Greengirl: Naughty nibblers
Posted on August 2nd, 2005 – 5:34 PMBy Jaime Chismar
Who is feasting on my romas? Vegetarian vampires?
Another casualty from this morning:
(No. I am not talking about the grass. Poor tomato.)
Just who are these naughty nibblers?
23 Responses to "Greengirl: Naughty nibblers"
Wascally wabbits?
I had squirrels take one bite out of each tomato in our garden last year. They like to wait until they are just ripe and get that first bite before I do.
Looks like a squirrel got your pepper and a chipmonk the others.
BTW, one thing my dad found is that putting out some water for the critters seemed to help. He postulated that they were after the juice more than the fruit itself, though in the case of your pepper, the culprit looks like it was hungry.
Greengirl says:
Hmmm… That is an interesting theory… It’s been horribly hot and humid for weeks. I bet all the critters would appreciate a nice, stiff drink.
The water seems to work at my community garden. Then again, this weekend I saw a squirrel drop a baseball sized green tomato before I chased it off. The little beasties also like zucchini and cucumbers.
Looks like birds to me…and I don’t have a good answer other than a “bad-ass cat” for preventing them…although I’ve heard of people using web-netting. Good luck!
Greengirl says:
We have four feline friends who hide under the bed whenever they see a centipede. They’d probably invite the squirrels inside for a nap. Bad ass, indeed.
Squirrel and/or chipmunk is probably right. Giving them access to water sounds like a great idea. Make sure you keep it refreshed though - you don’t want a skeeter breeding pool!
I ran into something that was eating all of the zuchinni blossoms overnite. I put an old pair of stinky tennis shoes out next to the plant and I haven’t lost a blossom since.
My vote is also for squirrel/chipmunk. In WI, a radio consultant suggested leaving a radio playing in a nearby
shed or even on a podium at your raised bed to keep critters away. All the critters drink from our four birdbaths, two are set on the ground for them. Worth a try.
cyn smith
P S
Showed your photos to my tomato pro, Joe, who says the upper photo is not a bite, rather some sorta blight….and
he keeps critters away by sprinkling mothballs around his plants.
cs
Greengirl says:
Wow! You get a gold star for calling in a favor from the tomato pro. Would blight affect the whole plant or just a few tomatoes?
Do you have any slugs in your garden? It is possible that the damage in the upper photo could be caused by slugs. They take bites out of my tomatoes so I sprinkled some diatomaceous earth around the plants.
Greengirl says:
I’ve seen plenty of black ants scurrying about but no slugs. The stems and leaves on my tomato plants are bright green and healthy. Hmmm…
I’ve never had slugs attack the veggies themselves. They usually attack plant stems at ground level.
I had exactly the same types of holes in my Romas (for the first time ever) and the expert I called at Bachmans said it was cutworms. Cut a slit down the side and into the bottom of a plastic cup or milk carton, wrap the plastic around the base of the plant and push into the dirt a couple of inches. Good luck!
Greengirl says:
Cutworms, eh? That would explain why only one cluster was damaged. The rest of the romas look great - still green, but healthy. Funny, you should mention plastic cartons, Stacy. From pests to moistrue control, they seem to solve many tomato problems. I’m beginning to kick myself for planting everything so close together. I can barely squeeze my hand through the tomato hedge in the back yard.
I’d go with cutworms or slugs for #1. I HAVE had slugs make holes in my tomatoes. For #2, something with teeth, a kind of rodent. A bird would leave more obvious holes. Contrary to what others have said, I leave water out for the creatures and they snack on my veggies anyway. Other than a fence, you can try light plastic bags stuck on posts to scare them away, a chickenwire fence or even a low voltage electrified fence to keep em away. Or you can let them damage a few, which is what I do.
Bill’s right…Cutworms don’t usually hit the fruit, just the stems of plants. I agree with the Slugs, leave out a shallow tray of beer (no kidding) to draw them away from your veggies.
I feel your pain. I am also a beginning gardener and have learned a lot from your blog - thank you! I had beautiful sweetcorn coming along and then the other night it was completely destroyed! It looks like a murder scene where the corn was, yet nothing else was touched. There isn’t one corn plant left. I almost started crying. I’m guessing it was raccons. Is there anyway to prevent that from happening next year? I’m tempted to put barbed wire around each plant next time!
Greengirl says:
Danielle, I am so sorry about your corn! How disappointing! I’d be tempted to call in sick to work, then spend the day searching for cool season crops to grow in their place.
I can empathize with your desire to put a sniper stand in the back yard. It looks like you and the DNR have simular strategies for varmint control.
“Raccoons may cause considerable damage to gardens or truck crops, particularly sweet corn. They will pull back the husks and eat the corn, and may break off corn stalks as they climb up the stalks to get the ears… Raccoons raiding vegetable gardens may be excluded with a single or double wire electric fence.”
Electric fence? Is that a safe option for us city dwellers?
At first I thought it was chipmunks, at least with the tomatoes, because they love tomato juice, but green peppers, too? Also, from what I understand, chipmunks eat holes in the bottoms to get the juice, so I’m not sure anymore. If it were chipmunks, the best way to deter them would be to put a large basket, made from 1/2-inch hardware cloth around each plant, and dit it into the soil aways so the critters can’t crawl underneath. Hey, if you find out for sure who the culprits are, please let us know!
I vote that the damage on the tomato # 1 was slugs and tomato # 2 was squirrel or chipmunk.
The good news is that the mothball tip works on both rodents, and the beer works on the slugs. In fact, cheap beer that the friend who means well left in your fridge at the last party works great, the little blighters fall in and drown, empty each morning and refill each night until you don’t get any more drunks.
If this method is too gross (it is for me) there is a slug bait made from copper that they eat and are able to crawl off to die elsewhere. The stuff is non toxic and biodegrades into the soil.
Only one way to know for sure. Webcam! Catch ‘em in the act! 
Greengirl says:
A webcam, eh? I could watch my neighbor’s squirrels and have panic attacks all day long!
I was broken hearted for the past 3 days, my beautiful beefsteak tomato’s are all eaten up, big chunks out of them and some on the ground haf eaten, even the green ones! I was going to pick them this week too, darn animals, I saw a ton of squirrels and a family of I think, possums living under the shed, not sure who the culprit is but I want revenge….. I have slugs in the garden too but have not noticed any harm from them except maybe some leaves chewed up*
Picture #2: Rabbits!! That’s exactly what mine looked like after the rabbits got to them. I had to put a fence around my garden a couple years ago because of them. Last year I had a young one find his way through the fence and guess what….chunks were eaten out again. This year a new critter has found the garden…frogs. I had no problem with them in there since they are probably eating all the bugs. Well, needless to say, they are also making “dents” in a few of the tomatoes. Every year adds a new challenge to gardening. But soon, all the efforts will pay off when I’ll be making salsa and spaghetti sauce from all those fresh tomatoes.
An answer on raccoons…put a big light in the corn at night. They don’t like that. If they still come back, put some music too.
Greengirl says:
I’ve read that frogs and toads are perfect garden friends. They like the all moisture and all the bad bugs. I didn’t know amphibians could eat tomatoes - then again, I didn’t know rabbits liked corn.
Last week, I put some plastic netting over the tomatoes to discourage my naughty nibblers. It’s not very attractive, but so far, so good.
Gardening is a strange combination of offensive plant maneuvers and animal defensive tactics, isn’t it?
I have had the same problems with my tomatoes. My culprit was some very aggressive squirrels. The worst part has been when the squirrels peel my grape tomatoes leaving all of the shreds to cook on the wood of my deck. I will definetely try the plastic netting and the water. But, I’m not sure the music would scare away my urban naughty nibblers. They are used to lots of noise!
Frogs do NOT eat veggies in the garden. They chow down on slugs, cutworms, and all the other nasties. Frogs and toads (and snakes, too) are your garden friends! Encourage them to stay.
Fellow gardeners, those bite marks are definitely chipmunks. I’ve watched 1 or 2 particularly aggressive chipmunks eat my tomatoes so I began to remove them early to allow them to ripen on my windows but then the chipmunks began to eat the green ones. My wife suggested wrapping the base of the plants, which are in tubs, with aluminum foil and that worked for a couple weeks but eventually the chips recognized it wasn’t a barrier or of any danger. I’m going to try the mothballs next and then a netting. Thanks for the advice
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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