Squirrel(s) are eating my tomatoes!

[Hilde]

I noticed that some animal ate some of my cherry tomatoes, and especially the yellow Sweet Gold, but also the red cherries. So far they haven't started eating the Azoychka, but I fear that they might start eating them too, and I still haven't had the first one mature. The problem is that most of the Azoychka are pretty far down, almost to the ground, and I got Early Blight which is killing off the newest buds. I remove sick leaves and hope that the plants will fight off the early blight, but fear that the squirrel will eat the ones far down.

I actually thought it was a vole or rat or rabbit that ate the tomatoes, because I used to have a vole problem here. I killed a lot of them with the bait I put out in the spring, but I see signs of them again now, so I put out bait pallets on strategic places that the birds wouldn't get to. Today I caught the squirrel in my tomato patch and realized (s)he was the perp. I think it is the squirrel who has eaten the bait also, so I guess his/her time is limited. I will just continue to put out the bait and hope the tomatoes are left alone.

What do people here usually do to stop squirrels from eating tomatoes?

Hilde

[Hilde]

Gosh, that bait must be good, because all of what I put out 15 minutes ago is GONE now. I also put two next to an already half eaten Sugary cherry tomato, and the pallets were eaten but not the tomatoes.

I am off to get more bait. I have only seen one squirrel, but Lord knows how many there are. I desperately want to keep my Azoychka!

Hilde

[bcday]

Are you sure that it's squirrels eating the bait, as in did you see them eating it?

My dog would gobble that stuff down if she could get at it...

[bully]

I suggest you take up falconry

[Hilde]

My brother-in-law is into falconry, but he and his birds are 1400 miles away, in Texas.

I didn't actually see the squirrel eating the bait, no. I just assumed it was eaten by the squirrel because he/she seemed to be the only animal in near proximity. I was there three or four times within a short period of time and I saw the squirrel there and running around the house twice and nobody else. The bait was right next to the tomato patch, under roof, so technically it could have been a vole, mouse or rat too, but I didn't see any of those running around, and I should have since a lot of bait was consumed in a very short period of time.

Are you saying that squirrels doesn't eat Mouse or Rat pellets? I have no other explanation that it was eaten by the squirrel. Of course it wouldn't hold up in court unless I get a remote spy camera at the spy outlet, or a dead squirrel with bait in its stomach is found.

The first two Azoychka is starting to turn color! I am very excited, and hope to contribute to the BLT picture thread in the next few days!

Hilde

[Sherry_AK]

I use a live trap and relocate the squirrels so they can be somebody else's problem! One year we relocated 14 of them. That was the year I learned (well actually I didn't learn it till the following year) that organic fertilizer is like squirrel candy. I had used it in all my garden beds and the squirrels were everywhere. They dug up the gardens and munched on the tomatoes. We have lots of squirrels but I'd never had that problem before or since. I no longer use organic fertilizer in the garden beds!

[dice]

I was thinking maybe an Afghan mongoose
from the western reaches of the Hindu Kush.
(Cats just aren't fast enough; squirrels run
circles around them.)

It should be able to handle your climate.

I don't know how you convince it that squirrels
are good to eat, though.

[Rena]

Ours die of Acute lead poisoning

[tomatoguy]

I just try to grow enough for the critters and me too.

mater

[piegirl]

My sympathies. Since we have had drought conditions for
the better part of five years, I have had a problem. A family
of 4-5 can strip a tomato patch in hours. One bite, on the
ground, on to the next. I have planted up to 30 and not had
enough to eat for me. My havahart trap is operating full time
and 14 have been 'removed'. But 15, 16, 17, and 18 showed
up in the last few days. We are kind of a tree island so I
figure some day - Then a guy three blocks away operated 3
traps and removed 5-6 a DAY from April to September and finally
began to see a reduction! If they are small, my big cat - Kitty
Girl will get them. Small squirrel tails are found around
the yard and I dance and hug the cat and give her a hit of milk!
Piegirl

[Hilde]

LOL!

Dice, are you sure that the Afghan mongoose won't like tomatoes better than squirrels? Or Blackberries, blueberries or raspberries or peppers or even apples?

I certainly don't have the problem that some of you do, with 10-20 squirrels. Wow! What a disaster to have the whole patch destroyed in hours! For now I will just put out bait. I bought some new pellets, but they haven't been eaten yet.

Sherry, What organic fertilizer did you use? I would like to avoid using that one!

Lastly, here is a picture of the Azoychka that I am trying to protect. The picture is from Monday, and today I see some yellowing, which almost made me jump up and down with joy when I saw it.

Thanks!


Hilde

[piegirl]

I forgot to add - we do have falcons in my immediate area -
they have nest boxes on top of the state capitol and hatch
each year - 2-3 chicks each spring. A closed circuit tv
set up allows visitors to watch the family. A large falcon
swooping into the yard would be quite a sight. Piegirl

[Sherry_AK]

Hilde -- I was using a locally-made product called Arctic Gro Natural. I don't have any now, but as I recall it contained bone meal and blood meal, and I'm sure some other stuff. My dogs found it yummy too.

Sherry

[dice]

"Dice, are you sure that the Afghan mongoose won't like tomatoes better than squirrels? Or Blackberries,
blueberries or raspberries or peppers or even apples?"

The most common kind of mongoose found in Afghanistan
eats "rats, cockroaches, chickens, young birds, and
birds eggs". I was thinking that squirrels are close enough
sized to rats that the mongoose might find them tasty.

We have lots of squirrels, but they have an abundant
supply of bird seed around from people's bird feeders
and a bird bath that I keep filled if they need a drink
of water. They don't seem to bother the tomatoes.
I only saw one with a bite out of it last year, and
I don't remember any coming up missing.

Edit: Owls would be a good squirrel repellent,
too.

[Hilde]

In 2005, when we had a huge vole problem here, we got help from this Gentleman on the fire pit. I actually saw him catch and eat a vole. It was fascinating to watch a fox in the back yard.

Dice, I checked out the mongoose, and it looks like it eats snakes too. It would be a perfect guy to have around in general!

Thanks, Sherry, hopefully whatever I use next year will not attract rabbits or other tomato lovers.


Hilde