What would cause this at the base of a plant?

[vitocorleone]

So, I was thinking, maybe it's cats and I do have a lot of cats around......either cats or some kind of rodent....but, anyways, whatever is doing it...they eat almost half way through the trunk of the plant....and it has happened to about 1/2 my plants...... a friend of mine that lives near me that also grows uses 16 0z plastic pepsi bottles to make a collar around the trunk to protect against it.... he has never figured out what causes it.......

Does anyone know what causes this and how to protect against it?
Please help!

Here are some pictures:

http://www.photodump.com/direct/sandolee/P0000234.jpg

http://www.photodump.com/direct/sandolee/P0000235.jpg

BTW, the pictures show after the damage has been done and it has healed a little bit.

 

[Dewayne]

Heh, depending where you are it could be anything. It could be mole crickets. Those are common around here. It just eats whats in it's way and if it hits it, it'll just chew right through your plants base. It's those little trails where it looks like something was crawling under the ground and has the soil broken up above it, but it's still not breaking the soil. If you see those it's definately a mole cricket. But is it indoors or outdoors? Cats could be doing it, but if it's happened to a lot of them in the same way, i doubt it's cats, they'd do more than that one specific thing to your plant.

~Burn ONe~
Dewayne

 

[vitocorleone]

Thank you Dewayne.

YEs, these _are_ outdoors so it could be a lot of different things....... and the same thing happens to a lot of plants like 1/2 of my plants......amazingly they survive having their trunks almost chewed in half.......
PEace,
Vito

 

[CHRONIC_COVERED_HASH]

rabbits???????

 

[Dewayne]

nah, if it were a rabbit that stalk would be gone. Not just halfway cut through. Is it at the bottom touching the soil? or how far up from the ground ont he stem is it? are their tracks or cricket tunnels near them? any of the leaves eaten off? any plants in the area getting stems cut? just look at the surroundings man, it'll usually tell ya everything you need. If you see a little tiny mole cricket tunnle running around your grow plot, you know it's a mole cricket, if you see rabbit terds near your grow plot...it could be guessed to be rabbits. If you see deer or hog tracks near your plants, it's a dead give away most of the time. So just be observative and i'm sure you'll fin dout your problem. Then you can take care of it since you know what it is.


~Burn ONe~
Dewayne

 

[vitocorleone]

HIya...Thanks again Dewayne for all your input......

Where I live we don't have deer or rabbit. My friend thought it was cats and he stopped using bone meal and fish meal because he thought maybe it attracted them......But I really don't know!

Anyone seen anything like this?

Also, there aren't any mole cricket tracks.....

Also, the pics I posted were about 10 days after the damage happened to there has been a little healing......

Peace!
Vito