Some animals will eat fruits and vegetables to get moisture in hot weather. A friend was having similar trouble with her plants, so she set out some extra plant saucers filled with water (several sizes, most fairly large) away from her garden area, and kept them filled. The problem wasn't eliminated, but it improved quite a bit. You could also try tying netting over the fruits, allowing for growth... at least while they're small and tender. Sue

it is the same damage I have on my sunflowers, it is from a brown beetle. they are coming out at night and chewing the leaves. It is the May beetles or June bugs are ý to 5/8 inches long, and reddish brown. the ants are "farming" a type of leaf hopper and aphids. the damage on my sunflowers have been kept low by me going out each night and removing as many of the beetles as I can and I also have a large amount of spiders both ones that I put there and others that moved in own their own to help control the beetles. I don't like to use bug sprays because the birds will be getting the seeds in the spring and because the beetles come out at night, unless you get a spray that stays on the leaf and will kill them as they eat, any direct contact killing spray will be dried and have no effect and a systemic killer will make the plant and the seed toxic which will kill the beetles but the seeds could not be given to the birds or eaten by humans.

I'm now watching a number of "how to kill voles" type YouTubes and they are actually very instructive. For one, they actually show what a vole hole looks like very clearly. Still photographs are never quite as clear, but with these videos, I am certain that these are voles. The types of holes have really started appearing over the past year. I probably had two holes a couple years ago, but now I have probably 20 that I can find easily. I thought they were chipmonk holes and don't mind them. My plan is to create a shady tree yard rather than a lawn anyway... so not too concerned about irregularities in the lawn. (mistake?) So I have identified the holes in the yard, but these holes are not the worry. I am not completely certain that it is the voles that are doing damage to the young tree roots... only that they are responsible for the harmless holes in the yard. Nevertheless, I will assume they are the guilty party. The youtube also shows mole hills, and I see no evidence of moles in the area. So voles *are* well known to get under young trees like this? (just trying to be clear) I mean, chipmonks like to dig, too.... so I guess I can't rule them out for churning through those roots. For now, I'll assume the voles are the problem. Those yard holes have become common only over the past year or so... and the tree damage has become common during this same time. It looks like the common method is to use peanut butter and a mouse trap type of method. Hmmm, not very exotic, but I like it compared to poison.

Sprinkle a granular substance on the terrace near the plants and see what footprints show up. Traps are inexpensive and a squirrel trap will catch squirrels, birds, and possums, and likely any other animal that will fit.