What's Eating My Corn?
Corn damage escalates with the calendar: seedling thieves in spring, stalk borers in summer, and a full raccoon heist the very night before your perfect harvest.
The usual suspects
Corn earworm
The signs: Chewed kernels and moist frass at the ear tip, under the husk where the silks enter.
What it looks like: Green to brown striped caterpillar working the tip — usually one per ear; they eat each other.
What to do: A few drops of mineral oil on the silks a few days after they emerge blocks entry; otherwise cut away the tip damage and enjoy the rest. Tight-husked varieties suffer least.
European corn borer
The signs: Shot-hole rows in whorl leaves, sawdust frass in leaf axils, stalks that snap in wind, and tunnels in cobs.
What it looks like: Pale caterpillar with small dark spots, tunneling in stalks and ears.
What to do: Bt into the whorl during early infestations, shred and remove stalks after harvest so borers can't overwinter.
Cutworms
The signs: Spring seedlings toppled at soil level, whole sections of a row overnight.
What it looks like: Fat C-curled larvae an inch down beside the stumps.
What to do: Delay planting into warm soil for fast emergence, patrol and squish after losses.
Raccoons
The signs: Stalks pulled down, husks stripped back, ears half-eaten and strewn — timed with cruel precision to peak ripeness.
What it looks like: Overnight raids, often the whole patch in one visit.
What to do: Electric fencing — two strands at 6 and 12 inches, energized a week before harvest — is the only reliable answer.
Birds
The signs: Seedlings plucked at emergence; later, ear tips pecked through husks.
What it looks like: Crows work new plantings; blackbirds hit milk-stage ears.
What to do: Cover emerging rows; bags or netting over ears in small plantings.
Deer
The signs: Ragged-torn leaves head-high, trampled stalks, ears stripped.
What it looks like: Browse line height and hoof prints tell the story.
What to do: Eight-foot fencing or double-strand electric; repellents wash out fast in tassel season.
When it's not a pest at all
Swollen gray-black galls on ears or stalks are corn smut — a fungus (a delicacy in Mexican kitchens, sold as huitlacoche). Ears with scattered missing kernels had pollination gaps, usually from drought at silking.
Or just point your phone at it
Snap a photo of the leaf, the bug, or the droppings, and Harold — the advisor built into Homestead Paradise — names what he sees, tells you friend or foe, and what he'd do next. Honest when he's unsure, and careful where it counts.
Put Harold's Eyes on it — free 14-day trial