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Garden Gate:  What creature takes big bites from tomatoes  |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 08:54:41 AM
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and leaves them? First time with the garden I've ever had a pest other than bugs....this little (or big) thing is very particular, as it only takes chunks out of the red tomatoes and not the green, while they're right on the vine!!! I haven't seen anyone there, so I'm not sure...but it seems to be nocturnal. Coon? Deer? Possum?
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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electricdunce
True Blue Farmgirl
2544 Posts
Karin
Belmont
ME
USA
2544 Posts |
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LivingWell4You
True Blue Farmgirl
1411 Posts
Karen
Hillsboro
MO
USA
1411 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 09:46:32 AM
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My dad used to have trouble with turtles feasting on his tomatoes. Have you seen any of those around?
God bless -
Karen |
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frannie
True Blue Farmgirl
2246 Posts
fran
bonham
texas
USA
2246 Posts |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 09:59:34 AM
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I am having the same issue with my strawberry and have decided it is, at least for me, a slug or possibly even a grasshopper. I am astounded at how much they can eat in just a day or so!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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dkelewae
True Blue Farmgirl
1310 Posts
Diana
Saint Peters
MO
USA
1310 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 10:10:23 AM
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Well I know it was the squirrels who were eating my tomatoes, and being true conniseurs(sp?) they only went for the biggest and best tomatoes....grrrrr!
Diana
Farmgirl Sister #272
St. Peters MO
Country Girl trapped in the city! |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 10:20:21 AM
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| I would say squirrels as well. Sounds like what happened to my tomatos last year. I've been told that they are more interested in the moisture than in eating the tomato (that's why they only take a bite or two). You might try putting out a bowl of water for them. Sounds crazy, but I heard it suggested! I haven't tried it yet myself because my tomatos are still green. |
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82kygal
True Blue Farmgirl
548 Posts
Laura
Somerset
Kentucky
USA
548 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 10:31:11 AM
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I have problems with my 100 lb yellow lab getting into my red tomatoes. He is very sneaky about it but I did catch him red handed. He loves them. also my pears and apples. At least he choses a healthy diet.
With God, all things are possible. (Mark 10:27)
What ever you are, be a good one. (Abe Lincoln) |
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Homespun Livin
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Brenda
Louisiana
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 11:03:32 AM
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I would think that a coon would just pluck it off the plant, at least that is how they ate my figs. It was like someone came during the night and picked my tree clean. I was thinking either a large turtle or even a snake. Yep! Snakes will help themselves to your tomatoes and strawberries too. I hope you find the culprit.
"Love one another." |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 11:15:18 AM
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Jonni - I vote for squirrels, too.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 11:16:51 AM
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Thanks girls...Karin you make me laugh!!!!
Nope, not a husband, either. He would rather die than eat a tomato!
I have not seen any turtles, but we did have some frogs yesterday. Snakes seem to be lying low (ha, no pun intended :)) but they used to eat my strawberries, then I got a strawberry bag that hangs--that fixed em!
Laura, your lab is one healthy pup! I think that's great--our lab will eat anything, too, but I think his diet is more encompassing of someone else's garbage--specifically used up giant sherbet tubs ;)
I think you're right--it might be the squirrels, because, now that you mention it...my crew have been especially "jerky" this year, eating the bungee cords off the galvinized cans of birdfeed, and ripping open any kindof seed bag they can find. I feed them squirrel corn, but now they're just getting greedy!!!! Maybe I will try to leave some water out for them, Amie. Hopefully they don't subscribe to the "give an inch take a mile theory".
Years back, I had babied 4 tomato plants on the side of the house, and one night I went out and there were all these lovely red and green tomatoes, and the next morning I went out to see them, and there were none. No remnants of even a hint of tomato. I even rubbed my eyes, thinking I was dreaming!!! I called my mom, completely bummed out, and she said (and I'm not kidding..."), "Oh my! Maybe it was the tramps from the railroad!!!" (because we're about 1/2 mile from a high railroad bridge)..To which I replied, "it's not 1930, Mom, and I don't think they refer to them as TRAMPS anymore!!!" But I still laugh about that one...turns out, it was a few deer who frequented by the house at night. Still, they were at least courteous enough to eat ALL of the tomato!!!
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 12:07:15 PM
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My vote is for Deer, before we fenced they would take bites out of my tomatoes.
Lillian |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 12:09:50 PM
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birds will do that too.(or snails and slugs..ugh) Only the red ones. We have a real grasshopper problem this year..but they arn't really eating bites out of tomatoes..so I doubt that is it.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 12:25:44 PM
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Well, I'd like to know how they are getting back and forth between KY and MI so fast. Of course, I don't have an RED tomatoes for the little beasties to nibble...just GREEN ones (still). Do yours look like this???
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 5:04:50 PM
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Do you have snails T?? That looks like the work of snails to me.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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AuntPammy
True Blue Farmgirl
488 Posts
Pamila
williamstown
wv
USA
488 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 5:12:04 PM
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I bet it's a pesky ol' turtle. They love tomato and dew sammies! I have even caught them red.... um handed? They can't run very fast and they are easy to apprehend at least. The problem is catching them in the act. Usually really early in the am.
Let's dance in the rain and play in the puddles under the rainbows. |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 6:23:58 PM
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| I have not spied a snail OR a turtle. In fact, now that I think about it, I haven't seen either of those around here in a very long time... We do have chipmunks, however. They are pretty quick! I didn't even think about them till someone in the thread mentioned squirrels. Most people have moles...we have chipmunks. <sigh> I haven't seen them on that side of the house though, which doesn't mean that they haven't been over there "shopping" in the veggie aisle! |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 6:28:37 PM
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Well, I guess the little bugger has travelled to Michigan!!! I went out this evening, and they've (thankfully) polished off the ones they started on yesterday, and there aren't any red ones right now, so I guess their evil plan is stalled!!!!
Miss Wilma thinks it's a terrapin, too...I'll just have to spy out there for a time and see what's "goin down".
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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StarMeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
940 Posts
T
MI
940 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 6:47:17 PM
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| I have not spied a snail OR a turtle. In fact, now that I think about it, I haven't seen either of those around here in a very long time... We do have chipmunks, however. They are pretty quick! I didn't even think about them till someone in the thread mentioned squirrels. Most people have moles...we have chipmunks. <sigh> I haven't seen them on that side of the house though, which doesn't mean that they haven't been over there "shopping" in the veggie aisle! |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 7:08:52 PM
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So there are just wild turtle there? Wow Jonni...I have never lived anyplace with turtles or terrapins. And I get annoyed with grasshoppers!!
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Homespun Livin
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Brenda
Louisiana
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 7:54:45 PM
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Oh Jenny!! You should see the snappin turtles that saunter into my yard. They like to lay eggs in our back yard for some reason. A few summers ago I found a very large one headed straight for my dog. When they clamp down, they don't turn loose!!
"Love one another." |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 8:57:27 PM
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We do, Jenny--we live right near a creekbed, and in the last few weeks there seems to be an abundance of toads, frogs and the like, and I see box turtles and snapping turtles often, so it stands to reason a terrapin would be around here, too. I'm just glad the snakes seem to have taken a hiatus :)
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 9:28:06 PM
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Okay...I would take turtles, frogs, snails, grasshoppers OR terrapins over snakes for sure.
We used to see box turtles on the road (getting the sunshine I guess) about 45 min from where I lived in CAlif..but never here...Fun how everyplace has different stuff. I have never even seen a snapping turtle. Utah isn't known for them...haha.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2008 : 10:40:13 PM
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when i was a little girl my dad picked up a very large snapping turlte off the road. we put it in a box in teh back seat of the car and went to visit my grandparents. when we came out the box was over turned and the turtle was under the seat!i think dad lured him out wiht the use of a sturdy branch which the turtle bit down on hard enough for dad to lift him out of the car! that was the last time dad picked up a snapping turtle and put it in the car!
geesh i must be OLD or else packed alot of living in to my life as i seem to have stories for everything! lol
peace connie in alaska |
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wooliespinner
True Blue Farmgirl
1311 Posts
Linda
Manchester
Ohio
1311 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2008 : 10:33:58 AM
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Jonni,
I have had the same trouble for years. I finally found the culprit one morning. It was box turtles. They would eat the tomatoes closest to the ground that they could reach amd eat the bottoms right off the ripe ones. One morning I went out earlier than usual and there the 5 of them were. They had tomato juice all over their heads. It was kinda funny seeing them all together like that.
I picked them up and took them a little further from the house. About 3 days later a few of them were back I know this because I marked them with a marker plus a new recruit was with them. We were in a drought and I knew they were thirsty and hungry. So I just left them alone.
good luck
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
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tribalcime
True Blue Farmgirl
2963 Posts
lisa
lexington
ky
USA
2963 Posts |
Posted - Aug 12 2008 : 12:16:48 PM
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If you are city area even you will get any wild critter just about that will eat them .They are starved for food about now .I have had squirels--chipmunks --coons and possums and groundhogs and rabbits in last 3 years that like to eat my tomatoes when they are red and ripe. I live trap and have used poison bait at times to get rid of them. I am in suburbs of lexington and the critters travel the sewer lines. The groundhogs will eat the whole plant also once tomatoes are gone. I had one several yrs ago tear up plants and drag them off under the fence to where ever he lived . Last year i had a total of 53 coons and possums and over 20 squirrels that i live trapped and took out to country. My neighbors and me kept a score board of them all. This year though the coons and possums are wiser and avoid the live trap cept for a few really young ones.
LIfe is a witch ~~~ and then ya fly !! My blogspot .http://tribalwitch.blogspot.com/ |
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Garden Gate: What creature takes big bites from tomatoes |
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What creature takes big bites from tomatoes
