My guess would be deer--I don't have them where I am but I do have squirrels, chipmunks & bunnies. None of my astilbes or hosta have ever even been nibbled--I'm guessing because I'm not in their established path but a neighbor's shade garden just 3 houses up the road from me gets chomped by deer every year.

Could be either one or both. Have you thought about slugs? The deer would probably just nibble off the top and the rabbit would be more inclined to get at the lower leaves first.

A gopher finished off one of my plants yesterday, plant just sunk down in the hole. I put the hose down the hole and flushed him out. My Corgi was chasing him when I went in the house, not wanting to see her kill him. I've never had a gopher bother the tomatoe plants before. Good luck with whatever is getting yours.

Diane - that's a great way of making the punishment fit the crime! I'd say she must have been more aware of her dogs' behaviors than she let on, or she wouldn't have been able to change things so quickly when you dropped by the "present". Hey, at least you scooped it up for her - what's to complain about? She might have a complaint if you spread those 17 piles out on her lawn, but even there you might be arguably OK. Funny how she knew who the piles came from even without a (forgive me) calling card on the bag. At least I'm hoping she doesn't think that's what Macy's sells. Ah, too bad about the goats - I guess they're not available for temporary use out here. Besides, I'd hesitate to let them in among the main garden for fear they'd strip every leaf off the roses. A little or even a lot of bark damage over the winter like this isn't as devastating as losing all the leaves and growing points from all the roses in a quick afternoon's buffet. Goats can be amazingly efficient, and it's surprising what they'll agree to eat. Do you mean that the thistles and things stay in check after the goats have snarfed them up? I would think those would be among the indestructible plants out there. Oh, and I can't say for certain that the dog leaps our 6' fence, but the piles are there, and unless he opens and closes the gate by himself it's the most logical conclusion. The attraction of our yard for him escapes me, unless it's to chase the neighbor's cats that calmly slink through the fence bars. At least he doesn't bother to do this very often, but he's dumb enough to stand out in the middle of our cul-de-sac circle smiling at you when you're backing out of your driveway. Or maybe he knows he'd hurt your car worse than vice versa. Cynthia