Okay, bug at the top is a pillbug or sowbug. See link below. And, you might want to be sure to bookmark UC Davis' great gardening site, as it has a very nice Integrated Pest Management approach (starting with control methods that do the least amount of environmental harm), then progressing to more toxic methods. You can pick and choose what will work best for you. Pillbugs are usually not an issue, unless you're seeing them in really large numbers, as they tend to feed on decaying plant material and are actually beneficial. Slugs & snails- the state of California has been taken over at Biblical proportions by snails, slugs and earwigs due to our very damp and cool temps these last 2 years. You might want to try serious hand picking in the early morning and late evening, to reduce your numbers. Chickens are also good slug/snail management options if you can have them where you live (beware - they may attract coyotes). For me, since I can't have chickens, I've opted to use Sluggo. Works well, is organic (iron phosphate which eventually breaks down and can be absorbed as additional iron by plants). If you're having issues with earwigs as well, then select Sluggo Plus, which is iron phosphate and Spinosid, which is a great option for sucking/chewing insects (Google it). Also organic. Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: UC IPM: Pillbugs

Oh my, your picture Terrene looks exactly like my hosta! No, I don't live on an island. (Wish I did!) I live on a tiny penninsula in Mystic. The only way to get to us is to either come across the RR tracks or by boat. We're about 75-100' from the water & I can see water from 3 sides of the house. Deer are just not a part of our environment although they are in great numbers across Boston Post Road (Hwy 1). But, Mason's Island is just offshore about 1/4 mile & the island's infested with deer. They are occassionaly seen swimming across the bay back/forth from the mainland but never to our penninsula. Just my luck to be the first time anybody here has deer munching their hostas! A Certified Wildlife site is a designation from the National Wildlife Federation that says we provide a safe environment for critters to raise their young...food, water, shelter, etc. Must use a variety of non-invasive plants that are attractive to wildlife. Also, we're basically an organic garden (once in a while, I'll use a homemade insecticidal soap). It's worked in that when we moved here there were basically no birds, butterflies, etc. Now, they abound seeking our gardens. So, I guess we've accomplished our goal! We've NOW ATTRACTED DEER to an otherwise unhospitable environment for them..... :( oops, I mean :) rofl!

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.

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.