Really Pi**ed Off!

[The Doctor]

I haven't been to my site for a week due to having to many other things to do and not being around. Popped over last night to see what was ready.

I discovered every single one (had over 40 cobs) of my sweetcorns has been eaten. See the pic.
The plots on either side have had a few taken, but no where near as extensive.

I really can't believe this was anything like a badger, since most of the stems are still standing. I think it's more likely to be one or more of those two legged scumbag pests.

If only I could get my hands on the b***rds!

To make matters worse, this morning I went to our brand new Police headquarters building to report it, and it was shut!

[scared55]

When I was living in Tanzania my gardener planted a smallish plot of maize. Just at the point it was ripe and about ready to harvest a troop of baboons passed through and demolished the lot.

You don't suppose, with Global Warming and all ...

[Two_Sheds]

looks like the leaves have been carefully peeled off and left on h ground. little amage to the plants - i've never seen such careful badgers, they must have evolved hands! we have an apple thief on our plot at mo. coincidentally, i was at market buying nectarines when a rough young bloke pushed in offering to sell lots of local apples to the stallholder - when she declined, he became increasingly agitated and aggressive.
I bet your sweetcorn turns up at a carboot or market stall. Perhaps we need to postcode our veg as well as our tellies these days?

[moggssue]

How annoying - I'd be p****d off as well Doctor. Yet again, another example of lack of respect, thieving little toerags. It does look far too carefully done to be any four legged (or more!) pest. What do we have to do, isn't it enough to have to contend with pests and the weather.

[Headfry]

How very odd, would the 2 legged nastys, stand there and peel the cobs though, or would the pick and dash????
Friend has has her corn eaten by badgers, I will pop and ask her views at tea break!

Sorry for your problems Doctor!

[mandyballantyne]

Hi Doctor,

How bl**dy sick! We spend months raising and caring for our veg only to have some idiot destroy all we have created.

Don't let it get you down, they won't enjoy eating it. It will either not be ripe or they will boil it like shop bought corn and think never again!

Hope you catch the culprits and find a suitable insectiside

Mandy

[Rowan]

A couple of years ago, I saw an open letter in a local paper, saying that if anyone was given a planted pot - described just so - as a mother's day present, it was stolen. Hopefully that took the edge off someone's day! There's always going to be some little git - what's security like at your site? Perhaps you could install CCTV - Corn Cob Television?

[The Doctor]

Just so the buggers can rub it in, what isn't apparent in the photo is that the cobs are still there but they have all been completely stripped and eaten!

[HeyWayne]

Surely eating that much sweetcorn is going to have some ill-effects....

[mandyballantyne]

Did they eat it raw? How many cobs did you find eaten?

Must have been some going!

[Headfry]

Put note up saying that a spray was used on this in error on said corn, that has a delayed reaction.....and if eaten you should seek medical help straight away as the effects can be very long lasting. Put same note in local shop etc! One hopes this should worry the nasty people who did this.
I am a naughty Headfry today,

[seasprout]

It could have been Rats or Squirrels as well.

Where i used to work many years ago we grew an ornamental veg patch, on a quiet day i popped round there to check on something and there where LOADs of brown rats, all ages up the corn stalks munching away all over the place. We pulled the lot up and burned it.

Last year a squirrel started on my sweetcorn grown at home, it destroyed 4 cobs in one day so i had to pick the lot a bit earlier than I would have liked and froze it. Turned out ok, but if i had left it on the plants any longer i would have lost all cobs in a week.


A nice quiet place like an allotment will afford any beastie plenty of uninterrupted munching time. There was probably more than one of what ever it was.

At least yours appears to have been the tastiest.

[cottage garden]

Your picture is a typical sight from my garden....I would still maintain it was badgers, they strip the cobs while they are in situ and then chew them to stumps. I got round it this year by sowing early varieties and harvested them before the badgers visited (they only seem to visit our garden during August and September)

How gutting for you!

[Nicos]

Badgers???? ..Interesting one!
2 years ago we had squirrels munch their way through some of ours- but not like your photo shows.

[Madasafish]

Badgers pull the pears off my tree.. and eat them...