Tried to grow corn for a couple of years, but the raccoons convinced me to buy Olathe sweet corn. I got one ear in two years. The bandits stared at me when I caught them in the act. No real tactics against the squirrels or raccoons, Alicia. So sorry to say. The squirrels got a volunteer sunflower that had one huge lone flower. We are surrounded by sunflower fields -- millions of them -- as crops and weeds and that squirrel had to take the one that I admired in my yard.

Oh, how sad your corn plant looks! Dang those squirrels :( They have slowed down on getting our tomatoes - not sure which tactic may have helped with that as I used several. Maybe all, maybe none and just coincidence! If they'll go after the one special sunflower in jailranchr's yard instead of the many in the fields, there may be no luck in figuring out how to outsmart these varmints!

Marj

Can't stand squirrels! Maybe next year you'll have some volunteer corn on the other side of your garden where they buried some of it. But even that isn't much consolation.

Ah, those wily rascals!

You can put up an electric fence around the garden. Put two strands at squirrel height, then another up at raccoon height, and plug it in.

This is the only way, around here, that gardeners keep out them out. At the link is a $30 charger. Then you need the wire, insulated stakes and stuff, figure $100. But you can move it to your grapes, fruit trees, and so on.

But to be honest, I don't even bother trying to grow corn anymore around here, the raccoons are so bad.

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Squirrels are non stop in my tomatoes. I grow them in earthboxes on my patio. The squirrels come and sit on the trellisses to eat them. They don't seem to like the skins, so they even sit there and peel them. Good thing I have a bumper crop this year or I'd really be mad. I feel your pain.

Connie

I'm picking my tomatoes much earlier than I normally would so as to get them before the squirrels do - if they have a good start on getting red, I pick them and let them ripen the rest of the way indoors. I'm also sacrificing some others that don't look so good (splits, scars, etc.) to them by throwing them (the tomatoes, that is ;) up against the fence. Hope that satisfies their hunger a bit and keeps them away from the plants!

Marj