Feeding the Enemy

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We knew he’d been living  in the front yard for a while.

What we didn’t know was that he was munching on the tomatoes, leaving them on the vine.

Then, he got sloppy.

He left seed drippings around the outside of the pots.

Busted. In broad daylight.

Like most of us who grew up with Alvin and those adorable cartoon chipmunks, I was always delighted to see them. Until now.

He was eating them green. By the time we caught him, 10-12 tomatoes were ruined.

We had just come to terms with the rabbits and squirrels in our yard.

But this one was bold. We caught him mid-meal.

We tried blocking the entrance to his abode. He just dug out another hole.

Maybe we could devise a trap, and relocate him to the woods ?

And then, a simple suggestion.

“Maybe they are just hungry…try feeding them something, like peanuts in the shell ? “

It worked. The peanuts rapidly disappeared from a grove of evergreens, and the tomato pilfering ceased.

Such a simple, non-violet approach.

I wish we had thought of it before I picked a few dozen green tomatoes, to ripen indoors, just in case.

There’s always a new lesson to be learned. We’ll know better next year.