Don't suppose you got ant pics of the tree with lights on do you ? (i'm renting a house with a garden that has a couple of trees in it this got me thinking about decorating them for xmas just an idea )
You should re-write the sign to make people feel guilty if they pick a pear. "The pear you pick, will be one less pear for someone in need of food."
How about a better sign... "Caution... High Voltage Pear Tree -- Will Cause Serious Injury or Death"? If asking nice doesn't work, you can always scare them away...
Some people have an exaggerated sense of overentitlement. Call them a little bit sociopathic. The "but I was only going to pick a few" argument is a classic line.
WTF?? So she'd let you go into her house and say "but I'm only eating a few chocolate bars!!" They are YOURS on YOUR property. "Caution... High Voltage Pear Tree -- Will Cause Serious Injury or Death"? hahahaha
And eats babies. It is all on a sliding scale. Everybody bends the rules a bit and breaks a few. But some people are more comfortable with how many they break, and how far they bend them. At some point you're bound to lose perspective and can't see or care why others might object.
Or cut out the middle man and donate straight to al quida, your £4s a week will go to supplying Kalashnikov rifles to depraved deprived freedom fighters around the world...