Sweet corn devastation
 

I'm wondering what has completely stripped in a few hours, probably overnight, my complete sweetcorn crop.

I think it can only be a fox or Muntjac as there are no larger animals in this area (south Lincolnshire) that I know of.

There is trampling underfoot and the surprising thing is that some of the stalks Have been chewed more than five feet above the ground. Could either animal cause damage so high up?

Janet G

http://flic.kr/p/LkiHCx
http://flic.kr/p/M7FNdQ

Sweet corn devastation
 

Janet G wrote:
I'm wondering what has completely stripped in a few hours, probably
overnight, my complete sweetcorn crop.

I think it can only be a fox or Muntjac as there are no larger
animals in this area (south Lincolnshire) that I know of.

sheep?

I think we can rule out anything smaller than a sheep considering the amount
of trampling, and i can't imagine a fox, or even a family of foxes would be
overly interested in corn. Only for the 5ft chewing marks, I'd have said
the raider had two legs.


There is trampling underfoot and the surprising thing is that some of
the stalks Have been chewed more than five feet above the ground.
Could either animal cause damage so high up?

Janet G

http://flic.kr/p/LkiHCx
http://flic.kr/p/M7FNdQ

Sweet corn devastation
 

Thanks but there are no sheep within miles of here. It's a an arable area with some veg and flower growing. Rich fen silt soil. No badgers either.
Janet G

Sweet corn devastation
 

On 16/09/2016 20:07, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Fri, 16 Sep 2016 11:37:27 -0700 (PDT), Janet G
wrote:

I'm wondering what has completely stripped in a few hours, probably overnight, my complete sweetcorn crop.

I think it can only be a fox or Muntjac as there are no larger animals in this area (south Lincolnshire) that I know of.

There is trampling underfoot and the surprising thing is that some of the stalks Have been chewed more than five feet above the ground. Could either animal cause damage so high up?

Janet G

http://flic.kr/p/LkiHCx
http://flic.kr/p/M7FNdQ

Badgers? They do that sort of damage down here, flattening field-grown
maize crops intended for silage. An area several metres in diameter
flattened, with partially eaten cobs lying around.

I'd go with badgers as well, they did that to a crop of sweetcorn I grew
several years ago

Sweet corn devastation
 

On 16/09/2016 20:24, David Hill wrote:
I'd go with badgers as well, they did that to a crop of sweetcorn I grew
several years ago

That was my thought until I saw

some of the stalks Have been chewed more than five feet above the
ground.

Darnn big badgers.

Andy

Sweet corn devastation
 

On 16/09/2016 20:16, Janet G wrote:
Thanks but there are no sheep within miles of here.
It's a an arable area with some veg and flower growing. Rich fen silt
soil. No badgers either.
Janet G

Deer or badgers would be my best guess. Can't see a fox doing that.

There are a lot of deer about these days and they are getting bolder.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Sweet corn devastation
 

In article ,
Janet G wrote:
I'm wondering what has completely stripped in a few hours, probably
overnight, my complete sweetcorn crop.

I think it can only be a fox or Muntjac as there are no larger animals
in this area (south Lincolnshire) that I know of.

There is trampling underfoot and the surprising thing is that some of
the stalks Have been chewed more than five feet above the ground. Could
either animal cause damage so high up?

The usual cause where I grew up was baboons, but I suspect that I would
have heard about a troop of those in Lincolnshire! You might not know
if there were roe deer in the vicinity, as they are nearly as good at
hiding as muntjac. The only other thing I can think of is a herd of
squirrels, but that's as implausible as baboons.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Sweet corn devastation
 

On 16/09/2016 22:44, Nick Maclaren wrote:
The only other thing I can think of is a herd of
squirrels, but that's as implausible as baboons.

Far more likely a scurry of squirrels. :-)

(I had to check that out.)

--
Rod

Sweet corn devastation
 

Thank you for all the replies. I'm inclined to rule out badgers because, apart from the fact that I've seen no sign of any round here, most of the plants were still half standing but with some tops broken and hanging down, and the cobs weren't on the ground; they were still upright. I also haven't seen a squirrel for a couple of years and there seemed too much trampling under foot for squirrels. I suppose that leaves deer - and deer bigger than muntjacs.
That would be the first sign of roe deer around here that I'm aware of. Quite exciting apart from the need to create a fortress round the sweet corn next season.
Interestingly, slightly earlier corn had remained intact over the previous month, and had been picked and eaten, so this was something passing through rather than a regular visitor.
Janet G

Sweet corn devastation
 

In article ,
polygonum wrote:

The only other thing I can think of is a herd of
squirrels, but that's as implausible as baboons.

Far more likely a scurry of squirrels. :-)

Well, yes, but a mere scurry wouldn't do that :-) My guess would be
roe deer, as the least implausible explanation - while they are not
common in Lincolnshire (few woods), they do occur there.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Sweet corn devastation
 

"Janet G" wrote

I'm wondering what has completely stripped in a few hours, probably
overnight, my complete sweetcorn crop.

I think it can only be a fox or Muntjac as there are no larger animals in
this area (south Lincolnshire) that I know of.

There is trampling underfoot and the surprising thing is that some of the
stalks Have been chewed more than five feet above the ground. Could either
animal cause damage so high up?


We have had rodents, probably rats, chewing the cobs 5ft above the ground
but they don't trample underfoot. Any hoof or claw or foot marks in the
ground?
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

Sweet corn devastation
 

In article , says...

"Janet G" wrote

I'm wondering what has completely stripped in a few hours, probably
overnight, my complete sweetcorn crop.

I think it can only be a fox or Muntjac as there are no larger animals in
this area (south Lincolnshire) that I know of.

There is trampling underfoot and the surprising thing is that some of the
stalks Have been chewed more than five feet above the ground. Could either
animal cause damage so high up?

If you don't have larger deer, how about feral goats


We have had rodents, probably rats, chewing the cobs 5ft above the ground
but they don't trample underfoot. Any hoof or claw or foot marks in the
ground?

Or poos, often a useful ID

Janet.

Sweet corn devastation
 

I have no knowledge of the incidence of feral goats but it's an interesting thought. There's an absence of information on the internet as to their frequency or distribution so it's quite difficult to find out more.
But a new development is that a neighbour's house-sitter reckons he saw a deer in or around a patch of field corn a couple of hundred metres behind my plot. That would seem to strengthen the deer explanation.
Janet G