Something eating Aeoniums

Question from Trinidad:
Would you know what creature is eating the Aeonium heads? There is nothing apparent. I think it is a grass hopper coming in the night and flying away….but it is hard to tell. There is no damage elsewhere, so it cannot be an animal crawling around. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer from Pat:
When one plant has the heads cut off and taken like this it is usually just one rat doing the job. A single fat rat can get a taste for a specific plant and come back several times, night after night to eat the same plants, gradually eating up the whole bunch. In most cases you will see that the stem is cut through at an angle as if sliced off with a knife. That is the sign of a rat. If the plants are in front of your house next to a sidewalk or road, it could be that people are snapping off the rosettes and stealing them, but if safely within a garden my guess is a four-legged rat, not a two-legged one.

Please see my other answers to gardeners with rat problems. The best solution is to purchase and set an electronic rat trap called Rat Zapper, manufactured by AgriZap. Contact: sales@ratzapper.com or called 1-800-deadrat.