This year, for the first time since I started growing my own tomatoes, I've had a problem with squirrels eating the fruits of my labor, literally. When I first noticed that I had a lower yield, if you will, than in years past, I thought it might have something to do with the drought we've been experiencing. Thus, I started a very systematic watering program lest late summer come and, bam, no tomatoes.
One morning as I was leaving for work, I spied a squirrel on top of my storage shed munching on what looked like a grape. As I opened the gate to enter my back yard, the squirrel took off and what he'd been eating rolled off the roof of my shed. It was one of my damned tomatoes!
My tomato plants are tied to metal stakes. A little over a month ago, I started spraying the stakes with Pam (and I trimmed the low-hanging vines off my plants). The amount of half-eaten tomatoes in my yard declined precipitously, so I assumed that I'd taken care of my squirrel problem. Of course, trying to stop a squirrel from eating something that he's hell-bent on eating is akin to trying to stop water from running downhill (just ask anyone who has bird-feeders). This morning, I learned that my squirrel problem is far from solved.
As I was getting into my car this morning, I happened to glance up at the security light in my backyard ... and this is what I saw:
That's a big tomato. Sitting on top of a light pole. 25 feet in the air.
Damn them squirrels!
2 comments:
How big was the squirrel that could carry a tomato that big all the way to the top of that light?
"...trying to stop a squirrel from eating something that he's hell-bent on eating is akin to trying to stop water from running downhill (just ask anyone who has bird-feeders)."
I have a small bird feeder that hangs from a tree. I can't tell you how many times I've seen squirrels hang upside down from a branch while stuffing their faces with bird seed. It's a pretty funny sight. They can't stop eating until its all gone.
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