Tomato-eating fools!

You might think I am talking about me and my family. But, alas, I am not. The morning our second batch of beef steak tomatoes were ripe for the picking, someone else had the same idea I did, and they not only got to the tomatoes first once, but twice. You see, before leaving the house in the afternoon, I checked on the garden - there were 3 ripening tomatoes almost at their prime. Since the morning, one had been picked at/pecked at and had been lost. So I picked it off the vine, brought it in the house and put it in a baggie to show my better half.
Then I went on my merry way and left the house. When I came back no more than two hours later, I went to the garden to find the critters (squirrels or birds, what's your vote?) had gotten our remaining ripening tomatoes. I was heartbroken. Here is Ell with the two found later in the day:

Well, fool me once, fool me twice - but fool me a third time? I came back with guns a blazing (well, okay, nylon guns a blazing), but nonetheless. Here is my first attempt at sparing our newly-ripening beefsteaks: old black nylons tied up to protect them. I'll let you know how it goes.