When Squirrels Attack

3/8 of my tomato plants were severed Wednesday and/or Thursday night, and I suspected cutworm, one of the few natural enemies of tomatoes. Although that would seem unlikely, since the planters are self-contained and on the roof.

My roof-farming neighbor (with the pools) suggested squirrels might be the culprits.

Squirrels? What would squirrels care for tomatoes? Or corn, for that matter?

Yes, corn as well. I went up to the roof today to find half my little cornstalks had been nibbled away. Grrrr!

N00b. I should have realized that city-slicking squirrels don't really care if it's food or not. They just want to maraud.

So now I have to replant a few things. I'm pretty sure the tomato plants are shot, but fortunately I have a few seedlings left, and the rest I'll start from scratch and hope for a late harvest. The corn, I'll give a couple days to see if it recovers.

And more importantly, I have to build a squirrel baffle. Fast. Which is really not something I'd planned for.

If you look closely, you can see the tomato stem to the left of the upper leaf.

This is the same cornstalk that looked so joyous on Thursday.