That's actually the odd thing. I've now had the mini corn samples for at least fifteen to twenty years (without refrigeration). and they STILL give me near 100% germination if I plant them indoors (I just can't transplant them out then if I do that, since by the time the corn has used up it's whole endosperm as no longer interests the chipmunks and squirrels, the roots have gotten too big, to entangled and too delicate for effective transplanting. And I don't have the SPACE to plant each plant (or even each hill) in a separate large pot that would give the roots the necessary room; I'd need 100 pots! [I said my corn patch was 12x12 before, but I usually plant it 10x10, to leave me a border to walk on and keep the gardeners from hitting the edges when they mow the lawn]).
At one point, I thought of trying cloches, but there'd be the same size scale (cloches are expensive, and 100 of them is probably WAY beyond my budget.) Plus, I know from my attempt last year in the back that chipmunks have NO PROBLEM digging under a cloche (why it kinda works on the beans and cowpeas I don't know, maybe the chipmunks just don't like them as much).
I've tried Chili Oil, they seem to ignore it (plus, I can't soak the soil in chili oil, it would clog up the seeds pores and they'd never imbibe). Maybe a coating of Diatomaceous Earth on top when I'm done sowing; make it too painful for them to dig, and, perhaps come (is diatomaceous earth painful for critters to even WALK on?).
At least, when the WHOLE experiment is done I'll have an easier time with the very last samples, the miniature colored sweet corn kernels. Since I only have about eight of EITHER of the samples, I CAN just put them into two big pots and put them on the patio, on pedestals where the squirrels can't GET to them (they, CAN get to the top of the pedestals, but the plastic is too slick for them to get a claw into the pots, so, so long as the pots are tall enough they can't reach them by stretching, they can't get to the top.)
And I'll be glad to put them in the freezer, if my parents will ever let me have any ROOM for them. Both our freezers are perpetually packed to over capacity with leftovers they MIGHT want later. Not that I am any less guilty, somewhere in there, there is a frozen pint of sauce from an Italian restaurant that closed well over a decade ago, that I am saving for analysis (It's their incredible Mozzarella en Carroza sauce, and I am determined to learn the right ratio of tomato sauce, capers and anchovies.) Oh and an alligator roast (have to cook that if it isn't freezer burnt).
