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Vandalism? I'm at a loss...

Hey there...long time lurker, rare poster.
 
Two days in a row now, I've had something go after several of my pepper plants.  The ones that have been tipped over have always been in Kratky jars in the back row.  None of the Kratky jars up front have been bothered, nor any of the potted plants (aside from being squished when the others fell over).
 
I would think if this was two-legged vandalism, all the plants would have been destroyed.   As far as the four legged kind, nothing was eaten, I put out Irish Spring soap shavings, commercial animal repellent (the rotten egg/garlic stuff, and thanks for the advice guys!), occasionally mark my territory, and put out a motion sensing light...
 
So I'm at a loss as to what would do this and what to do about it.  It seems to be destruction for destruction's sake, but only the Kratky plants in the back row, and not always all of those.  What in the world could be causing this??
 

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Mr.joe said:
It looks like the ones tipped over have a smaller base . Any chance the wind did it?
 
Nope, hot and almost no wind....although that was kinda my assumption the first time.  Also, the jars are half gallons, where taller plants in the half gallon and smaller plants in quarts were just fine.  I'm about 99% sure SOMETHING is doing it.
 
A lot of animals like walking along close to walls, I have seen cats do this . If they were trying simply to squeeze past behind the plants it might be why it looks like those have been tipped away from the wall.

If it was a cat , it could even be on purpose, because cats can be dicks.
 
luvmesump3pp3rz said:
any dogs on the loose in your neighborhood? possibly cats also if one is chasing another? even squirrels might over tip lighter pots.
 
Ashen said:
A lot of animals like walking along close to walls, I have seen cats do this . If they were trying simply to squeeze past behind the plants it might be why it looks like those have been tipped away from the wall.

If it was a cat , it could even be on purpose, because cats can be dicks.
 
You guys might be onto something....jars are pretty heavy for squirrels (we have eight), but there are three stray cats running around.  I've never seen them close to the plants but.....My first thought was raccoon, now I'm not sure.  This is the first time I've had issues, thought the combo of soap, repellent, and light would be enough to keep anything away....hoping, especially deer.  I'm gonna have to get a trail cam and check things out.;
 
I recently had issues with the containers tipped over during the night. No plants were injured just the soil was dug into. Deployed a game cam and caught a raccoon messing around the containers. Guessing it was digging for grubs, their fav snack. Sprinkled some cayenne pepper on the top soil and haven't been bothered since. Borrowed some live traps from the friend and hauled a few raccoon to a new home.
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TattooedBullfrog said:
Borrowed some live traps from the friend and hauled a few raccoon to a new home.
My next door neighbor has an elevated shed that raccoons took up residence under causing all kinds of issues.  He would take the live captured critters on a road trip across a major river near us and release them in a neighboring towns secluded area just off the highway....Let's just call it insurance these pests couldn't get back or produce offspring in our town!
 
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