Chipmunks, squirrels, robins, ants, etc all love strawberries. I make up a gallon of ant bait per Mike McGraths formula and have ant feeders every three feet. I used to use the black bird netting but the birds just got tangled up in it which made for other problems. Now I use white netting from the fabric stores, Walmarts is the cheapest at .57 per yard. I bought two twelve yard pieces and overlaid them on my bed. The birds see the white netting and don't try to fly into it. If I get ambitious this fall, I am going to stitch the two pieces together. Tonight I set out the small animal trap to see if I can remove the bothersome squirrel.

I had many battles with chipmunks eating my container tom's several years ago. I tried several deterrents. Hot pepper powder- they just run through it. Foul smelling fox urine- caught a chipmunk trying to drink the stuff like a hamster drinking from it's water bottle. Put out water bowls for them- they'd take a drink before attacking the tomatoes. Even threw a few tomatoes on the ground at different ripening stages for them- they would take a couple of bites, then climb the plants for more. The one thing that finally sent a message to them... mouse traps. The old fashioned wooden plank with the metal spring loaded snap type. I placed several of these on the top of the containers around the base of the plants. The varmits couldn't see them from the ground level. They would jump up on the container and set off the traps. If you put enough traps up there, one will go off and hit another, on & on. The chipmunks were so fast that they never got caught in the traps, but the loud snapping and traps jumping seemed to scare the crap out of them. I'm not sure about mice. For them you could probably bait the traps if you don't mind some dead mice.

I have a woodchuck that has lived in my yard for years. He's never bothered my tomatoes in the past, but he discovered them this year. He will eat them right on the vine, or pick them and sit and eat them. He rarely eats an entire tomato, preferring to eat half and then get another. I have also seen chipmunks eating my cherry tomatoes. Most of the advice I got on here involved killing or trapping and removing the woodchuck. But, honestly, he has been here for at least 7 years so I hate to relocate him, and killing him is not an option. He's eaten too many tomatoes to count. I've been removing the lower tomatoes and ripening them on the table outside so he can't get those. I also found he prefers the beefsteak tomatoes. I put out a few bars of Coast deodorant soap on the suggestion of a neighbor, and I haven't lost any tomatoes this last week. Maybe give that a try? My neighbor also said Irish Spring soap might do it. Good luck, I feel your pain!

I know a crazy person who puts peds (those nylon footies they give you at the shoe store when you don't have socks on) on her tomatoes when they start getting big. Obviously, she's not growing a ton of plants or anything. She says it works, but the thing with squirrels is that they all have their own personalities, and there's no one tactic that works on all of them. Sey: "Possibly squirrels. They usually haul away the things . Rats, mice eat at the location. Rabbits cannot reach too high." Yes, if it's still left on the plant, it's usually a rat, mouse, vole, etc. If there's no sign of gnawing, it could be a raccoon, which don't gnaw them off but pick them. Then you're really in trouble.