New, extremely greed tomato theif

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by bcday

Squirrels aren't nocturnal either, any more than birds are (unless you suspect an owl, LOL).
I vote for raccoon, or maybe a possum. There are nocturnal rodents though. Even a good neighborhood can temporarily harbor a passing rat, especially if the creek serves as a highway, and mice are more common than we like to think.

Agree 100% with this. Those bite marks look exactly like the ones I had, and it was 2 rats. They seem to travel in pairs.
We have lots of squirrels, but they never seemed interested in my tomatoes, this creature was definitely nocturnal. I can't bring myself to kill an animal that I know is just trying to survive, ( yeah, I know, bleeding heart!) so I got a live trap at Home Depot, about 26 dollars. Set it at lightest touch, and placed peanut butter in it, because rats and small possums both are attracted to peanut butter much more than tomatoes.
Caught the first rat about an hour after dark, and it went for a ride about 5 miles away to a forested field. Got home and reset it, and there was another rat by morning.
If you bait the trap with tomatoes it won't be as effective, because they may eat another of yours instead, so I advise go with the peanut butter, they can't resist.

Marsha

[efisakov]

Giant caterpillar? No?
Possum is nocturnal, partially arboreal and generally herbivore. Are there any dirt disturbed around tomatoes? Raccoon will dig around, possum not so much.

[shelleybean]

Your trap disappearing sounds like my bird feeders disappearing. I think you're right and yours is probably a raccoon or a whole gang of them.

Last summer we got a night vision/motion activated camera from Dick's Sporting Goods. I think it was about $30, which might explain why it only worked one season, but one season was enough to see what all these raccoons were doing in our yard. It's amazing how they can manipulate things. They're pretty talented. We also saw them chasing ducks and our neighbor's cats. If it doesn't stop soon, one of these cameras might be worth buying just to see what you're dealing with for sure.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Dewayne mater

Good suggestions! I don't believe we have Voles in N. Tx. I suspected a rat(s), but, my rat traps with peanut butter have not caught any. One trap disappeared one recent night, making me thing something bigger got caught in it and was able to walk away with the trap.

I do know of a very large long time resident Owl that lives nearby and makes visits to my backyard usually with 3 a.m. hoot fests! I'm pretty sure he/she is a carnivore though.

Right now, raccoon is my top suspect. This has to be large enough to eat 50-100 cherry tomatoes in one sitting and then bite into a dozen more. So, I think we are dealing with a fairly large animal/stomach capacity.

If so, they are clever and I don't think bird netting or other cover type devices will stop them. I'm hoping that a heavy dose of repels All will be a deterrent!



D M

Sorry, I posted before seeing this.

Marsha

[Dewayne mater]

I sprinkled the perimeter of my two growing areas with a repellent last night. (pellets with primarily a bunch of hot peppers). I only lost 3 overnight. 2 from one are, 1 from the other. That is really strange because it seemed to have slowed the problem, but no eliminated it. I guess it is possible I have multiple consumers. My tomatoes are FAR later this year than any time I've ever grown them. We are in a serious drought and although water is nearby, I suspect that wild foraging edibles are probably in very short supply because of prolonged dryness. Maybe my little beds are a water hole in the dessert for a few critters?

I like the camera idea and I'm crazy enough to try it! I think I'll stop by Dicks sporting goods tonight and see if the culprit(s) can be found. I'll keep setting rat traps too. FYI, one reason I'd thought it wasn't birds, is on the in ground bed, I have the entire thing covered in shade cloth and the plant growth is incredibly dense and the tomatoes getting eaten are in the bottom 1 foot, unlikely a bird would do this imo. On the other hand, those in the containers are as high up as 7 feet off the ground so birds can't be eliminated, if they are nocturnal.

D M

[Worth1]

All I know is Boo Boo has taken up stealing raw potatoes, tomatoes and peaches.

Darn dog is getting a raw potato out every day and eating it.
I only had one other dog that ever did this and he was a bull dog mix too.

Worth

[Crandrew]

^ your dog's name is Boo Boo?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Crandrew

^ your dog's name is Boo Boo?

Yes it is, he is a Boxer Pit Bill cross and weighs 80 pounds.

Worth

[efisakov]

We have dachshund, she is dapple and is 20 pounds (overweight a little). She loves to eat sweet cherry tomatoes, grapes (seedless only), raspberries and chicken.

[sfmathews]

Dwayne, saw this in the Dallas Morning News this morning and thought of you:

http://dallaslifeblog.dallasnews.com...entified.html/

[Patihum]

You just might have a pack rat instead of a plain old rat. A little larger than a rat and they'll haul off absolutely anything they take a liking to and sample it too. We have problems with them off and on. They will definitely make off with rat traps and add them to their hoard. We have better luck with live traps that are covered on the top and sides with both ends uncovered.

If you're ever missing a butternut squash check with the dog first! Our Airedale/Lab mix Wyatt picks and eats them with great abandon.

[mrbalfour]

I highly recommend the have a heart traps. I had a lot of tomatoes partially eaten and peppers with their ends chewed on. So I put out the have a heart trap with peanut butter and so far this summer I have relocated 17 squirrels. I have set out rat traps with peanut butter but the only thing it seems to kill is birds. I prefer the have a heart traps because I have not had anymore damage of tomatoes due to squirrels. However, the mocking birds still destroy any ripe tomatoes. So I always have to pick my tomatoes earlier than I would like so that they do not get eaten and I use my cherry tomatoes as the sacrificial tomatoes to the birds.

[Dewayne mater]

Susan - Ha! Guess lots of us have battles! I do think my issue is a raccoon, but possibly a combo of raccoon and birds. Raccoon is the primary suspect because overnight something managed to spring one of the rat traps, then eat all of the peanut butter and then mock the trap's inadequacies. (OK, I'm just imagining that last part) So, something was undeterred and smarter than a rat trap.

Last night, "it" at fewer tomatoes, but every day is a adventure! I'm picking at blush now on everything and hoping they don't love the greenies, though they have eaten them as well.

Dewayne Mater

[efisakov]

Dewayne, mix the hottest pepper with dish wash soap and water and spray. Do you ever get tired of being the nice guy? Let them have it.

[raindrops27]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

Yes. Sorry, I know it is a serious issue, I had it happen to me before in fact. Turned out to be over 40 different varmits from 4-5 species of rodent in my case. Took me ages to trap and poison them all.

The reason I joked is because you really cant tell by the description which varmit it is.
The similarity between the mythical Chupacabra and the OP's mystery varmit (besides being mysterious) is that they take a bite and move on to the next without eating it. In one case animals and the other tomatoes. In both cases it was thought to be some mysterious thing because it didn't eat...just sucked the juices (one case tomato and the other blood) which is your clue that whatever it is .... it is likely more thirsty than hungry.

You do not have to be sorry Scott.. I just wanted to know if this was real because I instantly got scared at the picture imagining myself going out there in my backyard and spotting something like this.

Sorry you had such problems in the past. I have a rabbit family that is making a buffet out of everything. In early spring they would come and just eat the weeds now they are stripping the pole and bush beans clean, have broken my potato plants, I caught the baby rabbit making a feast out of my almost ready to harvest zucchini, they've pulled the beet tops.. It is bad, I've never had such a problem in all my years of gardening. So, I know how you feel..