Hi All,

A little background on the subject.  I am 3 years in a new home coming from a condo.  So I am a complete newbie on Figs, tomatoes, lawn, shrubs, etc.  I am enjoying my newfound hobbies, but have run into difficulty with my new garden.  I cleared a 900 sq. ft. area off in the woods and planted lettuce, squash, carrots, onions, corn, egg plant, cabbage, peppers, and of course... tomatoes!
I put up a 7 ft. fence to keep deer out, not really thinking about the smaller critters.  Early on, something came in and destroyed my lettuce and cabbage.  When there was nothing left, it turned on my squash.
I bought a have-a-heart and caught/relocated 2 very plump woodchucks before catching a skunk.  I was able to release the skunk without incident, but have stopped trapping because it scared the crap out of me!  I did not relocate the skunk, just talked to him a bit to calm him down and then released him right where he was.

Since then, the surviving squash and cucumber plants are returning and the tomatoes are ripening.  So far I have picked 2 tomatoes and both have the same bite marks as in the picture below.  I don't want to have a rodent take the first bite out of all my food and am thinking of resuming trapping.  But, if it is a skunk, I may sacrifice the lower fruit and wait for the upper fruit to ripen.  Any suggestions as to what this animal might be?




 

Kinda looks like a bird pecking.
There is a round puncture mark on the left with a bite out of it above.
I'm guessing a bird is tasting it. Then they go taste the next red one, then the next.


Doug

Oh, so the 2 gashes might be claw marks?  Those 2 gashes were on 2 others as well.  All 3 were low-to-ground so I thought rodent, but they were also the only 3 that have ripened so far.
Thanks, hopefully I will get others to corroborate.

Also, if it is birds, what is prevention?  Do I need to enclose entire garden with netting?  Or just hope they go away?  they don't seem to like tomatoes because they don't eat anything.

On another forum they recommend hanging red Christmas ornaments (or anything round and red) on your plants, the theory being the birds peck at the non-tasty red "tomato" and decides to go elsewhere looking for better eats.  This is recommended for before your tomatoes start to ripen, but it might still work.  I haven't tried this one because the birds are not my problem, it's the squirrels. 
Hope you can figure it out.

Actually with the peck holes under the gashes makes me think the bird used his beak to scrape out the tomato.
Not claw marks, I believe.

netting can help those with small collections, in my case it would take more netting
than I could afford.

Doug

Thanks to all, I wonder if Neem oil will deter birds?  Its pretty nasty and I don't much care for it.  I'm applying today.  Just ordered tape, reflective ornaments and an owl.  That should do the trick!

Dave, Tomatoes are red and juicy.  I was thinking whatever it was, maybe I should just stay away!

just pick up one of these and you will be good to go..................

 

Chupacabra!  

Grant thats a good possibility how do you defend against that? 

Who knew gardening can have so many supernatural dangers?  Maybe I should go back to condo living where the only thing I had to worry about was my mean old lady neighbor...  And walking my Chihuahua without a leash.  I spent some time in San Juan and the Chupacabra is nothing to be messed with!

mean neighbor ladies just worry themselves to death.  I could tell you some great tales of my next door neighbor in Michigan.    My favorite story is the day she came out side into my yard to complain about the noise my snow blower was making.   I pretended I didn't see her and shifted the chute right at her.  She looked like a Yeti.    I looked up and said  "In my yard, in my snow."     I didnt see her for about a week after that.

Adoresfigs, I never escalated and tried to make peace while I was bad-mouthed and scowled at.  I wish I was more like you, looking back, if I returned some of the "negativity" I think it would have lessoned some of what I received.

Because of the claw marks in my tomatoes, I researched bird issues and bought some deterrents.  Since bird issues are bird issues regardless if they are eating your figs, or clawing your tomatoes, this post is back on topic.  The on-line recommendations stated birds were skittish and deterred by shiney discs and lifelike birds to scare them away.  I bought 2 items:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EMK49DC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019FAMT4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Both came and I put them in the garden, went inside and forgot about them.  The next morning, I took my normal stroll around the garden to make sure nothing happened during the night.  On the way to the gate, I froze in my tracks at the site of the owl, forgetting I had been the one to put it out the previous day.  So I shook my head and continued on and then was startled by something moving out of the corner of my eye.  It was the reflective discs!  So if I was the one that put them out and both startled me, I have to assume they will work even better for birds.  Has anyone tried either of these?  Do they work as well as I think they will work?

The owl is amazing, the wings gently give way to the breeze and it really looks life-like.  But the discs are very reflective (mirrors) and if they move at all, it looks like something big rustling around in that direction.

My money would be on more woodchucks.

If it is not deer and plants are getting wiped out, woodchuck'

When it comes to woodchucks, when they are in the cage shoot them.

That's about as much you should have a heart for them.

If you relocate them it has to be miles.

When they get bold, you can throw a rock at them, they will duck and ignore you until your aim is better.

Find their holes and get smoke bombs that kill them'

People stop gardening because of these suckers.

 Mike

Hi Mike,

The woodchucks have been relocated to Orange.  After 2 woodchucks, the rampant destruction has subsided.  I lost all cucumbers, lettuce, zucchini, and cabbage.  Only tomatoes, corn, peppers and eggplant remain.  But the gashes in the picture above are from something else.  I have seen a turkey in there.  I have a 7 foot fence and it flew over the top as I approached.  No deer have gotten in.  I couldn't bring myself to hurt the little guys.  I drove them to a trail park in Orange and let them loose.  The last critter I caught was a skunk...  That was a tense situation, but we got through it.  I released where it was.  It looks like the "gashes" have also stopped.  Only 2-3 tomatoes had them so far.
--
but back to the new question.  Has anyone has experience deterring birds by hanging mirror discs on plants?  Similar to another post who used CDs with success.

Shiny objects sometimes work for a while.
I found birds just get used to them and ignore them after a couple weeks.

Been there, done that.
Reflective objects do seem to work on deer though.
Only thing they work on for me.
All my tags on my trees are shiny, they blow around and reflect light every direction.
I still used to have bird problems.
Doug

A spray deterrent is probably a good idea.

My first large heirloom tomato was half eaten today from the bottom up on the plant. I will do the same.

I have a premix of  crushed garlic, cayenne pepper and dish soap. It will work till it rains. It soaks then you have to strain it.

Agway has a couple critter sprays that are garden safe for @ $20, I'll get that too.

Good luck, Mike

This is a new development, but related to this topic.  So I am adding to this thread instead of starting my own.  I am continuing to see bite marks in the tomatoes, but I have 40 plants so I have been able to get tomatoes for myself.  This morning I checked on the garden and was very upset to find something big was able to get over the 7 foot fence and took out every one of my corn.  I had 75 plants growing.  Not a mark on any fence and whatever it was, it must have been big.  I also found a present in the corner of the other end.  It is not a deer.  Does anyone have any idea what it could have been?  What to do to keep my tomatoes / peppers / eggplant?
   


 

 

 

PM me if you want it dead.  it will come back every night!

The poop is bigger in diameter than my thumb.  The size of a cigar.  Looks bigger than a coon, smaller than a bear.  Maybe the size of a coyote?  but a coyote couldn't climb the fence.  I am ready to take extreme measures.  Sending Dennis a PM.

Hi Dennis,

I'm trying to send a PM and getting the following message:

That is a raccoon, try sardines for bait.

I had to update my email address.  Inbox is starting to charge for a fee.  It should work now.  I'll send you the recipe.  Just don't post it in the open forum.