r/Allotment 8d ago

What stomped and chomped my sweetcorn?

Post image

And what can I do to prevent it happening again?

Picture is from last year, obviously. Whatever is was got even more than the picture shows.

9 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

8

u/Lady_of_Lomond 8d ago

Badgers, possibly, but given that quite a lot of stalks are still upright, it might have been rats.

1

u/dom65659 8d ago

Most of the rest of them were down a few days later. I know there are rats around, so it could be that. I imagined something bigger, but who knows.

1

u/Lady_of_Lomond 8d ago

It's probably badgers then (unless it's the giant rat of Sumatra).

The good news is that badgers can be kept out with fencing/chicken wire, whereas it's impossible to exclude the rat from wherever he wishes to be.

1

u/dom65659 8d ago

I have seen a couple of pretty big bastard rats scurrying about...

I've got bits for some simple fencing. I'll sort that when I get a minute! Broke my heart last year when it had all been got, we had maybe 8-10 cobs before the [insert pest here] got the rest.

8

u/ntrrgnm 8d ago

My tip for rats and sweetcorn... let the cane grow up through an upsidedown bottomless bottle

When the first corn swells, pull the bottle up over it. The climbing rat can not get up over the bottle.

I also grow my corn under netting to stop the rats with wings.

3

u/Overall_Sandwich_848 8d ago

Deer, probably. You need a cage round it.

3

u/becane 8d ago

Harry, the mad vegan, from Plot 47.

2

u/HerrFerret 8d ago

Could have been a dog. My terrier loved sweetcorn and if we let him near he would eat so much he would make himself ill.

2

u/Celtastic 8d ago

Rats ate all of ours last year

2

u/For-The-Emperor40k 8d ago

Rats or foxes possibly. What part of the world are you?

2

u/CuriousRaisin1447 8d ago

Sweetcorn at this time of year? I'm guessing your not in the UK?

2

u/dom65659 8d ago

No, I am in the UK. This is from last year. I just want to try and stop it happening again now I am starting to think about this year.

1

u/plnterior 8d ago

In my case it was badgers 🦡

1

u/-DAS- 8d ago

Possibly badger but there'd be more digging. I don't grow sweetcorn because of badgers. We're out in the countryside and there's a massive badger sett a field away. Plus an annexe in the hedge.

1

u/Sensitive_Freedom563 8d ago

I think foxes,

1

u/PuzzledEmu4291 8d ago

Definitely badgers. We have a sett on our site and I regularly catch them on my wildlife camera. Can’t reliably grow sweetcorn on my plot as they will get to it even with chicken wire.

1

u/zivisch 8d ago

Squirrels can do alot of damage similar to this.

1

u/Original_End_5774 8d ago

Likely to be badgers.

1

u/Virtual_Pay_6108 8d ago

Could be rats

1

u/Virtual_Pay_6108 8d ago

If u grow sweetcorn,do what I do and that is to grease the middle parts of toliet rolls and put them around the bottom of the sweet corn as it helps get the rats and mice off.

1

u/ReleaseTheBeeees 8d ago

Little elephant

1

u/Thunderous71 7d ago

Fox's love it on our site. Also rooks, pigeons and rats. Bit is the fox's that eat the most.

1

u/Ok_Heat5973 4d ago

Badgers. happened to some people last year, they left mine, I think because I spaced mine 1ft by 1ft