What keeps eating my seedlings?

OK so this weekend I had about 10 seedlings in the ground and 10 in small pots. Today I came back and about half are eaten up or mutliated. It seems the culprit is chewing on the stem near the base of the seedling until it withers away. I also found a couple seedlings with there tops missing.

Any ideas on what it might be? There is also tons of chipmunks in the area, do you think any of the furry bastards decided to munch on my plants? Im thinking of building a small enclosed area from netting to let them get bigger.I heard snails like to eat the seedlings near the base and this is whats exactly happening, anyone know a simple way to deter slugs?Thanks

Could possibly be cutworms.

That makes sense because the plants most affected are the ones in the ground, not in the pots. I guess ill put cardboard collars around each plant and sprinkle crushed egg shells and diatomaceous earth around the area

Good luck. I had an infestation on my mint plant, and it was hell getting them all.

Could be rabbits. there babys are hugry this time of year

Yeah, chipmunks or rabbits most likely. I had the same problem here. I would use wire screen or netting but can't because I don't want to advertise. I know some people wont like this but I have used a variety of traps (live traps too) to lower the chipmunk population in my area and it has almost eliminated the problem. I have strawberries planted nearby and they get tore up but I guess it takes the focus off my babies until they are big enough to not be a target. Also use cayenne pepper to keep the deer away. Good luck!

Rabbits are vicious pests. Deer also, they will attempt to chew on anything that looks like it was tended by humans so don't plant in lines or patterns. I never had any of my valuables chewed by deer or rabbits because it doesn't look like it was tended by human hand (although I did have a couple plants stepped on by deer, just by sheer luck of misfortune and the huge numbers of deer that pass through my area). Grasshoppers are also horrible at devouring leaves. I don't recommend using egg shells because: a) they hardly have any good effect; and b) egg shells attract animals that will dig into the shells area and may cause serious damage to your plants and/or their roots. Speaking from experience. Why don't you sprinkle a layer of pesticide dust on the perimeter, or apply Liquid Fence to deter animals? I recommend also spraying around with garlic juice (but do not spray on the plants), the smell deters many animals and even some insects. Will have to re-apply every other day.