I posted this question on the square foot gardening forum, but it was suggested to ask it over here. Hopefully someone can tell me what is eating my tomatoes.

It is just happening with one of my six tomato plants. They are all different varieties. The one being hit is a champion, if that makes any difference. Maybe it's sweeter or something. As soon as they ripen, they are hollowed completely out, leaving only the stem hanging from the plant. I swear I've lost a bushel before I can ever eat any. I thought it was a rabbit, although I thought tomatoes were poison to rabbits. We don't have any trees around us, so it can't be squirrel. I don't know what animals like tomatoes. Whatever it is hasn't eaten anything else, except my beets. It wiped all of them out. After it ate the greens, I built a litte fence around them. Then they were all gone. I have been fighting this creature for weeks now -- starting with the beets. I have fenced my tomatoes in with plastic poultry fencing and put rocks around the fence and bricks around the wood trying to keep it from burrowing under (I have raised beds). I have tied cans and wind chimes around the plants thinking that might scare it. The roots keep getting exposed because of the digging around it. The neighboring tomato plant is looking kind of sickly because of that, except it isn't eating the tomoatos off of that one. My husband decided it must be a field mouse because of the size of the burrow it makes. So I put a sticky trap out yesterday. It's been out two days. Nothing has been caught, but another tomato has been eaten! I'm feeling quite discouraged. Any suggestions?? I'm feeling ready to pull the plant up and forget it, but the tomatoes really are quite nice. I have taken to picking some green and letting them ripen in the house.

This is my first year gardening in many, many years, and the worst part has been constantly fighting pests. I am in a new suburb, and my gardens are backed up against undeveloped lots. I have fought cabbage worms, Japanese beetles, cucumber beetles, and flea beetles. I feel like I am keeping ahead of that destruction pretty well, but this was has me stumped, and I'm losing the battle. Can anybody help me?

Teresa