As promised, I can present my evidence that it was racoons that ate my corn.

The first clue was that overnight the stalks were ripped down and only a few bites were taken from each of the ears now at ground level. The next day however, the ears were picked clean which leads me to believe the groundhog worked in tandem with the racoon.

However I was working on my apple seedlings about 300 yards from the garden and came across this:

Corn filled raccoon scat!

Furthermore, my next door neighbor is growing soybeans this year and not corn. Unless his personal garden got raided as well, mine appears to be the only source of maize.

Raccoons have been recorded to have a home range of up to 20 square miles so it is no surprise that they will travel to raid my corn. Something also carried a small pumpkin I harvested about 20 yards before abandoning it sans stem.

Regardless, I am not too worried about raccoons as garden pests. However I will rest a bit easier when my fence is installed.