Hmm, well I just don't know. I've heard crows could do it. They could be ravens I don't know how to tell the difference. I haven't caught anyone in the act so I can't say for sure. I know the neighbor two houses down has rats in the attic (according to my other neighbor) and we have seen one outside. Ugh, I'd hate for rats to be the case. The squirrles do eat my avocadoes (but they leave plenty for me-I just cut off the eaten bits) but you see teeth marks so I assumed that I would see similar marks in the tomatoes instead with the large tomatoes I see round holes about the size of a nickel as the first signs and then more and more of the tomato up to half is eaten with the rest left on the vine. Cyrus_gardener I'd be willing to share, I garden organically and don't expect perfect yeilds. But there is not one red cherry tomato left on the vine and as soon as any get a blush of color they are eaten. I should be getting reasonable yields this time of year... now I have no more tomatoes on the vines. I'll post pictures if I get any more of the large ones ripening. Thanks for all the help. Kristi

I promise just one truth. If deer are hungry enough they will literally eat anything. In some catalogs marks are made to indicate plants deer tend to pass by. The key word is tend. In my area we have nearly enough hunters and poachers to keep the herds thinned to numbers we can live with. Our road traffic is the number one harvester of deer. Some folks here determine that deer season opens when the freezer gets empty. They are not always disliked by their neighbors.

Petzold6596...I have the burgundy beans planted, That is what I planted last year also. I read online that squash planted next to beans or corn would deter animals because of the sticky plants. The critters don't like to get a taste of stickers (or whatever they are called). I don't blame them because it itches me when I pick or tend to the plants (same with okra). I break out! I looked today and nobody has any squash plants. And, I can't find any seeds either. I do have a big squash patch planted in another one of my gardens. So, if I plant squash, it would be for the pests. I plant radishes by my squash to deter bugs on those plants. I'm a believer in using natural controls.

It's possibly starving for fuel. If it has an O.E.M. inline fuel filter, you might try replacing it with an automotive filter so you get greater capacity for storing the stuff that a fuel filter catches before becoming "stopped up". I like the clear plastic kind so you can see if it has trapped water. I think you probably have 1/4" fuel hose so getting a nice, robust filter at a local parts house or even Wal-Mart is no trouble. Pay attention to the directional arrow pointing the right way to install it. Don't worry if you see a pocket of air in the top of the filter that won't go away, that's normal and does not mean your are sucking air or anything. The reason I suggest it may not be getting enough fuel is that you say it starts well and runs well until you try to cut grass. If it isn't acting strangely otherwise, it might not be getting sufficient fuel to meet the engine's needs when the real load is handed to it. Go out there and try to mow some grass the way you did before. Do this for about 15 minutes and then cut off the engine right there (so you can read the evidence on the spark plug tips without running the engine without being loaded) Let it cool down a bit and remove the spark plugs to inspect the tips. If the tips are dark black and sooty looking, you are getting too much fuel and/or not enough air. In that case start looking for a restriction in the air induction system (air filter and check any ducting leading to the air cleaner for foreign material, like a mouse nest). If the tips of plugs are white in appearance, you are not getting enough fuel and the engine is running too lean.