There is an old Vermont saying...'if you live in the mountains, you have earned it'.
Okay. I live 2000 ft up in the mountains of Vermont (Appalachians). You name the wild life, and we have it here with the exception of snakes. Few snakes here. Deer do not eat tomato plants. I have a veggie garden with 15 tomato plants, not fenced in. They have never touched it. Deer love Hosta plants. It's like 'butter' to them. And they wait till the Hosta has fine young foliage on it...tender morsels for the deer. They wait until its dark, and then sneak into my garden. I have tried everything to no avail. As for bears, the black bear is all around me. Bear habitats are protected in Vermont. Personally, I don't want to run into one. I am told you smell them before you see them. I have seen their footprints on my dirt road after a rainstorm. Usually they are very timid, and stay away from people. If they have a cub with them, watch out. They run faster than we do. Stand your ground. In 40 yrs here in VT, I have never seen a bear, and quite honestly don't want to.
Last year we had a female Moose on our road. These are HUGE beasts, and they bey constantly. Terrible eye site, but will charge you without provocation. Best to stay out of there way.
My biggest contender for my daylily buds are chipmunks. They may look cute, but they will chow down on daylily buds. Many people shoot them with pellet guns here to keep them out of there gardens. They are really pests. Voles are another problem. They tunnel under and through your gardens. They have there own subway system underground. The 'A' train. A pain to get rid of. They especially like tuberous plants. Not daylilies.
Then there are the usual suspects, raccoons, hedge hogs, and ground hogs. Rabbits may exist but not around my part of the Universe.
Pretty much we all co-exist together. My birds are beautiful and come when I call them after I fill the bird feeder. Last summer I saw my first pair of blue birds at the feeder. There color is spectacular. They are very, very shy.
