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.

Ok I had something eating my marigolds. They pull them up and eat the top and leave the rest there. I replant and then it happens again. Then I started watching and sure enough the bunnies are eating my marigolds. I have tried the garlic onion remedy and it did not work. I am not sure what to do but I need to figure something out.

For the 2nd year in a row I also have something eating my marigolds. What ever it is just eats all the leaves and not the flowers. Any suggestions?

I have the same problem and am fairly certain it isn’t deer. We do have chipmunks but I haven’t seen them around the marigolds. I used inspect spray to no avail. I then used some rodent repellent, again, to no avail. I’d love to catch whoever it is in the act.

I also live in a rural town in Indiana, and we have chipmunks that eat our marigolds. We actually saw one eating the flower, but they don’t seem to eat the foliage. We set up “chipper dippers” to get rid of some chipmunks. This is a 5 gallon bucket filled half way with water. Then pour enough sunflower seeds on top to hide the water. Place a plank from the ground to the top of the bucket. Chipmunks walk the plank and drown in the water. This sounds horrible, I know! But if you have as many chippers as we do, you have to save your lawn and plants eventually. We caught 8 chippers in about 2 weeks, and there are still more out there!

Slugs love to eat Marigolds.

We watched some rodent (field mouse or mole maybe) stealing our marigolds yesterday. First time we’ve ever had this problem. When I went out to look, the little bugger disappeared.