Who Is That Garden Thief – Animal Damage In The Garden

Animal Damage In The Garden

I have been growing some vegetables in grow bags, among which are some pole beans.  The beans have been growing plush and are twining and just about ready to flower.  A couple of mornings ago, I went out to water my pots and what I saw was not nice twining bean plants, but neatly nipped off stubs.  This was clearly some kind of animal damage in the garden.

So I ask you, “Who Is That Garden Thief”?  My first instinct was deer.   I have seen deer damage before….nice bites with stubs left.  However, we are several blocks away from the closest natural areas.  So maybe it’s not deer, but who.

I looked at the stubs again.  They didn’t seem as neat as the stubs I have seen from deer damage.  I also did not see anything else in my front garden with nipped vegetation.  They were slightly torn and at a 45 degree angel.  So, who else were my possibilities?

I did a little bit more research and went with the next possible culprit….bunnies!  So, maybe it is rabbit damage.  Yes, those cute smaller creatures, who could have hippety hopped right into my garden and brought mayhem to my bean plants.

Racoons?  Could this be raccoon damage?  Not messy enough.  They have thrown my pots about before and decimated my grapes.  Not a strong suspect.

And here the trail runs cold.  I was unable to find additional strong suspects.  So, at the top of my list of suspects are the deer and the bunnies.  I think I will go with the bunnies as the prime suspect for nipped beans in my home garden.  So, who is that garden thief?  I won’t really know until I see them.