Hello,
     I am seeking some ideas on the identity and best way to capture the currently unknown culprit.    See the photos below.

     Last year at this time I experienced a similar "leveling off" of young fig plants.   The damage last year happened within a weeks time and with a few, mowed them down to soil level.   

    This year it started again about three weeks ago.   First I noticed on a taller and bushier fig most of the upper branches (between 24 and 30 inches off the ground) were cut off and taken away.   Next it started with a daily event, hitting a small fig plant here and there.     The varmint usually takes the top part away, typically removing 2/3rds of the plant.   

    This morning I discovered that the destructive rampage got out of control.   There are only a few young plants that have not been cut off.    I am not completely freaking out because after winter storage in my garage last year, all of the young cuttings came back to life.   But, it is a very frustrating moment nonetheless (smoke coming out of my ears).   That is a lot of wood that needs to grow back, and in some cases more wood than with what I started with when I rooted the cuttings.

    Last year I thought it was the groundhogs since all of the damage was low to the ground.   However, seeing damage high up on one of the plants makes me think it is squirrels.   We don't have deer in this part of town (all of the damage occurred in front of my garage in a tight area - I have a small greenhouse situated in front of my garage).    I have ruled out someone with clippers - there is a rough edge to the cut.   The only other creatures living around here are opossums, raccoons and mice.    Any other thoughts?

Ingevald

I can not make a definitive guess given the pictures.  Here are some things to look at to try and narrow it down.

If it is a rodent that is cutting the twigs it would take more than one bite to do it on the larger stems.  You should be able to look closely at the twig to see if there are multiple teeth marks.  If it is a rodent and is a squirrel the bite marks should be around 1/8 inch wide.  If it is a rodent and the teeth marks are larger than that it is probably a groundhog.  Groundhogs can actually climb trees very well although I don't know if your bushes would have supported the weight of one.

Also if its squirrels doing it they are most likely using the sticks for nest material.  You might be able to look around the trees in your yard for squirrel nest and see if there are familiar fig branches incorporated.  This could explain why the damage didn't occur until recently as squirrels start constructing nests in the fall in preparation for winter.

If it looks like the twig was bitten off in one bite and one edge looks cut and one edge looks torn it is most likely a deer.  Deer only have teeth on the lower jaw in the front of their mouths.

Regardless of the culprit your best bet is probably to surround your plants with bird netting to confuse the critters and prevent access. 

If you are determined to even the score all three critters make good table fare.

I think you should get one of those motion cams!  Then you will know!!

Suzi

Probably a large rodent or some sort. Rabbits will definitely do that.

I was going to say rabbits also... around my place they will chew anything off if its around 1/4" or so regardless what type of plant it is... blackberry, raspberry, rose of sharron, hardy kiwi. I nice clean diagonal cut usually. Usually over the winter months when other "greens" aren't growing for them to eat.

Do you have any 'live traps' that you can bait with a variety of things (lettuce, peanut butter, fruit) to see what you catch?

Around here the likely culprits would be ground squirrels, rabbits, and rats. Deer are uncommon, but not impossible.

I currently have something eating *all* my fruits - even before they are near ripe. Some I've never tasted before that were just rooted this year. I covered one fruit with a little mesh baggie, and the next morning even the baggie was gone. Some that are rock-hard have tiny bites. Traps will get set tonight. I havent done all this work only to improve the diets of the local rodents.

Gina, you may be dealing with a coyote or crow. Yes, coyotes eat figs and pretty much anything else - they are omnivores.

Rabbits, rats or racoons most likely, but you don't mention where you live, so hard to know.  Squirrels aren't so interested in green stuff.  They'll eat your fruit for sure, but racoons are just a bull in a china closet, and break everything, and rabbits will eat everything.  If you're seeing major stem breakage, it is most likely racoons or deer. I would consider putting some fencing around your figs, and certainly a motion camera to try to catch the culprit, or a Hav-A-Heart live trap, and try to trap the critter for ID purposes (and a hasty dispatching).  And Gina, if it is fruit in trees, it will be ground squirrels and roof rats.  Our bane.  Get ready to buy a bunch of bait traps.  The only way to keep both pests under control are poison bait traps.  Snap traps can't keep up with our rat/squirrel population here. 

What about a groundhog?

Beavers.   

More than likely a rabbit with the clean,angled bite.Deer bite marks rough up the adjacent bark and wood.


http://www.biokids.umich.edu/guides/tracks_and_sign/bitechew/

Is this happening at night?

That looks like Bambi has come to visit you,they love the young leaves.

Thank you very much for your responses.   There are some very good suggestions and ideas within.    I think that I forgot to mention that there are rabbits around here although I am not sure how one would have climbed up on the weak branches to trim that larger plant.   

  I'll take some time tomorrow to look at the cut marks.  I will also look for squirrel nests.   It is interesting that it only happens at this time of year.   Last year was the first time I noticed the issue and now it is getting out of hand.

  I live near Kansas City.

  Yes, a motion activated camera would be awesome.   Are there any reasonably priced systems available?   I am sort of curious about that...

  I do not know what time of day this is happening - that would be a good clue.  I am thinking that it could be the evening hours or early in the morning.   I don't think it is happening during broad daylight.  

   I am impressed that something is chewing through the fig wood.  I would have thought that the latex would be nasty stuff to ingest.   Years ago I did notice that some branches trimmed from one of my few in-ground trees were thoroughly chewed on by some creature - rodents or rabbits.   I can understand chewing on the sweet bark of an apple, but figs???

  I did bait a live trap with some fruit and fig branches...   I'll keep you posted on the progress.


Thanks!
Ingevald

Ingevald
You live in the area and know what animals live around the area which were there while the plants were growing throughout the season ( and the plants stayed safe all the while), and what are the seasonal animals that might be coming this time of the year looking for food stuff.
Isn't it getting close to the deer hunting season?

It could be a ground hog. They will stand up and grab a branch, pull it down and start munching on it. I've seen them do that to some roses. He stopped when I put a bullet in his head. Another problem solved.

I seem to remember the amount of sap increases/decreases depending on if the tree is pushing out new growth or getting ready to go dormant.  I wonder if the consistency of the sap is different as well.

My guess would be deer.  I didn't think deer visited my yard either but last Spring that changed.  I get damage about once a week now (though not on figs so far).  I recently learned that one of my adjacent neighbors feeds apples to the deer -  ughh!

Gina, I had the same problem..hundreds of fruits this year on most of my trees and I only got a dozen or so to the ripe stage. Found out a pair of opossum were enjoying a midnight snack of all figs that were just starting to ripen but no where near ripe. I put some trees up on the BBQ to get at least a taste. Other trees are just too big for me to lift. Netting didn't work. They even got my Panachee that were completely netted and a good 4' up the tree. Still trying to figure that one out...I thought squirrels were getting my apples in the spring but now I think it's the opossum.
Sue

Well, after setting up a large borrowed trap (one suited for a groundhog, raccoon or opossum), I captured a possible candidate.  I walked out this morning and noticed that the door was shut on the trap.   Expecting something large, I was surprised to see something smaller, a fur ball curled up in the corner.   It is a large rat - "cute and furry" with a long tail.      

I looked around for a nest and found a good sized nest under the porch (concealed by some stored boards).    Now that I have located the rest of my fig plants in a rat's nest, I am assuming this is a woodrat or packrat.

See the photos below.   I'll set the trap again tonight and see who stops by.  There might be another one.

Ingevald

Wow, this animal likes to line its next with fig plant parts and doesn't mind the sap apparently - I had no idea.

we had little field mouse that used to come visit my house during the winter. i catch it and release it.. and do that again and again every year. i got tired of the game and finished it last year. i kind of miss it.

We had a packrat go through our recently-planted tomatoes, biting off several stems at about 4 inches high and just leaving the chopped-off piece on the ground. They also began nipping off several inches of the growing tips of our citrus twigs, which I suppose they ate, but don't know. This went on for a couple of years (it took me a while to figure out what was doing the damage), as the trees actually got smaller. Then, it was Havahart to the rescue. I keep a felt-tip tally on top of the trap, and a few days ago sent #109 to rat heaven. I haven't seen any rat damage now for at least a year and a half.