That's a tough one. What works in one place often does not work in a location near by. I had a terrible problem with wood chucks until coyotes moved into the neighborhood. Maybe you need a terrier or a cat.

Good luck.

Jim

I'm with you. My bush bean plants have been significantly munched. Seeing damage on the snap peas and edamame too. Any advice? Hate to see all my hard work go to waste.

I have milk jugs to protect the base of plants. The squirrels figured out how to lift them up. We are trying traps and BB guns now. A trap large enough for a squirrel is hopefully not going to catch birds. The only other option would be to build a cage with chicken wire up around it too, or secure bird netting some how. I plan to pick up bird netting to deter the squirrels from slashing the watermelons.

I have in the past (in GA) fought rats. But I don't think squirrels are responsible.

For the rats there are two optios:
1- rat baits
2- rat trapls

I employed both options and I caught about two dozens or so of them. I had made my own live trap(got the instruction from internet). Originally, I was suspecting rabbits but I kept catching rats. The I was sure that rats were the main culprits. I also used some old spring loaded rat traps but after killin few birds I stopped using them.

I used all kind of baits including sever of my own home made ones (with baking soda, aspirin, Plaster of Paris,

Another way, is to have a REAL cat.

Prime suspect in bean-munching is usually rabbits. There are repellent sprays of doubtful efficacy, but I use them. And I have cats.

I need to put a cat door in my garden fence!
Seriously, I like the idea of natural predators arriving best, but so far we are still waiting. I'm pretty sure the chicken wire is keeping the bunnies out, and I know that squirrels go in and out of the garden (need to work on a strawberry bed cover for next year), and I have caught rats in the beds before, but last night I just caught a vole and a mouse. Two dozen rats sounds like a real impact on the garden.
I guess I will keep up with the live trapping for now. I'm also putting water outside the garden for the little wildlife, so at least in this dry summer area they don't have to eat the plants just for moisture.

This trap will catch both rabbits and rats.
Years ago I made one myself. It worked fine. As I mentioned previously , I was thinking about trapping rabbits but I ended up catching a lot of rats.

I've had baby bunnies get through "chicken wire"... I put that in quotes because real chicken wire has openings that are pretty small and the wire is fairly stiff but you can by hex wire netting at garden centers that has fairly large holes and is made of more flexible wire. It was the latter kind I had the bunnies get through. Bunnies really do love bean plants.

A simple partial solution is to simply cover your young bean plants with a floating row cover. If the critters are really hungry, they will get through it easily. But I have found that in most cases, it 's too much work for them and they go to work on the clover in the lawn or other things. Not foolproof but easy and pretty effective. Rabbits don't like the taste of seaweed/fish fertilizers like Neptune's Harvest and others.

Mix peanut butter and 1 tsp of baking soda together to get rid of mices. Start making small peanut butter balls. Then place the peanut butter balls where mices are living.. Mices and rats love peanut butter. Mices can't fart or belch gas. Baking soda will rupture their organs and kill them. I've done this and I already killed 25 mices and 8 rats in my yard.