What animal(s) might be eating my marigolds?

got deer?

we don’t think that there would be deer. our best guess is chipmunks. rabbits have been suggested, but someone told us that they’ve surrounded their tomatoes with marigolds to keep the rabbits out… any truth to that?

Are they eating at the tops or roots?
Is it the whole plants or sections?

the tops and the plants (everything above ground), not the roots

Maybe you need to plant the French Marigold, Tagetes Patula. They are mildly toxic, and used for pest control. Here’s a tip.

That’s really surprising. Marigolds are usually considered fairly safe from predation because of thier disagreeable odor. It may be that you have a newer variant of the plant (a lot of plant breeders have eliminated much of the pungency because some people don’t like the smell) and so is more susceptable. You might want to look into a more old-fashioned variety.

If I had to guess it would be some kind of rodent. Not sure how do get rid of it though, without being inhuman about it. And we wouldn’t want that.

Bunnies!

Do you have a video camera? Set up survaliance. Then you’ll know for sure and be able to come up with a better plan of action. My guess would be rabbits or deer. May I ask why you’ve ruled out deer?

APHIDS!

we’ve tried to rule out deer because the plants are so close to the house—we think that we would see them or have seen them at least once

Even at night? I’ve know deer to get very, very brave for a tasty treat.

Oh you know it, in my neighborhood that’s when they come out and meal on everyone’s plants, my mother hasn’t been able to keep rose bushes for more than a few weeks because the deer would come up onto our driveway, even with streetlights on etc. and chow down.

One time (no idea why it was there and was freaking weird) I was driving around the neighborhood with my sister a few years ago and deep into the neighborhood, away from the river which surprised me there was a dear standing on the front lawn, this was at like 4 pm too.. no idea.

I still be it’s a deer, i’ve never heard of rabbits or anything eating flowers. Especially anything beyond the flowers; deer have deep mouths and they deffinitely chomp down on stuff so it makes sense that that is what cut down the flower and even the stem.

so, let’s go with deer… anyone have a remedy?

There are deer repellant sprays that you can buy at home and garden stores. The disadvantage is that you have to periodically reapply.

I live in a city area where there are no deer and something ate my marigolds too. I’ve seen a lot of squirrels, some rabbits and shunks but definetly no deer. I read in another forum that birds (blackbirds and robins) and slugs like to eat marigolds. All of the flowers were torn apart in a very short time and I had over 20 plants. My neighbors marigolds were ok.