Janie, I skinned out one also, one I picked up in the Smokeys one year. I didn't keep that collection, after time they kind of crumbled, but I had a variety of animals I used in interpretive programs, picked up on our nation's highways (only if they were very very fresh). I stopped doing it when I learned about some of the really horrible diseases some of these critters can transmit to humans.
How are you staking your tomatoes, maeve? with tall bamboo poles or something? Twine? Some kind of cord? How will it make a difference? I have most of mine in cages, but this year I just left a few to grow on the ground to see what happens.
Bobert has a method of thinning the tomatoes that he described last year and I'm still not quite sure I understand. Something about taking out every other branch? Are you doing it again this year, Bobert?