The amygdalin is protected within the tough, bitter seed coat, and for toxicity to occur, a large quantity of seeds must be thoroughly chewed and metabolized. A small dog, for instance, would need to consume the seeds from a significant number of apples to reach a toxic dose. The risk to wildlife from eating a few intact seeds is minimal.