Had the same problem one year here in CT. DH planted a few rows of corn in his little back yard garden, more for the girls to have the experience of growing their own food than anything else. We watched it all summer until one evening John came in and said I could plan on fresh corn for dinner the next night.

Apparently we weren't the only ones watching it. Not monkeys - not too many of those here in CT - but the racoons raided the garden that night and destroyed each one of the half dozen corn plants he'd nurtured all summer. And the little buggers didn't even eat them all - just chewed a bit and moved on to the next ear.