Something is eating my impatiens...

[LauraB]

...all the way to the dirt! Whatever it is, comes at night and ate blooms first, then stems and leaves. Most of the plants are completely gone! I live in a suburban area of Orange County, CA, with homes surrounded by block walls. I can get bunnies, but haven't had any since using a sonic device near my veggie garden. There are also occasional raccoon and possum in the area but they haven't eaten any other plants (to date). Any ideas?

 

[Chuck]

...all the way to the dirt! Whatever it is, comes at night and ate blooms first, then stems and leaves. Most of the plants are completely gone! I live in a suburban area of Orange County, CA, with homes surrounded by block walls. I can get bunnies, but haven't had any since using a sonic device near my veggie garden. There are also occasional raccoon and possum in the area but they haven't eaten any other plants (to date). Any ideas?

Rats and mice

 

[Gail_68]

Hello @LauraB welcome to GF and nice to have you with us

You can get banana slugs in California and they're night howlers and so annoying

Are your plants being eaten away like mine was in the pic below, as I caught the slug at 1am in the morning and they eat leaves besides and it did further damage to the plant before I caught it.

 

[LauraB]

Not really, whatever it is eats the entire plant in a night or two! We do get rats and mice but they haven't eaten any other plants. Do they only like impatiens? Thanks for the welcome.

 

[Gail_68]

Hello @LauraB when I said Banana slugs it's most likely as they grow to quite a size and here's their diet and on the link you'll actually see them and how big they get and they're from your country...it's most likely night hnting like I did to actually see your cause with a tourch.

Banana slugs are herbivores which means that they eat plants. Some of the things Banana slugs eat are: Roots, fruit, seeds, bulbs, algae, fungi, animal waste and carcasses of other dead animals. The Banana slug's favorite type of food to eat is the mushroom.

http://www.arkinspace.com/2012/11/the-banana-slug-natures-giant-recycler.html