Rudbeckia bed destroyed by some animal

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I woke up this morning to see a certain patch of my garden completely ruined. Something has come in during the night and not just trampled half the beds but also seemingly pulled or bitten at a lot of the plants and left the debris in random piles around the place. Something similar happened two nights ago but on a smaller scale. Half the rudbeckia bed was destroyed and a Snapdragon was bullied. I assumed it was just maybe some foxes or cats having a fight and rolling around the place.
But this morning it's so much worse, the rest of the rudbeckia bed has been cleared. Sweetpeas has been destroyed, knocked over quite a big potted quince, and managed to knock a few of the path bricks out of place.
I am not sure what could have done this. I think that it must be a cat or a raccoon that comes to destroy my garden.
Should I place a CCTV camera facing the garden? Or an animal removal service can find the animal and get it cleared? What should I do? Please help!
 

Nyboy

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Where are you? Sorry about your garden good news is rudbeckia is very tough plant if the perinatal variety . Replant any pulled out most will come back in spring
 

Ridgerunner

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Where are you located Robert? That might help narrow it down. Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Can you get photos of the damage to help us get an idea of how big the animal might be and how the damage looked? Were the plants eaten of just piled up or trampled? Did you see any tracks or scat?

My first thought was a wild hog, then I thought of Thistle and her moose. I'm not sure if deer or moose would eat those. Then I remembered how much damage dogs had done to my garden, digging and just rolling around. A groundhog or raccoon can do quite a bit of damage but that doesn't sound like something they'd do, at least the way I envision the damage. I think you'd have noticed if a groundhog dug a den there.

I think your first step is to identify the animal. Tracks or scat can be a big help with that. The camera could work really well. If you are in the US, you can contact your county extension service and maybe send them photos to see if they can help with their local knowledge.
 

catjac1975

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I woke up this morning to see a certain patch of my garden completely ruined. Something has come in during the night and not just trampled half the beds but also seemingly pulled or bitten at a lot of the plants and left the debris in random piles around the place. Something similar happened two nights ago but on a smaller scale. Half the rudbeckia bed was destroyed and a Snapdragon was bullied. I assumed it was just maybe some foxes or cats having a fight and rolling around the place.
But this morning it's so much worse, the rest of the rudbeckia bed has been cleared. Sweetpeas has been destroyed, knocked over quite a big potted quince, and managed to knock a few of the path bricks out of place.
I am not sure what could have done this. I think that it must be a cat or a raccoon that comes to destroy my garden.
Should I place a CCTV camera facing the garden? Or an animal removal service can find the animal and get it cleared? What should I do? Please help!
I cannot imagine what would eat rudbeckia.
 
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Where are you? Sorry about your garden good news is rudbeckia is very tough plant if the perinatal variety . Replant any pulled out most will come back in spring
I am in Hamilton, Canada
 
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Where are you located Robert? That might help narrow it down. Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Can you get photos of the damage to help us get an idea of how big the animal might be and how the damage looked? Were the plants eaten of just piled up or trampled? Did you see any tracks or scat?

My first thought was a wild hog, then I thought of Thistle and her moose. I'm not sure if deer or moose would eat those. Then I remembered how much damage dogs had done to my garden, digging and just rolling around. A groundhog or raccoon can do quite a bit of damage but that doesn't sound like something they'd do, at least the way I envision the damage. I think you'd have noticed if a groundhog dug a den there.

I think your first step is to identify the animal. Tracks or scat can be a big help with that. The camera could work really well. If you are in the US, you can contact your county extension service and maybe send them photos to see if they can help with their local knowledge.
I am in Hamilton, Canada. I will try to click the photos, but I have somewhat cleared my garden. Still will try to show some photos to you.
I am trying to identify it.
 
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