A few weeks ago my beautiful blue jade corn was devastated by squirrels or baby raccoons. We’re not sure which because both have been spotted on the deck since then. I’ve been so miserable about the loss I couldn’t bring myself to write about it until today. Not only did they devour all the immature cobs, but they destroyed all the plants too ensuring that there will be no corn harvest this year. I was so excited about harvesting small cobs of blue corn. I didn’t even think to protect them because I have never had that much trouble with squirrels or raccoons on my deck.
Up until now the worst damage has been some chunks taken out of green tomatoes or a bit of digging in pots. I did lose a tiny sundew plant last year as a result of the incessant digging but that was peanuts in comparison to the damage ravaged in one night of mayhem! Not only did they destroy my blue jade corn plants, devour several tomatoes, tear at the roots of my jasmine plant, dig up nasturtiums and leave a mess in their wake, but they also ate my lovely burgundy okra! Thankfully they did not destroy that plant and a new batch of okra are coming to maturity.
Well at the very least I now have a real, honest understanding of the kind of loss one can experience at the hands of urban critters. Live and learn!
Sounds like the work of the raccoons to me. They’re so RUDE!
I blame the squirrels! You know how much I love them.
I’m positive it was the raccoons. We’ve been seeing them around regularly and the damage was so extreme. Davin saw a HUGE raccoon yesterday.
my dad had a problem with raccoons getting into his prize corn crop not too long ago,. all-out war ensued. the dog took care of two, and he trapped two others. you can’t really do the same on your deck, but raccoons LOVE sardines. next season, if they’re still a problem, leave some sardines out and they should ignore the corn.
Yep, most likely raccoons. Brazen things. Sorry to hear about the disappointment (ah, the life of the ever-hopeful gardener).
My CSA basket farmer has to resort to depositing fish on the other side of the farm to attract the raccoons that were utterly destroying the corn crop. It worked, because we actually had some corn in our baskets this year. He gets old, past-date fish from a fish-shop. Not sure your neighbors would appreciate something that smells so high nearby however!