I think its OK to love animals and hate the destruction they cause. :)

Love my dog, hate it when it pee's on the carpet!

For me it is usually the birds that rip out the seedlings. I toss some row cover of them and that does the trick until they get big enough to not be worth the robin's effort.

I'm lucky that I don't have really destructive animals. I learned that birds drop the seeds from the bird feeder in my garden. So now instead of giving them seeds that will germinate into weeds, I give them sunflower seeds. I don't mind stray sunflowers.

Rabbits that munch on everything before I was aware they destroyed three blueberry bushes. Then my newly planted Apple trees were attacked. Plastic protector around the trunks to protect them and my raised garden boxes chicken wire 4ft tall. Now if they dig under the chicken wire, it's on! They can have the yard but my little piece of ground that I put additional money towards to prevent the rabbit, it's not allowed to cross, doing so is a declaration of war.

I have squirrels and possibly birds and cats to worry about. I can't get mad at them though. Annoyed yes...mad no lol They're all so freakin cute.

I have neighborhood cats that think my garden is their personal litter box. I'll be digging for sweet potatoes and Ill find much more than what I was I was looking for :(

I tried allowing my squirrels to get 1/3 of each tomato, squash and melon, and they greatly enjoyed that, but it turned out not to be an appetizing result.

planterjeff - although I feel bad about what the cats did to your garden...I must admit I did chuckle a little when I read your post. :D I used to have ferrets and they LOVED playing in the dirt of my houseplants. :\

Planterjeff. They are only trying to help fertilize your garden. daninthedirt Your to finicky, cut that part out and eat the rest.

Len

Neighborhood cats tore up my row cover last night, could I sue the guy who feeds them? I enjoy the symbiotic relationship I and cats have, but it's now time to put up a short fence.

Is that a short fence in height or length? I know of no fence that will keep a cats out unless it is electric. Good Luck.

Short in height. I don't need to 'ban' them, just make walking around that bed easier than jumping. I have the fencing, I just hate the idea of needing it. If I didn't enjoy that the cats keep the veggie-eating vermin away, those cats would be trapped and gone!

I plant catnip at the back of my property, I don't have cats, so I borrow the neighbors. I haven't had much of a problem for the past 2 years with garden pests. It's a win/win situation. Very stress free.

Every once in a while you'll get a good cat fight to watch.

I used to have a much harder time with stuff getting eaten. Coyotes ate the cats and rabbits. Hawks ate the chipmunks. Now if only I didn't have the herd of bambi's favorite path going right down the side of the yard.... at least they seem to hate most of what I grow...other than my chard which is easy enough to keep covered.

I don't have as much trouble with wild animals as I do with neighborhood dogs. They seem to like to use my garden for a playground and my plants suffer. Now I like dogs as long as they are properly cared for and behave but when they mess with my garden that I have put in several hours of work and several dollars I draw the line. If the owners won't do something about it, I will.

Most of the time a bird in a garden is simply a mouse that can fly. I am ok with trapping and killing birds, or asking my cat to kill them for me.

Other gardeners plant extra or in another area nearby so that they might get a group of plants that they will tend to a lot, but another group that they might let go more of so that other bugs and insects can use them as food or shelter.