Nature: Striking down smugness one tomato grower at a time

Remember how I was all proud of myself yesterday because I'd found what seemed to be a pretty effective way of guarding my tomatoes against theiving birds?  Well, it still seems to work against birds, but look what I found when I came around the corner today:

Uh oh.  

Hey, Mom, look what I found.  I was just going to bring it to you.

Can I have it pleeeeease?  I don't know what it is, but I want it SO. BAD.  

It took her a while to decide if she liked it or not and what, exactly, she was supposed to do with it, hence my ability to get the pictures.  I was going to take it away from her, but she'd already slimed all over it, so I decided she could have it.  That was probably a big mistake, but she did manage to get it without tearing up my entire tomato plant, and for her that has to count for something.  Now that I think about it, I suppose it could have fallen off the plant and she was just checking it out when I caught her. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's going to be her story when I ask her about it later.  

So, in case you're keeping track, ti leaves:  good protection against birds, not so much against dogs.