Corn earworm. Below is a link to managment....

Greg
Southern Nevada

Here is a link that might be useful: Corn Earworm Management

I have to add, despite the corn earworms your garden is absolutely beautiful. Looks like something out of a magazine!

tom,

i am sorry but i can not give you an answer to your problem
but my corn done the same as yours except there are no bugs
on any of the ears, my corn looks like they where pealed
like a banana the leaves are still on the ears but they
down where the ears conecet to the stock.

hope some one can give you and me and the cause and the and
remady to the problem, regards.

les

I've never had damage from raccoon but would wonder if the stripped husks and feeding damage isn't coon. They are a serious pest of sweetcorn in many areas. They are easily trapped.

I'm not sure what happened to your corn, but I just wanted to say that you still have a gorgeous garden!

Here is a link that might be useful: Kim's Garden

Your first picture has damage like some [a few] of my ears had on the outer end. It is not raccoon, but some insect. The second picture has damage simular to earworms which your worm may not be.

You really think an insect could strip the ears like that? That's an awfully huge insect!! Now I could believe crows or some other fairly large bird. Could also believe rats or similar size varmint at night.

I think Greg and others are correct. Insect damage. Great link on the corn earworm.

Not racoons, definitely. We have a 5K volt electric fence (at the top of the white cedar fence), no deer, coons, etc go over. Only once, when the electric was disconnected, a small bear went over, and ate some sweet corn (they eat sweet corn ears like they are apples !!). I am told that bears can hear the voltage. So they know if it isn't running.

Thanks again for the ideas, and kind words on about the garden. It's the DW's of course, not mine.

A squirrel stripped that ear of corn. 'Coons will carry off their booty while a squirrel leaves the evidence in place.

Brook

Brook:

That sounds plausible. I know the stripped off husk is not some insect. It's some kind of animal and squirrel sounds like a good candidate.

Sure there are likely corn ear worms but they don't strip the husk. I have tons of ear worms and no stripped husk.

The stripped ear tip-birds

I don't know, fez920, I could be wrong but I think that it may be the "Corn Husk Shredder." This bird has an awesome set of claws and beak that are designed to rip and tear at corn husks revealing the kernals inside. I think that the "stripped ear tip-birds" just concentrate on the tips of the corn ears as opposed to shredding the whole ear as seen in the picture.

Greg
Southern Nevada

Uh, I still believe it is insect damage because I had some of that too. You are seeing a severely damaged ear. i had ears less damaged and the damage was very small the first day but proressed daily.

Few may believe this, but my corn has done so poorly this year, that it is trying to mutate? Some of the tassels are growing corn kernels. I think I have seen it before, several years ago, possibly in another extremely hot summer.

Guess I should photo it, because I am sure some will not believe it.

Greg.My only experience is in N.E.Wi & bird damage mostly from black birds.Unable to tell from photo,but yes our bird damage is to the upper half of cob.Our cob strippers are two legged & live close to field. P S if your short of water you can have half of ours. Frank

We're always short of water, Frank please go ahead and send some our way.

Greg
Southern Nevada

I agree with Brooke - squirrels. They will go under the electric fence wire. If squirrels, one way to overcome is to put the wire lower, or to install a border material so that the squirrel has to climb over it resulting in them making contact with the wire.

the little black flea looking things are likely sap beetles and the worm is likely a corn earworm, have been having very heavy moth flights in NJ for a few weeks now.

What general areas of NJ?