So here's something that was confusing me for a long time, and when I found out what was going on, it made me wish I had my old BB gun. We bought a heavy duty BBQ cover for our grill last spring because the cover from our old grill was shot. Anyway, during the sommer I noticed it was wearing out on the top - it was fading and the material was starting to thin out and look ratty. I couldn't understand what was going on until I was watching the cute squirrel eating nuts on top of the grill on evening. I didn't think much of it until the stupid animal started tearing up the cover after he finished eating, like some sort of after dinner toothpick. Wishing I was armed, all I could do was chase the evil critter off. But he kept coming back. So I moved the grill to the other side of our tiny yard. This helped for a few months, and then about two months ago the varmints renewed thier war on the cover with some sort of perverse new motivation. They were actually tearing off peices and carrying them away to who knows where. In about two weeks the entire top of the grill was naked. Then the cover became a big donut on the ground. Evil little critters. Next year will be different for you.