My tomato plants are gone. It’s a shame too because there were still hundreds of tomatoes ripening on them and the plants were surprisingly healthy for this late in the season.
I had to put a stop to the chipmunk madness. At first it was amusing to watch them pluck a tomato from the lower branches and try to waddle away with it. Then they got a bit lazy and started munching on the tomatoes on the lower branches while leaving them on the vine. Finally they made a game of seeing how high they could climb. They used my tomato ladders to eat tomatoes 5 or 6 feet above the ground. They’d get chipmunk scat on the tomatoes below, it was disgusting.
Since the growing season is nearly over, I thought I could ride it out. At least it was keeping them from pilfering my birdseed (have you seen the price of birdseed lately!?). But they got frighteningly defiant. I could stand 3 feet away yelling and clapping at them and they’d continue to climb the ladders and puncture and hollow out the tomatoes. They wouldn’t budge until I grabbed the top of the ladder and gave it a good shake.
I don’t need a rogue gang of chipmunks usurping what little power I delusionally think I have in my yard, so out came the tomato plants. While I was cutting them down I looked around spitefully for one the little beasts to rear his puny head so I could shout “TAKE THAT, VERMIN!”
I didn’t see any, but I’m pretty sure there were beady little eyes watching me from all over the yard, plotting their revenge. I better warn my pepper plants.