Thank you all for the comments. I had the squash on my counter so i could take it with me to the garden center to get help there but i won't have time until the weekend so i threw it out w/trash .... It was pretty big (10 inches ) i tried to take good pictures - it looked like something with sharp fangs or claws. - maybe one critter started eating and another came behind to get their dinner!? I did put out some snap traps a couple weeks ago - inside a milk carton so birds and friendly creatures wouldn't get hurt - and both traps were tripped by morning with no critters but the apples were gone..... That method didn't seem to work well for me and i just don't want to hurt the wrong ones. Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions! I will try the netting over new growth as recommended- THANK YOU!

I don't think it's the deer. I have noticed something similar with my citrus collection--especially the kumquats. My critter seems to leave the half eaten fruit behind--almost like it's trying to get a liking for the sweet but acidic fruit but can't quite get into it. I suspect my culprit to be one big, fat ground hog frequently seen hobbling about but who at least has the good sense to wait until the fruit is fully ripe before experimenting. I would get some cayenne pepper spray and spray the plant with it. (You can either get it at a local garden center or make a batch of your own--check the Net for recipes.)

Two years ago I went out to my garden and found a number of seedlings had been cut off at the ground level. I removed some of the dirt around them and in every case I found the larva stage of the cut worm. It is a brown worm (soil colour)and very difficult to spot, about 1 inch long and quite fat from eating my seedlings. If you touch the larva it curls up into a circle very quickly. The larva pupates into a moth but I am not sure how long it is in the ground. I have solved the problem but wrapping my seedlings in wax paper before I plant them in the garden. I cut sprips about 3/4 inches wide and about 1 inch long and warp them (like a cigarette)so the paper covers the joint between the root and the crown and protrudes about 1/2 inch out of the ground. By the time the paper rots the seedling is large enough that the worms do not bother it. Apparently cut worms only attack new seedlings. The larva wraps themselves around the new growth just below the surface level and then eats the seedling off, it then moves on to other seedlings. The older plants are too tough and are not affected. My mother used this method when planting seedling tomatos. It takes a bit more time to plant but I have never lost a seedling since I used this method. Hope this is helpful.

VGKG - the cost has really gone up over the years. I used to think $80. was a lot to spend. I try to wait for a sale and the last time I had to replace I was able to do that with a 20% deduction. I start looking for the sale before my shoes have to be retired. [g]. I have looked around for a less expensive alternative, but I hadn't been satisfied with the choices. So, I've stuck with the LLBean shoe. I love your idea of a loafer style, the leather ties sometimes get in the way. I wear mine a lot, on rainy days and in the winter when there's snow on the ground, too. Thanks for the mouse trap idea. I did find it odd that there are maybe 3 holes all about 8 inches away from each other, which made me think they were exit holes of some kind. And I've yet to see a chipmunk in the yard this season. I thought chipmunks like living in rock walls? I have a rock edge around a couple of my beds, and I wondered if that would be their preferred home. I've had 3 rabbits but they live in my neighbor's yard. I lost about 6 mature clumps of pink bleeding heart a couple of winters ago and we suspected mole/vole [they ignored most of the white ones] and at one point I saw a mole/vole and a few tracks in the snow in March. Maybe this is an opportunity to see if they are still here. We had no snow cover last winter, so I thought maybe that would have reduced the population.