Maters Disappeared

[gil1]

Man, I'm so bummed. My tomato plants have been slow to ripen, so I've been eagerly anticipating their starting to turn red. A couple weeks ago, I had a couple that were getting ready but something ate part of them, left them on the ground.

I had about a dozen coming along great yesterday, big and fat suckers. Today, they are all gone. Not a single morsel left of them. My yard has a 5 foot chain link fence around it. The garden is fenced in with chicken wire up to about 2 1/2 feet. My puppy can't get in there and doesn't like tomatoes anyway.

So what could be doing this? Squirrels? birds?

 

[IceMann]

Birds..I have caught crows and Blue jays picking them clean..

 

[trealtree]

My manager at work said he caught squirrels taking his.

 

[wlf89]

neighbor

 

[catman529]

squirrels, birds, neighbors, deer, hard to say. Sorry about your loss, tomatoes are delicious.

 

[Hawk]

Rocky R

 

[Beekeeper]

Rocky R

X2

 

[gil1]

I know it's not neighbors or deer (no deer in my hood). I may have to set up a trail cam.

 

[stik]

Rocky R

X2

my guess too

 

[spoon]

I agree with rocky

 

[gil1]

Something is now starting to eat the corn. It's not coons because they would bend the stalks to get up that high. Man, this could be a total loss for the year. This sux!!!

 

[Poor redneck]

Gil you have a bad case of tree rats, now you know you have city squirrels, lot differant than country squirrels. City squirrel is an opertunist and is educated and vastly outnumber any country side squirrel I have ever seen.. Not much I have done has helped much. I have even sprinkled ceyanne pepper all over them and did not stop them. I have not gotten a single red tomato in a few years, bout to give up on maters cause it is heart breaking to watch them grow then vanish just before starting to turn red. So in order to adapt I have just settled on fried green tomatoes for the past couple years. I have even put out rubber snakes, owls, hawks and have three cats that are supposed to be garding them. Other than completely enclosing them, you like me probably don't stand a chance. And I must say your garden does look great. I quit growing any melons because of this also.

 

[gil1]

Gil you have a bad case of tree rats, now you know you have city squirrels, lot differant than country squirrels. City squirrel is an opertunist and is educated and vastly outnumber any country side squirrel I have ever seen.. Not much I have done has helped much. I have even sprinkled ceyanne pepper all over them and did not stop them. I have not gotten a single red tomato in a few years, bout to give up on maters cause it is heart breaking to watch them grow then vanish just before starting to turn red. So in order to adapt I have just settled on fried green tomatoes for the past couple years. I have even put out rubber snakes, owls, hawks and have three cats that are supposed to be garding them. Other than completely enclosing them, you like me probably don't stand a chance. And I must say your garden does look great. I quit growing any melons because of this also.

Man, that's disheartening. I just can't be there all the time to watch this stuff. I guess my melons are next!!! :cry:

 

[woodchuckc]

Birds, tree rats, coons, possums, etc., but no one has mentioned box turtles. A couple of years ago I couldn't figure out what was munching on my low-hanging tomatoes just as they were getting ripe enough to pick. One morning I was in the garden picking stuff and there was a box turtle with its front legs up on the tomato cage eating on a tomato that was just barely in reach of its mouth.

 

[StalkingWolf]

I would pick them before the they are completely ripe and put them in the window to ripen. If we leave ours on the vine to ripen, something always happen to them. Bugs, birds, squirrels , you name it.

 

[fishboy1]

Get the full size rat traps and bait up with whatever they are eating.

Try and figure out the route they like to take into your garden and set the traps in the travel route.

Feed the tree rats to the dog.

 

[Pic IN the Casa]

I am in the process of waging war against squirrels. They've destroyed about 30 ears of corn. Their time is coming! Oh yes!

 

[trealtree]

I am in the process of waging war against squirrels. They've destroyed about 30 ears of corn. Their time is coming! Oh yes!

Only thing better is when they show up to eat our pecans. A good pellet gun and a pillow on the window seal.

 

[catman529]

I am in the process of waging war against squirrels. They've destroyed about 30 ears of corn. Their time is coming! Oh yes!

Only thing better is when they show up to eat our pecans. A good pellet gun and a pillow on the window seal.

We have 2 adjacent hickory trees in our front yard, and usually the squirrels get all the nuts before I can kill em all. Shagbark nuts are really good especially in a pie. But last year I had to look in the woods for big stands of old hickory trees to harvest enough to make a pie. A few years ago I got over 200 nuts from our front yard trees but the past couple years have either been off years, or squirrels got em while they were still green.

 

[trealtree]

I am in the process of waging war against squirrels. They've destroyed about 30 ears of corn. Their time is coming! Oh yes!

Only thing better is when they show up to eat our pecans. A good pellet gun and a pillow on the window seal.

We have 2 adjacent hickory trees in our front yard, and usually the squirrels get all the nuts before I can kill em all. Shagbark nuts are really good especially in a pie. But last year I had to look in the woods for big stands of old hickory trees to harvest enough to make a pie. A few years ago I got over 200 nuts from our front yard trees but the past couple years have either been off years, or squirrels got em while they were still green.

We also have a Mammoth,Hickory between the 2 pecan trees. I rearely ever see 1 ripe nut from this tree. The squirrels will start cutting the first week of august.