# The case of the disappearing tomato **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058 "2012-07-12T23:30:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/1 "2012-07-12T23:30:07Z")
I have a couple of tomato plants in large containers on the side of my driveway, not visible from the street. There was a big, beautiful tomato, about 3.5" in diameter, that looked like it was about to start ripening. This morning I went out, and it was gone. Someone/something made off with it, and left no evidence whatsoever. I don’t have a problem with kids in the yard, and the only animals I’ve seen are occasional cats, squirrels, rabbits and skunks. And there are no large birds around. What kind of animal could remove a fruit that size and make off with it . . . or eat the whole thing then and there . . . leaving nothing behind? I’ve had other tomatoes before this one, and never lost one this way. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/2 "2012-07-12T23:34:06Z")
My guess is that it was you all along, panache!!! ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/3 "2012-07-12T23:34:21Z")
Any chance it could have been a deer? That’s who ate all the tomatoes off my vines.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/4 "2012-07-12T23:35:14Z")
I had a friend who told me that squirrels stole her tomatoes but I don’t know if she actually caught them red handed, no pun intended. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/5 "2012-07-12T23:43:18Z")
We had squirrels steal the heads of our sunflower plants, which were as big as squirrel, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t steal your tomatoes. My wife wanted to blame the elementary school kids who walk by the yard, but then we were out walking and saw a squirrel stealing somebody elses sunflower heads. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/6 "2012-07-13T00:49:22Z")
Raccoon? Just because you’ve never seen one, doesn’t mean they aren’t around. We have squirrels, but I’ve never seen one go after a tomato. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/7 "2012-07-13T00:50:31Z")
Homeless person? ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/8 "2012-07-13T01:22:06Z")
Squirrels will take tomatoes, as will woodchucks/groundhogs and raccoons. Rat bastards! ETA: though woodchucks are more likely to eat the whole damn plant. ---
**Author:** ![greenslime1951](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9bcb4/32.png) [@greenslime1951](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenslime1951)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/9 "2012-07-13T01:32:55Z")
I was in the mountains, eating my lunch, which included a huge peach the size of a softball. I set it down beside me, and the next thing I knew, it was being carried off by a squirrel. The peach was considerably larger, and probably heavier, than he was. J’accuse squirrel. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/10 "2012-07-13T02:03:55Z")
My dog keeps eating mine. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/11 "2012-07-13T02:48:11Z")
And I’ve seen squirrels stealing apples off of apple trees. So far, the SDMB jury seems to lean toward indicting squirrel. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/12 "2012-07-13T02:53:46Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > My dog keeps eating mine. ☹ I used to plant some tomatoes specifically for my dog. She loved Sweet 100s, but she’d take one that was bigger if she could get to it. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/13 "2012-07-13T02:56:51Z")
Perhaps a swallow carried it off. Hey…\*somebody \*had to say it! ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/14 "2012-07-13T03:00:52Z")
Ah, but the tomatoes, that’s… that’s where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with… geometric logic… that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist, and I’d have produced that key if they hadn’t of pulled the Caine out of action. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/15 "2012-07-13T03:03:39Z")
I just moved into a neighborhood with a heavy squirrel population. I was advised not to bother planting any tomatoes, because I would never get a chance to eat them.☹ ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/16 "2012-07-13T03:05:18Z")
I had a similar thing happen many years ago, and after several thefts I saw a groundhog lollop across the yard, reach up over the wire fence, pick an almost-ripe tomato and go lollopping back into the woods carrying it in his/her mouth. “Hey, kids, tomato for lunch again today!” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/17 "2012-07-13T04:19:17Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And I’ve seen squirrels stealing apples off of apple trees. > > So far, the SDMB jury seems to lean toward indicting squirrel. They also went after our strawberries. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/18 "2012-07-13T15:40:32Z")
The dingo ate your tomato! Or perhaps the trash collector needed a garnish for his sandwich? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/19 "2012-07-13T16:06:19Z")
Oh was that yours ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058/20 "2012-07-13T16:19:42Z")
Where I used to live I witnessed a neighbor helping herself to one of my tomatoes. I was shocked, but it didn’t really warrant wasting a bullet. The next time I saw her I asked her if she had seen any dead squirrels or groundhogs around. Because I had applied a pesticide to my tomatoes that was very toxic and I really figured there would be bodies around. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-case-of-the-disappearing-tomato/628058.md?page=2)