I'm growing sweet corn in containers in a garden area just in front of
my house. I'm doing a batch of about 10 containers every two weeks and
the first batch is almost ready - or was almost ready. Something at
night has chewed into most of the mature ears. I suspect deer but
could it be racoons. The dogs sleeping inside the house have not been
barking so they haven't noticed. Will fox or wolf urine or something
dissuade these nocturnal maurauders? It would take a lot of chicken
wire to corral about 60 containers, and the HOA might complain if the
yard looks like a military complex.

If the husks seem to have been "peeled" down, it might be squirrels. I once
came back from vacation while living in NJ, and the corn looked as though it
had been vandalized!

It never occurred to me that it could be squirrels until I saw one happily
peeling away the husks -- I swear the little devil waited until I was
standing at the window with a cup of coffee!!

Sorry, but I have no ideas how you might stop the critters -- although if
it is squirrels, you might consider putting out seed or something for them
to eat instead.

Anne




"Rob" wrote in message
...
I'm growing sweet corn in containers in a garden area just in front of
my house. I'm doing a batch of about 10 containers every two weeks and
the first batch is almost ready - or was almost ready. Something at
night has chewed into most of the mature ears. I suspect deer but
could it be racoons. The dogs sleeping inside the house have not been
barking so they haven't noticed. Will fox or wolf urine or something
dissuade these nocturnal maurauders? It would take a lot of chicken
wire to corral about 60 containers, and the HOA might complain if the
yard looks like a military complex.

Yes, come to think of it it does look like the husks were peeled down
halfway. The silly critters eat half of each ear - like they don't
want to share. I'm sure they're taste-testing for done-ness. As for
putting out those squirrel feeders, I'm afraid if I do that I'll
attract every squirrel in southern wake county to my yard. Plus the
torrential rain we just had did terrible damage to my larger plants.
What a shame. Fresh picked corn is a wonderful treat and I put so much
effort into these.

Rob

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 21:00:15 GMT, "Anne Lurie"
wrote:

If the husks seem to have been "peeled" down, it might be squirrels. I once
came back from vacation while living in NJ, and the corn looked as though it
had been vandalized!

It never occurred to me that it could be squirrels until I saw one happily
peeling away the husks -- I swear the little devil waited until I was
standing at the window with a cup of coffee!!

Sorry, but I have no ideas how you might stop the critters -- although if
it is squirrels, you might consider putting out seed or something for them
to eat instead.

Anne




"Rob" wrote in message
.. .
I'm growing sweet corn in containers in a garden area just in front of
my house. I'm doing a batch of about 10 containers every two weeks and
the first batch is almost ready - or was almost ready. Something at
night has chewed into most of the mature ears. I suspect deer but
could it be racoons. The dogs sleeping inside the house have not been
barking so they haven't noticed. Will fox or wolf urine or something
dissuade these nocturnal maurauders? It would take a lot of chicken
wire to corral about 60 containers, and the HOA might complain if the
yard looks like a military complex.

On 2006-06-15, Rob wrote:
Yes, come to think of it it does look like the husks were peeled down
halfway. The silly critters eat half of each ear - like they don't
want to share. I'm sure they're taste-testing for done-ness. As for
putting out those squirrel feeders, I'm afraid if I do that I'll
attract every squirrel in southern wake county to my yard. Plus the
torrential rain we just had did terrible damage to my larger plants.
What a shame. Fresh picked corn is a wonderful treat and I put so much
effort into these.


I gave up growing corn. It was worse than the gummint. They got 3 ears
to my 1.

Rob

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 21:00:15 GMT, "Anne Lurie"
wrote:

If the husks seem to have been "peeled" down, it might be squirrels. I once
came back from vacation while living in NJ, and the corn looked as though it
had been vandalized!

It never occurred to me that it could be squirrels until I saw one happily
peeling away the husks -- I swear the little devil waited until I was
standing at the window with a cup of coffee!!

Sorry, but I have no ideas how you might stop the critters -- although if
it is squirrels, you might consider putting out seed or something for them
to eat instead.

Anne




"Rob" wrote in message
. ..
I'm growing sweet corn in containers in a garden area just in front of
my house. I'm doing a batch of about 10 containers every two weeks and
the first batch is almost ready - or was almost ready. Something at
night has chewed into most of the mature ears. I suspect deer but
could it be racoons. The dogs sleeping inside the house have not been
barking so they haven't noticed. Will fox or wolf urine or something
dissuade these nocturnal maurauders? It would take a lot of chicken
wire to corral about 60 containers, and the HOA might complain if the
yard looks like a military complex.




--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

It might be worth sprinkling the plants with cayenne pepper. You might
even be able to mix it with water and spray it on. I know I use it to
keep the squirrels out of my bird feeders. (Birds have no "sensors" for
capsacin.) It works wonderfully, too much so to make my husband happy
because he doesn't get to play with his pellet gun.

--
Susan
shsimko[at]gmail[dot]com