I suppose every place has some type of animal that makes gardening a challenge. There are biting and stinging ants, deer, gophers, squirrels, rabbits, kangaroos, moles, and there will always be some that can't be stopped and so must be tolerated. Here in Tasmania we have brush-tail possums. They are an arboreal marsupial that can climb anything and will eat one bite out of every flower and piece of fruit in the garden. I once asked a horticulturist if there was anything that possums didn't eat and he said, "Garden gnomes, but only the concrete type because they will rip right through those plaster ones." He wasn't joking either.

I don't know what one can do about the jelly situation but last fall I bought the best bird feeder that I have ever had and not a single squirrel has bothered it - the answer to all the many years of squirrel problems that I have had. I will try to explain what it looks like. I hang it from a wire hook. It is made of metal or tin which doesn't rust and if you can imagine a fat hour glass, that would be similar to what it looks like. It has a tin top which unclips for filling it and the hourglass shape is made of wire so that the birds can cling to it and peck the seeds out of it. There is also a wire ring around the bottom for birds to sit on while they eat. The one thing that I learned by mistake - when the corn in your seed mix settles to the bottom, don't empty it out because it is a "buffer" that keeps the smaller seed from running out of the feeder. As the birds eat, some seed falls to the ground and the mourning doves are busy eating that since they aren't usual bird feeder eaters. I also have an occasional squirrel that eats off of the ground as well as a chipmunk but they are fun to watch also. I will look to see if I can find the name of this wonderful invention. It is super and plan to purchase another one.

rabbits mow down my crocus each spring and nibble down all the foliage on the grape hyacinths. I can't stay mad at them though, and there are plenty of cats around so I'm lucky to even see any bunnies.

Squirrels are evil. They will nibble anything you value in the garden, I don't think they actually eat tithonia though. They're just messing with you.