Who dug up my corn!!
 

I planted my corn bed last month and not a single plant emerged. I thought that maybe I was negligent during a hot dry spell and the germinating seeds dried out at a critical time, so I replanted the bed last week This time I watered every day, sometimes twice.

Yesterday I noticed what I thought were deer hoof prints in the corn bed, until I realized that the holes aligned perfectly with the rows and spacing of the corn - straight rows at one foot intervals. Some critter actually dug up and ate every corn kernel, all 500!!

Whatever it was it had a keen sense of smell as it just dug up the seeds where they were planted, no where else. It went down the rows and dug a hole every foot exactly where the corn was. One friend suggested it was a skunk, and another said a Brown Thrasher. I doubt that a bird could have that good of a sense of smell, so I'm thinking skunk or opossum.

Any ideas??

PS - I replanted today with an earlier variety and will cover with row cover fabric until the plants emerge.

Could this be birds? :?!?:
Almost sounds too methodical, to get every last kernel though.... :surprised:

Crows, blame it on crows.
They were watching you plant it.
Worth

I would bet on a raccoon or a squirrel. I had a couple dozen germinated walnuts with 10 inch plants showing above the mix. I set them on the back patio and then got called to town on what turned out to not be an emergency. After about 2 hours, I returned to find that a single squirrel had dug out all of the one gallon containers and eaten the nut and its plant material.

The little glutton did not leave a single one. They have an amazing sense of smell. And, the raccoons around here do not allow me to plant corn. After three attempts and no harvest, I gave up. Once they find the first kernel, they take it all.

My guess is wild hogs. They do the same thing to peanut farmers sometimes. They are very smart and cunning and will devastate a crop. Only solution is to kill them if you can spot them which is easiest at night.

Bill

No wild hogs around here. I eliminated chipmunks and squirrels as I doubt they could eat 500 germinating kernels in one night. Raccoons would be my prime suspect, but I can't eliminate skunks or opossums as we have lots of all three. Could groundhogs be a possibility?

In any case I covered the bed with row cover cloth today and hope this will discourage and further poaching!

I have had the same thing happen. Shoot a crow and hang dead one in the garden.

[B][FONT=Garamond][SIZE=3]I think it was a vegan chupacabra. :lol:
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Crows are smart and can see you planting seeds from a mile away.

I didn't think the [FONT=Garamond][SIZE=3]chupacabra got that far north.

Worth
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I'm with Worth on this one and when the corn comes up they will pull it up and eat the seed and leave the stalk.

Generally, crows wait until the kernels sprout. They take one of their feet to uproot the young plant and eat the kernel off the bottom and toss the plant.

[QUOTE=ContainerTed;705410]I would bet on a raccoon or a squirrel. I had a couple dozen germinated walnuts with 10 inch plants showing above the mix. I set them on the back patio and then got called to town on what turned out to not be an emergency. After about 2 hours, I returned to find that a single squirrel had dug out all of the one gallon containers and eaten the nut and its plant material.

The little glutton did not leave a single one. They have an amazing sense of smell. And, the raccoons around here do not allow me to plant corn. After three attempts and no harvest, I gave up. Once they find the first kernel, they take it all.[/QUOTE]

Hi Ted. Use bailing wire to secure chicken wire(mesh) over the container. Use a stake to keep the tree rats from being able to move the container. Place a toe popper next to the container:twisted: