In the past I'd lost a lot of shoots to squirrels. A friend told me to mix a
large container of vaseline (aka petroleum jelly) with a very generous portion
of red (cayenne) pepper. Add enough hot pepper sauce to thin the mix enough so
that you can paint it on the emerging culms. The mix does not harm the shoots
at all and will stay on the shoots for quite awhile even during rains. Since
using it I haven't lost a shoot yet. Good luck.