I’ve never seen vermin go after bell peppers! They picked all four that I had on the plant cleanly!
Quite a mess for “cleanly”.
Any one squirrel can eat any one fruit or vegetable in any one year, there are no rules.
I’m not as familiar with rats. One year there were rodent gnaw marks on one bell pepper here.
In SE WI we are in a drought. I can sympathize with you. I had beautiful peppers and eggplants the last few years. This year the critters eat them off the plant as soon as they get any size to them. I understand they are hungry (and perhaps thirsty) but they never bothered my pepper and eggplant crops in the past.
they even helped themselves to 1/2 of the gooseberry crop nearby. Left skins from the fruit all over the ground.
I cannot id what the critter is. My wife thought rabbit but the pepper plants are fairly tall so I doubt that. We do have lots of squirrels but always have in the past too and they left them alone.
Unless it is critters that come at night as I never see anything by them in the day. Not sure I will get anything off my plants. No stuffed or grilled peppers for me this summer. I wish you well with your crop. Mine is a total loss.
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The way the peppers were consumed, it looked like the rabbit 's work. Squirrels only take few bites and move on. Not sure about voles though. But if it is too tall for rabbits to reach, it more likely will be too tall for the voles, unless is a giant vole
Friend of mine had a water melon patch. The small watermelons were eaten in similar fashion. Could be rabbits or possums
The one who eats berries and leaves berry’s skins on the ground is chipmunk. They wait for me to clean up their mess
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I meant the harvesting part. Not good table manners, I agree 
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Take a guess that it is squirrels. Seeds being the prime object of their desire.
But, get a game camera if you really want to be sure who all is visiting your garden/yard.
Yeah agree, it must be the squirrels. Cute things until it ruin your garden. Then, the nightmare begin. They are stubborn and persistence creature. They has more patient than Superman getting Lois under dress.
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maybe woodchuck?
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> maybe woodchuck?
That was my first thought. I had them go after my bell peppers, before I fenced the garden. They were even eating my jalapeno peppers halfway up until they got close to the seeds.
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i remember my father shooting woodchuck on sight. one year one ate all his zucchini, peppers and cukes. alot of them here.
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Squirrels that get into fruits here do the exact same thing, chew-bits scattered about while they are looking for fat content. But they never learn that some fruits do not have their preferred content and keep on sampling on the plant. Raspberries near a fence top, same thing, scattered bits of berry.
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And I remember my dad dressing them and mom baking them…but I never did taste it.
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