Doesn't sound like deer to me...they are browsers...take a bit, munch,,,munch....munch.....I have never known them to leave a bunch of stuff behind on the ground...what other critters do you have...racoons...or groundhogs...

I didn't think about them ruthieg. Could be. Is there a way to keep them off my garden?

I will tell you this..if you have deer that could come close enough to munch...dear heart you will not have a garden...unless you put some kind of barrier between the goodies and the deer...I have a 6 foot fence and a dog and I swear to you this is true...they would come up to the fence, stick their mouth through the holes in the fencing and eat my beans or tomatoes or what ever they could reach..I had to go to walmart and buy a fencing stuff that they sell and encase my big fence in this mesh ...

I'd try to find out what kind of critter you have and then go from there..but it sounds to me like you need some fencing...Do you have squirrels? another little pesky varmit...

I bet it's a rabbit. Hopped in for a taste and a nibble.

You've got to have a way to keep wildlife out. Animals are a garden's worst nightmare. Though, I guess you can't entirely rule out children.

Look for tracks in the garden bed -- that should give you a clue.
If it's deer, just get some 3-ft tall welded wire fencing (the 2"x4" mesh) and lay it flat on the ground all around your garden. Just make sure it isn't so close to the plants that the deer can stretch their necks out to reach the plants.

They won't step on the fencing, and they won't jump it because they don't know where it ends. Like cows that won't cross painted lines, deer fear foot traps.

If it's other types of animals (or kids), get some electric fencing, the smaller mesh type, not the tape kind. I've liked to one below, but there are other brands.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Fast Fence Electric Nets

Thank you all for your helpful advice. I looked for tracks around the plants but couldn't find any. I am convinced to get some fence and put around the garden. I will let you all know how it goes. Thanks again.

-Padmaja

I think it is groundhogs that did the damage. I saw some holes near my garden. Today I planted more plants out, keeping my fingers crossed that they will not be eaten or destroyed. I got critter ridder and put all around the garden. I also got liquid fence and sprayed on my plants. I hope this helps. Can some let me know if this is enough to keep goundhogs away or do I need to do anything else? Thanks in advance.

-Padmaja

Stop crossing your fingers and put in a fence. You can't garden if the place is open to wildlife. Spraying critter ridder or other repellents works for a while but not for long. Leaves left on the gorund sound like deer to me. But if you have woodchucks, you will need to either sink the fence in the ground (about a foot or so) or bend it outward at the bottom so they can't tunnel under it.
After wathicng my garden get devastated year after year, I finally put in a 7' deer fece. Life has been a lot more pleasant since.

I think its rabbits. They are always biting the tops of things off and just leaving them there on the ground. When I had my first garden about 35 years ago, I tried just about everything to keep rabbits out. Nothing worked but a chicken wire fence. You just have to do the fence.

Your description sounds like the same thing I had happen to my garden at my last house. Woodchucks/groundhogs were the culpret. I actually watched one bend a plant over, chomp it in half, take a few bites and drop it to go on to the next plant. They totally ignored sprays and even an electric fence (which did keep the deer and bunnies out). We ended up taking drastic action with a large live-trap and my husband doing some after-work monitoring with a .22 rifle.

Woodchucks, rabbits, and esp. deer are terribly destructive (I've had all three!). I've seen rabbits run at full speed into a supposed critter-proof fence and squeeze thru a spot where the wire was just slightly bent (had to add chicken wire all around). Woodchucks will burrow under if you don't bury your fence. Deer are terrific jumpers if they learn that skill. It can be a real battle keeping critters out of your garden and a tall, stout, buried, small opening fence can do wonders.

It sounds to me like deer. I have a load of deer on the property here and I stay up late at night. I can hear them moving around in the woods. I'll go outside to spotlight them and I will see them tearing bark, and ransacking any plant they can get a hold of. When I spotlight them, I can see them tearing the plants. They tend to go for the stems because they are crunchier and fill them up faster, and have more water in them. The next day I see flimsy leaves all over the place. They're noisy and when they are going after plants, it isn't meticulous. They're so destructive that they actually sound like someone is walking around in the woods just chopping everything in it's path with a machete.

Definitely put up a fence. That powdered predator urine stuff does not work at all.

If it's deer what about a noisy trip line, with cans or tin pie plates or something that will clang together and make noise if they walk into it?

I have something digging holes in my tomatoe bed routing up the ground (looking for grubs probably) and I have got to get the rest of the fencing up...I used chicken wire stapled to 4 foot posts/stakes and then I put 2x10's on the inside and lined around the inside of the fence so nothing could get underneath the wire. (there is a small opening where I have still got to put the fencing where they get in...fortuntely they are not interested in the tomatoe plants.