Note: I've posted a similar post to this on rec.food.cooking so if you post on both please excuse the redundancy. TIA
I talked to my relative that grows tomatoes on a large scale. He said his would be finished in less than a week and advised me to strip my vines as there was little chance of the green tomatoes ripening. I told him about the tree rats. Well I thought I might have a little more time until two of the dang tree rats were having a party this morning in the one tomato bed :( One actually sat in a nearby tree and watched me pick the tomatoes! That determined their fate right there. I left no food source for them other than some hot peppers and I really hope they munch on those .
Here's pics of the damage. They seem to go for the nicest tomatoes too :(