Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
What's eating my corn? And how do I stop it?
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. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
What's eating my corn? And how do I stop it?
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. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
What's eating my corn? And how do I stop it?
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. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
What's eating my corn? And how do I stop it?
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. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
What's eating my corn? And how do I stop it?
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 |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
When to stop eating leeks and parsnips? | United Kingdom | |||
How to stop squirrels from eating my tulips? Help! | Ponds (alternative) | |||
how to stop rodents from eating my cactus?? | Lawns | |||
stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs | United Kingdom | |||
Meat-eating [Was: Clarification: HOW YOU CAN HELP stop fishing?] | United Kingdom |