Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an unknown
animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather large
bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be caused
by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms so she
rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?

In article ,
Paul Cassel wrote:

Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an unknown
animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather large
bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be caused
by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms so she
rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?

Perhaps turtles ?

Bill

Where do you live?

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

In article ,
Paul Cassel wrote:

Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an unknown
animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather large
bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be caused
by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms so she
rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?

I would suspect snails or slugs.

http://tinyurl.com/62zfgt

A product containing iron phosphate, such as Sluggo, would be the best
treatment option in terms of efficacy and safety.

Amos Nomore wrote:

In article ,
Paul Cassel wrote:


Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an unknown
animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather large
bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be caused
by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms so she
rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?


I would suspect snails or slugs.

http://tinyurl.com/62zfgt

A product containing iron phosphate, such as Sluggo, would be the best
treatment option in terms of efficacy and safety.

Depending how dry your area is right now, it could be squirrels, rabbits
etc. You could try leaving water out in a pan so they would have it
available and not try out your tomatoes for much needed liquid.

Kate in Mid TN - hasn't rained in awhile and squirrels and rabbits are
tasting peaches

kate wrote:
Amos Nomore wrote:

In article ,
Paul Cassel wrote:


Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an
unknown animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather
large bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be
caused by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms
so she rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?


I would suspect snails or slugs.

http://tinyurl.com/62zfgt

A product containing iron phosphate, such as Sluggo, would be the best
treatment option in terms of efficacy and safety.

Depending how dry your area is right now, it could be squirrels, rabbits
etc. You could try leaving water out in a pan so they would have it
available and not try out your tomatoes for much needed liquid.

Kate in Mid TN - hasn't rained in awhile and squirrels and rabbits are
tasting peaches

I'm in central New Mexico and we've had a lot of rain lately. We are in
a snail area. Many around, but I didn't think they could eat those big
chunks.

I'll check for snails. No squirrels in my area.

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:38:48 -0500, kate wrote:

Amos Nomore wrote:

In article ,
Paul Cassel wrote:


Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an unknown
animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather large
bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be caused
by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms so she
rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?


I would suspect snails or slugs.

http://tinyurl.com/62zfgt

A product containing iron phosphate, such as Sluggo, would be the best
treatment option in terms of efficacy and safety.

Depending how dry your area is right now, it could be squirrels, rabbits
etc. You could try leaving water out in a pan so they would have it
available and not try out your tomatoes for much needed liquid.

Kate in Mid TN - hasn't rained in awhile and squirrels and rabbits are
tasting peaches


We've had a very moist summer and the squirrels are still devastating
the tomatoes. It is as if they have adapted and now consider tomatoes
part of their regular diet.

But the squirrels REALLY eat the fruit...at least half of each tomato
they go after is consumed.

Boron

On Aug 15, 7:42�pm, Paul Cassel
wrote:
kate wrote:
Amos Nomore wrote:

In article ,
�Paul Cassel wrote:

Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an
unknown animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather
large bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be
caused by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms
so she rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?

I would suspect snails or slugs.

http://tinyurl.com/62zfgt

A product containing iron phosphate, such as Sluggo, would be the best
treatment option in terms of efficacy and safety.

Depending how dry your area is right now, it could be squirrels, rabbits
etc. You could try leaving water out in a pan so they would have it
available and not try out your tomatoes for much needed liquid.

Kate in Mid TN - hasn't rained in awhile and squirrels and rabbits are
tasting peaches

I'm in central New Mexico and we've had a lot of rain lately. We are in
a snail area. Many around, but I didn't think they could eat those big
chunks.

I'll check for snails. No squirrels in my area.

Most likely culprit is birds.

On Aug 15, 7:01 pm, Paul Cassel
wrote:
Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an unknown
animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather large
bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be caused
by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms so she
rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?

Just guessing: are the bites only on the lower-most tomatoes? I had
this problem in my garden one year and blamed rabbits and squirrels.
Whatever was eating my tomatoes would take only a bite or two from
one, then go on to another... why not eat a single tomato completely
and leave the others alone?

I caught the varmint in the act: It was a woodchuck. It could reach
only as high as it could stand on its back legs, so tomatoes higher on
the plants survived intact through the rest of the season. I now keep
my "rabbit fence" in place even after my spring vegetables are gone--
this season no one's eating my tomatoes but me and my family.

I've written a few blog entries about tomatoes--if you have a chance,
please take a look at: http://www.smallkitchengarden.net/sm...sucker-plucker
and http://www.smallkitchengarden.net/sm...omatoes-a-mess

In article
, dyogi
wrote:

On Aug 15, 7:01 pm, Paul Cassel
wrote:
Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an unknown
animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather large
bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be caused
by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms so she
rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?

Just guessing: are the bites only on the lower-most tomatoes? I had
this problem in my garden one year and blamed rabbits and squirrels.
Whatever was eating my tomatoes would take only a bite or two from
one, then go on to another... why not eat a single tomato completely
and leave the others alone?

I caught the varmint in the act: It was a woodchuck. It could reach
only as high as it could stand on its back legs, so tomatoes higher on
the plants survived intact through the rest of the season. I now keep
my "rabbit fence" in place even after my spring vegetables are gone--
this season no one's eating my tomatoes but me and my family.

I've written a few blog entries about tomatoes--if you have a chance,
please take a look at:
http://www.smallkitchengarden.net/sm...sucker-plucker
and
http://www.smallkitchengarden.net/sm...omatoes-a-mess

You've described classic behavior not only of groundhogs but also
ground-squirrels, grey squirrels, and a few other gnawing animals. They
tend not to like tomatoes very much but if there are droughty conditions,
they gnaw open tomatoes for a drink of water. The rabbit-fence is the best
thing obviously but sometimes you can get them to stop just by providing a
ground-level birdbath.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
visit my temperate gardening website:
http://www.paghat.com
visit my film reviews website:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com

On Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:51:59 -0700,
(paghat) wrote:

In article
, dyogi
wrote:

On Aug 15, 7:01 pm, Paul Cassel
wrote:
Of the four tomato plants we have, one is being attacked by an unknown
animal. It only eats the tomatoes themselves but takes rather large
bites out of them. My wife (the gardener) says the bites may be caused
by a hornworm (?) except there are no other signs of hornworms so she
rules that out.

She thinks it may be a rodent. I suppose there may be mice around. Do
mice eat tomatoes? These bites are roughly 5 mm x 3 mm. Any other ideas?


I've caught mice and chipmunks eating my cherry tomatoes and routinely
set out traps. Last year 11 chipmunks were summarily dispatched to
rodent heaven; this year I'm up to 3 mice.

viv