Corn sporuts and rats!!!

[silkiechicken]

Maybe this is just half a rant more so than anything else. Some danged rat or mouse is systematically going down the rows and diging up each corn sprout to eat the seed!!! However... there are a few where the heads were just snapped off and seed still there, unlike the ones dug up with the seed and sometimes sprout eaten up.

So the question is. Are rats the only thing that will do this? Or is there another suspect animal that needs some deterrent/picking off.

 

[Tutter]

My first suspects:

Seed gone, rodent du jour.

Top gone, bird (double scissor mark from beak.), or rabbit.

Top off but still there, worms.

Is there disturbance topside? If not, it could have been done from underground, such as a vole.

I'm so sorry you have hungry visitors! Ack!

 

[freshfood]

You have my sympathy - last year we lost our entire corn crop in two days to the crows, almost as soon as it sprouted.

We ordered some "flash tape" and replanted. Didn't lose one single seedling that time!!!

This year, we started three flats indoors in deep cell trays. Transplanted them, direct seeded the rest of the crop, put up the flash tape, we have happy corn! The transplants are knee high, the direct seed stuff 4 -6 inches.

We walk the dogs around the garden regularly, whether that has any impact or not I don't know, but we have very little damage from warm-blooded critters. Especially considering the garden is not fenced.

Good luck! :/