Corn cobs are undoubtedly one of the tastiest parts of corn for herbivores, mainly due to their high water and sugar content, but also a number of nutrients. They are also a delicacy for humans (food corn), and a key element in feeds made from corn (the cob carries energy values, for example).
Organisms that feed on corn, which humans treat as their competition, know perfectly well where to get the food they need to grow. Their senses, which we are still learning about, allow them to assess the potential nutritional value of plants. Cobs, especially at the beginning of their development, are a nutritional bomb, and it is no wonder that so many species want to use them. Cobs are particularly attractive from a nutritional perspective when they emerge, when fresh stigmas appear, and then in the watery, milky and waxy phase of grain maturity.
