predation and attrition

well...it's monday...that in itself could be construed as a bad omen...it certainly was a bad day for the hopi blue across from the sunchokes...when i pulled into the driveway i saw that it wasn't at height and when i wandered over i saw that something ( one? ) had nailed it...stretched out to its full length...whatever drilled it at the base didn't take the ears though..odd i thought...wasted effort ( unless it was just pure vandalism )...they were fair sized ears...so i took them in and after i measured them i shucked them...odd...i planted hopi blue but this isn't blue...it also isn't anywhere near mature which may be the reason behind its albino appearance...the larger ear had very few kernels formed and the smaller one wasn't much farther along...i have spread critter repellant around the remaining plants...and the teosinte is unscathed ( so far ) and there are multiple plants on campus so it isn't a dead loss...the hopi blue season has a ways to run yet.. i want to see blue ears next month.