What is eating my garden? Rabbits? Raccoons?

[MSNative]

Help. My garden was great a month ago - chugging along, quite productive. Now something is demolishing it. I'm used to wildlife snacking on a few morsels - a lettuce plant here, some tomatoes there, etc. Whatever this is is terrorizing my garden. I planted an eggplant plant that was about two feet tall, full of blooms and when I came back the next day there was nothing left but the stem. My cantaloupe, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes have been devoured - fruit, leaves, everything but the stems. The cucumbers alone are untouched. This is my third garden in this spot and we've never had this problem. Lettuce, beans, tender crops have always done well. A few slugs and snails but nothing big. Any ideas who the culprit is? More importantly, any ideas how to stop the destruction?

[bagel270]

Deer? You'll need a ten foot tall fence or a gun.

Edited August 5, 2012 by bagel270
didn't finish

[Slartibartfast]

Deer will eat plants down to the ground like that.

[datgh]

Sounds like deer to me. We have lived here for twenty years and this is the first year we have been hit like you have. There has been a lot of logging in our area which I think has pushed the deer down into our neighborhood. I hope they go home soon!

[Carrie12345]

I have more deer than people by me. My beds are individually fenced with 4' fencing. The size makes it impossible for them to jump in, though they do yank a stray leaf or two every so often.

[MSNative]

I have more deer than people by me. My beds are individually fenced with 4' fencing. The size makes it impossible for them to jump in, though they do yank a stray leaf or two every so often.

Thank you all for helping me out. I haven't seen any tracks and my yard is not all that deer friendly - urbanish, fenced on three sides, river on the other side. Not saying it's not possible, though. I've seen a deer jump a ten foot fence with ease. My garden isn't that big either so one lone deer could certainly cause the destruction I'm seeing. Ugh. Bambi go home!

 

Carrie, you are giving me hope. Did you fence in individual raised beds? I have 4 beds that are 3' X 6' and two 3' X 3". Would a 4' fence around each work since each bed is small?

[Matryoshka]

Yeah, deer or groundhog/woodchuck. A woodchuck can decimate a garden in a day.

[Hoot]

Around here, it would be a groundhog. We have a very large garden and are surrounded by woods but the deer have NEVER bothered us. We've even seen them in our yard but they don't go near the garden. Groundhogs, on the other hand, cause a huge mess.

[momto10blessings]

deer. maybe groundhog.

[Carrie12345]

Thank you all for helping me out. I haven't seen any tracks and my yard is not all that deer friendly - urbanish, fenced on three sides, river on the other side. Not saying it's not possible, though. I've seen a deer jump a ten foot fence with ease. My garden isn't that big either so one lone deer could certainly cause the destruction I'm seeing. Ugh. Bambi go home!

 

Carrie, you are giving me hope. Did you fence in individual raised beds? I have 4 beds that are 3' X 6' and two 3' X 3". Would a 4' fence around each work since each bed is small?

 

It does the trick for us! Mine are 4'x10' each, nearly side by side, raised about 8". We just made hooks for one corner of each bed and peel back the fencing, which is a total pain, but does the job. Ds left one bed partially open a few weeks ago and I lost my peas and beans in about an hour. :glare:

 

Our deer are psycho. I've decided to let them have leaves that poke out after trying to run one off only to see her standing her ground 5' in front of me, daring me to come closer. :glare:

 

(I have yet to keep chipmunks from my strawberries, though!)

[Carrie12345]

Adding, our local charity garden has its 8' fence jumped all the time, but the place is huge and gives plenty of room for a running start and comfortable landing. They have had trouble jumping back OUT, though!

[FaithManor]

In our area, nine times out of ten, it's a stinkin' ground hog.

 

I still have not forgiven one that ate all my broccoli and left nothing but little green stems sticking up pathetically from the ground. Dh shot him good and dead for me and I practically danced on his little grave. Still, I have not forgiven him. It was a beautiful, gorgeous, bumper crop of broccoli...the unpardonable sin!

 

If you can't shoot because A. you don't have a hunting gun B. or a helpful hunter in the neighborhood C. live too close to your neighbors to fire a gun on your property or D. can't bring yourself to kill the cute, wicked, thing then E. live animal trap and take it a very, very long distance from your home to turn it loose or call animal control and ask them to come pick it up. But, understand, animal control can sometimes take DAYS to come out over something like a ground hog or racoon and then you have to feed and water the thing...remember these are wild, caged creatures :001_huh: or you still end up killing it.

 

Sigh...I don't like shooting them, but they will eat EVERYTHING and without deterence, will bring their entire family back next season. :glare:

 

Faith

[LibraryLover]

Deer sounds likely, but I would check every stem for a giant caterpillar. (They would be green/black.) They practically disappear into the stems. They are *huge*, but almost invisable.

Edited August 6, 2012 by LibraryLover

[OrganicAnn]

To check if it is an animal, you can dampen a bare patch of ground around the garden near the vegetables. Make it so it is not too squishy but a little muddy. Put down a piece of an old sheet or pillowcase. You'll be able to tell by the foot prints.

 

It is almost a science project.

[Melissa in Australia]

Help. My garden was great a month ago - chugging along, quite productive. Now something is demolishing it. I'm used to wildlife snacking on a few morsels - a lettuce plant here, some tomatoes there, etc. Whatever this is is terrorizing my garden. I planted an eggplant plant that was about two feet tall, full of blooms and when I came back the next day there was nothing left but the stem. My cantaloupe, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes have been devoured - fruit, leaves, everything but the stems. The cucumbers alone are untouched. This is my third garden in this spot and we've never had this problem. Lettuce, beans, tender crops have always done well. A few slugs and snails but nothing big. Any ideas who the culprit is? More importantly, any ideas how to stop the destruction?

If it was here it would be kangaroos and wallabies eating the garden. We had to put 6 foot fences around the veggie patch to keep them out.

[kiwimummy]

Melissa, where do you live?

 

We have just bought a house with kangaroos everywhere and I have been wondering if I will need to fence a vege garden!! Six feet?!

[Melissa in Australia]

Melissa, where do you live?

 

We have just bought a house with kangaroos everywhere and I have been wondering if I will need to fence a vege garden!! Six feet?!

East Gippsland, Victoria.

Kangaroos eat everything, they even like eating garlic shoots.

[kiwimummy]

Oh dear. I wondered if they might... That might be why the previous owner didn't have a vege garden.

 

We are in Queensland, but I guess the kangaroos are the same here about eating stuff! I have absolutely no knowledge on it, we've always lived in the suburbs until now.

 

So I will need a high fence? What about fruit trees? Would they be safe?

 

(sorry to the OP asking these questions on your thread!)

[MSNative]

Oh dear. I wondered if they might... That might be why the previous owner didn't have a vege garden.

 

We are in Queensland, but I guess the kangaroos are the same here about eating stuff! I have absolutely no knowledge on it, we've always lived in the suburbs until now.

 

So I will need a high fence? What about fruit trees? Would they be safe?

 

(sorry to the OP asking these questions on your thread!)

 

It would be totally worth it to me if a kangaroo were eating my garden. We don't get too many of them here. :)

 

I like the idea of a forensic science experiment to identify the culprit.

 

Groundhog seems likely, too. We have scads around here. Does a fence keep them out or do you have to trap/kill them?

 

I'm pretty sure it's not just a caterpillar 'cause I've seen bite marks on some of the tomatoes the culprit has left on the ground. However, I should check. They have hit my garden before and they are destructive. I probably have all three nasty things - deer, caterpillars, and groundhogs. No kangaroos, though. :D

[melissel]

It would be totally worth it to me if a kangaroo were eating my garden. We don't get too many of them here. :)

 

:lol: I thought the exact same thing!

 

If you have a groundhog, get ready for a fight. They are horribly damaging. I have read that the best thing to do is just kill them off as quickly as possible, because otherwise you're just relocating them into other people's yards/other groundhogs' territory. Also, they tend to hang out in families, so you'd be potentially taking parents away from babies etc.

 

That said, my friend doesn't have the stomach for killing them and has been relocating the ones in her yard. She's caught and removed all but one, which is proving to be the MacGyver of groundhogs. It is, indeed, destroying her garden :( I think she might be slowly growing more amenable to a permanent solution, IYKWIM!

Edited August 5, 2012 by melissel

[Melissa in Australia]

Oh dear. I wondered if they might... That might be why the previous owner didn't have a vege garden.

 

We are in Queensland, but I guess the kangaroos are the same here about eating stuff! I have absolutely no knowledge on it, we've always lived in the suburbs until now.

 

So I will need a high fence? What about fruit trees? Would they be safe?

 

(sorry to the OP asking these questions on your thread!)

 

they will eat as high as the can reach.

We built a fully enclosed Orchard. with a wire roof and everything. We have over 40 fruit trees in it. The reason we had to do this was not only because of Kangaroos and Wallabies, but we also have flocks of Rosellas that can strip a tree in minutes plus fruit bats.

[Hoot]

I'm pretty sure it's not just a caterpillar 'cause I've seen bite marks on some of the tomatoes the culprit has left on the ground. However, I should check. They have hit my garden before and they are destructive. I probably have all three nasty things - deer, caterpillars, and groundhogs. No kangaroos, though. :D

 

Bite marks in tomatoes SCREAMS groundhog. They LOVE tomatoes. At my house though, they would only go for the beautiful heirloom Pink Brandywines. :glare: Any other tomatoes were beneath them and they wouldn't touch them. One year they got every last one of my purple cabbages, kale, spinach and took a bite or two out of every single Brandywine tomato they could reach. I actually sat out in the garden one day letting my Bearded Dragon forage when the stupid groundhog poked his head out from under my neighbor's shed (where it was living) and walked right out and started eating in front of me.

[FaithManor]

Bite marks in tomatoes SCREAMS groundhog. They LOVE tomatoes. At my house though, they would only go for the beautiful heirloom Pink Brandywines. :glare: Any other tomatoes were beneath them and they wouldn't touch them. One year they got every last one of my purple cabbages, kale, spinach and took a bite or two out of every single Brandywine tomato they could reach. I actually sat out in the garden one day letting my Bearded Dragon forage when the stupid groundhog poked his head out from under my neighbor's shed (where it was living) and walked right out and started eating in front of me.

 

 

Oh yes, evil scums! Truly, the only way to deal with it is to kill the rotten little beasts. I wish it weren't so...they have that adorable face that makes you not want to end their life, but at some point, it's them or the garden. Now, there may be some people who hobby garden and the food produced is not that important to them so they'd prefer not to do it. That's fine. But, my dad and dh garden to provide food to the family which my mom and I faithfully can, dehydrate, and freeze...bushels and bushels of the stuff and with three teenage boys trying to eat me out of house and home, I can tell you that the ground hog does end up on the wrong end of dh or dd's hunting gun.

 

I liken them to a tornado that sets down in your garden. Total.Destruction.

 

Faith

[stripe]

Bite marks in tomatoes SCREAMS groundhog.

They do not seem to love eggplants, but they take a good bite out of each one just to check. :glare:

[MSNative]

Bite marks in tomatoes SCREAMS groundhog. They LOVE tomatoes. At my house though, they would only go for the beautiful heirloom Pink Brandywines. :glare: Any other tomatoes were beneath them and they wouldn't touch them. One year they got every last one of my purple cabbages, kale, spinach and took a bite or two out of every single Brandywine tomato they could reach. I actually sat out in the garden one day letting my Bearded Dragon forage when the stupid groundhog poked his head out from under my neighbor's shed (where it was living) and walked right out and started eating in front of me.

 

That sounds like my varmint. He (and perhaps his family) love my purple cherokees. I have had to start picking them green and letting them ripen on my windowsill like a pp mentioned. Only way I've gotten any but they just don't taste the same. But at least I've been able to get some.

 

So, I went to the garden center to get a trap and the guy laughed at me. Said he'd be happy to sell me the trap but that the groundhog will just mangle the tar out of it and escape. He also recommended shooting the thing - but that is illegal inside city limits where I live. :( I'm happy to kill them if anyone has another idea.

 

I am also trying a fenced buried deep and about 3 feet high. Does that sound like it might work?

[stripe]

Can you ladies tell me, what animal digs a giant hole? My neighbor keeps having something dig a big hole by the front of her house. Way bigger than a chipmunk, which is what I usually have.

 

I did see a possum running around at 1 am, and we have skunks, rabbits, and groundhogs in the neighborhood, but a hole this big surprised us both!

[MSNative]

Can you ladies tell me, what animal digs a giant hole? My neighbor keeps having something dig a big hole by the front of her house. Way bigger than a chipmunk, which is what I usually have.

 

I did see a possum running around at 1 am, and we have skunks, rabbits, and groundhogs in the neighborhood, but a hole this big surprised us both!

 

Not sure but we've had rabbits make shockingly large holes right in the middle of our backyard. Could be that.

 

 

Ground hogs can climb fences (and trees). Dang, for ungainly looking creatures these guys are the ninjas of the pest world. Does anything work short of an electric fence?

[stripe]

Not sure but we've had rabbits make shockingly large holes right in the middle of our backyard. Could be that.

Wow, okay, I suggested the rabbit idea, but my neighbor insisted that they don't dig.

[Matryoshka]

Wow, okay, I suggested the rabbit idea, but my neighbor insisted that they don't dig.

 

Sure they do. Remember Watership Down?

 

Groundhogs also make giant holes for their dens. We have tons of rabbits around here, but they must be living in the woods or in thickets - I know the giant hole we have is woodchuck.

[stripe]

Sure they do. Remember Watership Down?

 

Groundhogs also make giant holes for their dens. We have tons of rabbits around here, but they must be living in the woods or in thickets - I know the giant hole we have is woodchuck.

Well, it's been positively identified as a groundhog by its footprints! I even saw the very suspect myself.

[Melissa in Australia]

Can you ladies tell me, what animal digs a giant hole? My neighbor keeps having something dig a big hole by the front of her house. Way bigger than a chipmunk, which is what I usually have.

 

I did see a possum running around at 1 am, and we have skunks, rabbits, and groundhogs in the neighborhood, but a hole this big surprised us both!

 

if you lived around here, It would be a wombat that digs giant holes.

 

their holes are huge!

[stripe]

Oops double post

[stripe]

if you lived around here, It would be a wombat that digs giant holes.

 

their holes are huge!

Wombats are so cute, and actually groundhogs look sort of like them. There was one munching away outside my door today! I squeaked and it ran away.

 

I found these photos online! ;)

 

[pitterpatter]

Deer have ravaged ours.

[MomsintheGarden]

So, I went to the garden center to get a trap and the guy laughed at me. Said he'd be happy to sell me the trap but that the groundhog will just mangle the tar out of it and escape. He also recommended shooting the thing - but that is illegal inside city limits where I live. :( I'm happy to kill them if anyone has another idea.

I believe your garden center guy is misinformed. I have caught dozens of groundhogs in the havahart trap we bought years ago, and none have damaged it. They get shot while in the trap, then dumped into the compost pile (use lead-free bullets).

 

We bait our trap with half apples smeared with peanut butter tied securely to over the trigger. If you put the trap in their path you don't even have to bait it. Chances are you are have more than one groundhog, so keep the trap set, and check it often.

 

They look kind of cute and pathetic when they are sitting in the trap. Don't be fooled. They are destructive, voracious pests, and will multiply to torment you next year with their children and other relations. If you have a fence they can often dig under or climb over. Stand strong. Get rid of as many as you can catch. Please, please do not release them somewhere else to become someone another person's problem.

 

We caught eight groundhogs this year, and finally our garden is not getting eaten. It's a wonderful feeling!

 

Hope you get rid of your problem!