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I planted some corn seed a few weeks ago and they began to germinate lately. Then this evening, I found almost all of them got dug out!

The germinated seed are mostly left near the holes, but some of them are gone and there's no visible worm damage on the seed.

Maybe it's the birds, but the holes are about 3 by 3 inches and 1 to 2 inches deep.

What dug them up also knew exactly where they are. I planted them 16 inches apart and almost all of them got dug up at exactly where the seeds are. And I live in the rainy part of the US Pacific Northwest.

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  • I have the same problem! In over a decade of growing corn from seed in my fenced garden I've never had this problem. Something is eating the germinating seeds! Some of the fresh, tiny leaves remain so the pest appears to be targeting the seed. I'm in Olympia, WA area.
    – Bobbi
    Commented Jun 19 at 14:17

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Best guess, lacking details: Corvids (i.e. members of the crow family - smart, large birds, with large beaks.)

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    If you've ever had the chance of watching them walk down a corn row, you learn how quickly crows can completely undo crop planting. That or the chickens got out. Down here, it's wild turkeys you have to watch for, provide them with plenty of other grazing materials. They completely trashed my fruit tree compost and spread it in a 6 foot circle with their pecking and scratching.
    – Fiasco Labs
    Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 15:46
  • Good guess, I think. I've jackdaws in my garden. Every morning they do a very structured search for anything edible. They can dig and poke between anything to find seeds or bugs. They are strong, smart and persistent and will sometimes lift or throw over flower pots to see what's underneath.
    – GolezTrol
    Commented May 1, 2015 at 20:39
  • Whoa...what's a jackdaw? Grin!! My vote is squirrel! They can smell so very well as they have to bury food all over the place and find it again! Anyhoo, that is what it looks like to me...for seedlings I'd cover your crop with ROW CLOTH and pin it down on the edges with soil. You can raise all you want 'till corn is past being vandalized. Wonderful stuff...
    – stormy
    Commented Jun 24, 2015 at 23:48

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