Are deer eating my flowers?

[wtg]

Deer aren’t a problem here but rabbits are. They devour black-eyed.susans like crazy; I never got any flowers because they would eat the plants down to the ground as soon as they popped up in the.spring.

I’ve tried everything to keep them away. Stinky granules of every brand,, fox urine, etc. the only thing that works is a physical barrier. I use this kind of product and put it around vulnerable plants and shrubs I want to save.

https://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/fencing/utility-fencing/50-black-welded-wire/w16245023b/p-4364363666240411-c-5768.htm

Has to be metal, they will chew through plastic fencing. Being black metal it sort of disappears at a distance but it certainly doesn’t add to the overall look in the garden up close. But it is the only effective solution for bunnies. Btw, the holes can’t be too large or the baby bunnies get in.

If it is deer that are getting to them, then that’s a much bigger deterrence problem.

[ShiroKuro]

Ahh, I forgot about the possibility of bunnies.

We yet haven’t tried fox urine or anything like that.

This is at the front of our house, almost right in front of our front door. I definitely don’t want to put up a black metal fence there, it would be such an eye sore.

Shoot.

Since I’m not willing to put up a physical barrier here, maybe I’ll try fox urine or something similar, knowing it might not work…. I can think of it like making a donation to the locally owned hardware store.

[wtg]

Don't waste your money (though I love your donation line of thinking!). I soaked cotton balls in fox urine and placed them inside little plastic balls with holes in them. Scattered the balls all around the plants I was trying to protect. I watched the rabbits hop over to the balls, sniff them, push them aside and then proceed to eat at the bunny salad bar I had provided.

[ShiroKuro]

@wtg said:

I watched the rabbits hop over to the balls, sniff them, push them aside and then proceed to eat at the bunny salad bar I had provided.

Oh no!!!

[AndyD]

I think a little venison goes a long way

[wtg]

I haven't tried a motion activated sprinkler but it's another option.

https://www.amazon.com/motion-activated-sprinkler/s?k=motion+activated+sprinkler

[CHAS]

Deer would leave hoof marks.

[wtg]

Rabbits leave little piles of raisins.

[AndyD]

Probably birds if no sign of mammals. They like seeds. Though the photo looks like the flower heads have been chomped.
Chipmunks?

[ShiroKuro]

@AndyD said:

Probably birds if no sign of mammals.

I don't really see obvious rabbit droppings or deer marks. I have seen rabbits in the backyard, and there are deer all over the place, so it's still a possibility.

Could be birds. There are always birds around... I don't think I've ever seen a chipmunk out there, but that's not particularly meaningful.

We haven't lived here long enough for me to have a sense of when they should be blooming, I can't remember when they bloomed last year (and we were away a good bit of the summer). Maybe they're not ready yet....

Wait! I spoke too soon! I have a photo from last summer, July 28th. That's more than a month out. I'll try not to panic.

[ShiroKuro]

Here’s last year:

The leafy section is probably twice as big this year, so I’m hoping for a big explosion of yellow!!

[wtg]

It's a bit early for rudbeckia to be blooming.

There are no birds I know that will eat unopened flower buds like that. They might go after the seeds after the plant is done blooming.

I'm almost certain it's rabbits, even if you aren't seeing droppings right there. Once they find a bunch of plants and get going, they will keep after that patch and potentially eat everything to the ground. I have a bunch in a raised bed that's a foot tall and once they found it they climbed into the bed and started chowing down.

You really are down to a choice between an ugly fence or no flowers.