The tulle shields have been working, sort of. At first the squirrels couldn't get through. They tried to bite through but couldn't get away with anything as you see below.
I ended up picking the tomato anyway and cutting off the bitten half just so that I could finally have a tomato from the garden. At least they couldn't run off with this one.
Putting up the tulle was almost a dare to them, taunting them to try for more. I watched a squirrel bat down a tomato from the outside and find a way to reach in and grab it out. They have also scratched a hole in one just to steal a green tomato. They don't even like the green ones, they always take one bite and then just leave it.
So it seems that once the tomatoes start to show enough color I am still going to need to pick them and let them finish ripening inside if I want any tomatoes for us. Once the tomatoes start growing higher on the plant the squirrels won't be an issue, next will be the deer.
Maybe you need to plant a walnut tree ;-) We have a lot of squirrels, they run along my garden fence, and bury nuts in the beds, but they never bother the crops. They are perfectly satisfied with eating from the neighbor's English walnut tree. Actually, maybe if you put up a squirrel feeder and filled it with things they like, they might leave the garden alone. It might be worth a try.
ReplyDeleteI've actually considered starting to feed them so they leave the tomatoes alone. Although I don't want to spend much money on the darn varmints. And I don't know if after trying to feed them they will leave the tomatoes alone.
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