HELP - what is cutting my lilies?

I am finding some of my lilies that are cut off about mid-stem. Not eaten. All the leaves - well mostly all the leaves - are still there, a few have been stripped and/or eaten. Mostly they are just nipped and toppled over. Nothing but the lilies are attacked. Front and backyards. Some of the nip-offs are 18" off the ground. Are there any really TALL rabbits? Front and backyards. This has happened to about 7 so far... No deer - my whole backyard is 5' chain link fence.

WHAT is doing this and how do I protect the rest of the lilies I have? I saw a dog do this once but no dogs now in my backyard for sure.

TIA,
Sterling
Atlanta, zone 7

Looks like rabbit to me

But wouldn't a rabbit eat all the leaves off? I know there is a rabbit out there and whenever it eats a plant, it chews it right down to the nub. I've been spraying all the plants I know for sure the rabbit likes but it never went for the lilies before... :(

Plus some of the 'cuts' are 18" off the ground...(?) Can/do rabbits chew that high?

Hey, Harvey was a 6ft. tall Pooka. :) Sorry, not funny. Yes, rabbits can stand up on their little hind leggies and nip things right off. What are the odds you have a deer stopping by for a snack?

Diann

I have had the deer problem with mine and it was awful! I had a Stargazer that was about four feet tall with huge buds on it one night, the next morning it was about six inches high....I was very upset...got some of the Plantskydd and it does do the trick!

It's the bunnies ~ trust me, I know. Leave the broken stem there and they'll usually nibble on it and hopefully won't chomp a new one.

Wow! I didn't know they would eat them too..I have BOTH Deer and Rabbits! LOL The Deer get the really tall one and they have eaten them not left the stems! The rabbits may have been eating the short ones though...they are everywhere too!

Absolutely it's bunnies. Those cute little guys with the funny, quizzical way of looking at you with a blade of perfectly acceptable crab grass in their mouths as though they're saying, "Who, me? I don't know what you're talking about!" LOL My resident cottontail is starting to look *MUCH* less cute after he nipped off the bud tops of 3 new lilies.

I hate 'bunnies' - I thought I had sprayed (Deer Off - it is great) on all the plants the rabbits liked. I would come out and see a beautiful Japanese Kerria reduced to 2" high and add it to my spray list. ANY kind of grass or clover.

I would not think deer as nothing but the lilies have been nipped. I think deer would have eaten more and trampled stuff... (?)

Thanks
Sterling

I feel your pain!! Honestly, this looks like my rabbit damage. I have lost at least 50 lilies this spring. I have sprayed Liquid Fence almost nightly, no good. I then started wrapping each lily with chicken wire and this works most of the time although I have still lost some to rabbits standing on hind legs and eating the stems of wrapped ones. This has destroyed the look of my cottage garden but I don`t know what to do. If you figure out a solution, please...please...please post it!! Good luck. Lesley

The Deer Off has really worked on the other plants the rabbits ate. Most all of them are back now. They had been eaten down to a nub. I spray once a month and none of them have been chewed again.

It comes in a blue spray bottle and Ace hardware and Home Depot have it. Picture of a deer and a rabbit on the front. The larger bottle is $20.

I sprayed all my lilies today. We'll see...

Sterling

I haven't tried the Deer Off but have used Liquid Fence. Plantskydd works the best by far.