Raccoons? Definitely not birds.

I've seen woodchucks clean and eat an ear of corn just like a human would. But they pulled it off the plant first.

I don't know what's doing that, but I'd be inclined to put a wooden clothespin or rubber band over the tips of the ripening ears so they can't be peeled open. You also can put paper lunch bags over the ears and use clothespins to hold them in place.

If the damage occurs at night then I'd guess rats. Raccoons, or maybe oppossums, would also be likely nighttime offenders, but they normally remove the ears from the stalks. If the damage occurs in the daylight, then squirrels is a good possibility.

An electric fence has worked for me on the large animals. However, I have yet to find the ideal solution to a nighttime rats? problem. They tend to ignore the rat traps and head for the corn... which makes me wonder if my nighttime problem IS rats...

This post was edited by grandad on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 12:06

Do you have a big homeless problem in the area?

If so, electric fence as suggested earlier, or call the police.

Could be squirrels. Raccoons usually rip the whole ear off the stalk, squirrels sometimes do but not always.

I vote for birds...sparrows and blackbirds. For about 4 years I have had birds start pecking on the ends of the ears when they are getting close to maturity.

If there is a small amount of damage on the first day and more each day further down the ear, it likely is birds. Do you have birds out there in the patch during the day? If so that about nails it. What I do in return is slip nylon footies over the ears. Also you can hang cottage cheese plastic 3/4 size containers over the ears.

Last week my late corn took a beating very similar in your pics and I figured that it's either early morning squirrels or late nite raccoons. I surrounded my plot with nylon netting but the varments were still getting into the corn chewing thru the nets and eating the pre-ripened ears like peeling bananas. I was wrong on both varment counts. I placed a large hav-a-hart trap in the middle of the corn plot (with ear inside) and the next morning I had a skunk in the trap with an ear eaten to the bone. I knew that skunks were stealing my grapes but apparently they love Ambrosia sweet corn too.

I watched a squirrel take two ears of corn today out of my garden, husks and all. I didn't care because they were old ears that didn't do well. Good luck protecting your corn!

vgkg, How did you deal with the skunk?

Wayne, this was the 3rd skunk that I've caught over the past 10 years. Other critters are easy to transport far out into the countryside and release, but placing a skunk in my vehicle is not an option. So as to not upset the sensitivities of animal lovers here send me an email and I'll give you the details.