Discovering damage—uprooted plants, half-eaten fruit, or vanished seedlings—is a common frustration for tomato growers. Identifying the nocturnal culprits requires observing the specific patterns of damage left behind. This knowledge allows you to implement targeted protection strategies to safeguard your harvest.
Nocturnal Mammals That Target Tomato Plants
Larger mammals cause extensive and sudden damage, often consuming entire sections of the plant or fruit in a single visit. Rabbits target young seedlings and tender stems close to the ground. They leave a distinctive, clean cut on the stem, severed at a sharp 45-degree angle, indicative of their incisor teeth.
Raccoons are known for their destructive feeding style, often visiting when tomatoes are ripening. They pull down entire plants or leave fruit half-eaten with jagged, messy chew marks. Evidence of their presence often includes their five-toed tracks in soft soil or muddy areas.
Deer can browse on upper foliage, leaving behind stems with ragged, torn edges. This jagged damage occurs because deer lack upper incisors and must rip the vegetation rather than making a clean bite. Woodchucks, also known as groundhogs, mow down large quantities of plants and take bites from multiple fruits.
Slugs, Snails, and Night-Feeding Insects
Small invertebrates cause localized damage. Slugs and snails are nocturnal feeders that thrive in damp conditions, often leaving a shiny mucus trail on leaves or surrounding mulch. They chew irregular holes in leaves, sometimes consuming the foliage from the outer edge inward.
Cutworms, the larvae of night-flying moths, are dangerous to young tomato transplants. They feed at the soil line, severing the stem clean through, making the damage look like it was cut with scissors. These caterpillars hide beneath the soil surface during the day, emerging only at night to feed. Other small pests include flea beetles, which create numerous tiny, round holes across the leaves, giving the foliage a lacy appearance.
Reading the Clues: Connecting Damage to the Animal
The nature of the bite mark provides the most reliable evidence for identification. A clean, angled cut on a stem, typically within two inches of the soil, points to rabbit activity. In contrast, large portions of a plant that are ripped or torn, especially at higher levels, suggest browsing by a deer.
If a young plant is completely severed and lying on the ground, the culprit is almost certainly a cutworm. Irregular holes accompanied by a silvery slime trail on leaves indicate slugs or snails. Look for physical evidence like large, rounded rabbit droppings or the distinctive five-toed tracks of a raccoon. Tiny, black, granular insect droppings, known as frass, can also be found near the feeding site of larger caterpillars.
Practical Strategies for Nighttime Protection
Protection measures should be tailored to the identified pest group. To deter larger mammals, temporary physical barriers are the most effective solution. A cylinder of chicken wire, approximately two feet tall and sunk a few inches into the soil, prevents rabbits from reaching low-hanging foliage and burrowing underneath.
For pests that target fruit, spraying plants with a commercial repellent containing putrescent egg solids creates an unpleasant taste and odor barrier. To manage slugs and snails, apply diatomaceous earth around the base of the plants at dusk, as it dehydrates the mollusks. Alternatively, shallow containers of stale beer sunk into the soil will attract and trap them overnight. Protecting young transplants from cutworms requires wrapping the stem with a cardboard collar or plastic cup section, ensuring the barrier extends both above and below the soil line.