I knew someone–besides me–was eating my tomatoes. I blamed it on woodchucks, squirrels, even skunks. But now I know the truth, because I caught him red-handed.
A short while ago I was sitting on the garden bench and saw one of the tomato plants swaying to and fro. At the bottom, I could see movement of some beastie attacking the low-handing fruit. On close inspection, I saw this Eastern Box Turtle standing on his two hind legs munching away. Oh, he looks timid now. But he is a tomato eating beast!
To be fair, I have encountered him in the garden before–under flowers and leaves. But I had never put two and two together. You can bet he has a big move coming to a new home far, far up the driveway. I don’t take kindly to tomato thieves.
He should pass that along to his friends before I get back out there.
Now, if he were eating my squash…
Hi! I'm Robin Ripley author of Wisdom for Home Preservers, published by Taunton Press. I am also co-author of Grocery Gardening. Bumblebee is about my life in rural Maryland, my garden and my love of food, my little dogs and pet chickens. You can follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook. Thank you for visiting!
by RSS |
by email
To get the latest Bumblebee posts in your email box, just enter your email address.
Baking
Birds
Blogging
bluebirds
brother
bulbs
cake
chicks
daffodils
Dogs
Easter egg chicken
eggs
fall
Flowers
food
garden
garden seating
gloriosa superba Rothschildiana
Grocery Gardening
hellebores
hens
Johnny Cash
Lowe's Creative Ideas
Memphis
Meredith
Miss P
Moss Mountain Farm
My DIY Summer
P. Allen Smith
Palazzo di Pollo
Papillons
Philadelphia Flower Show
Polish chicken
potager
Recipes
rooster
Sarah
seasons
snow
Sophie
spring
T. Boone Chickens
Vegetables
winter
wisteria
Oh! what a beastie! LOL!
very persistent creature 🙂
e.
That is really funny(-: Poor thing is hungry(-:
I never knew turtles ate tomatoes. I know this is heresy but I’d probably rather have the turtle. Or are they very common where you live?
hahahaha. I did not know they could stand on two legs. Yes, he should be banished.
[…] love critters. (Especially when they don’t eat my tomatoes.) And I’ve been wanting to invite some chickens to live here at Bumblebee Garden for some […]
Never heard of a tomatoe turtle. Amazing!
Came here out of curiosity via Country Girl and Kelly. Very nice! I shall return.
Awww… but he’s so cute! 🙂
Ahhh, so cute. Build him an enclosure and plant his own crop! He’ll love it. He’ll also keep your snail population down. I love Box turtles, they are so fun to keep!
That is just too funny!!! Love it…just this afternoon I thought for sure I’d get a great photo of a large turtle sunning on a log in our pond…well, he saw me…of course and plop!…right back in the pond. Your gardens look great!
Haha…that photo is priceless. Nice capture. The tomatoes look wonderful!
Great to have your camera ready, usually it’s some place else when a great shot like this comes up. Always plant enough for the critters!