Oh fun....I dealt with that last year with my zucchini. Never did find out what it was but I did sprinkle around them with garden dust until they were bigger and strong enough to handle some pest damage.

I'm sending off for more seeds since the top is sheared clean off. What kind of garden dust did you use?

It's just called garden dust by kgro, it is not organic though so if your trying to be all organic you won't want to use it. The active ingredient is permethrin, and it works on a variety of pests..

I'm not organic, and I have a ton of liquid permethrin, maybe I can spray.

sluggs, snails, earworms, rabits ??
Any idea as what it might be?

Some I can rule out: I do not think it is rabbits, I have a 6 foot tall privacy fence plus have never seen a rabbit in the area. I had a slug problem years ago at a garden at a different house and there always seemed to be trails, here there is nothing that points to slugs.

I have the same problem, I feel your pain. I believe it's birds but I have not seen them in action.

I use cages and they seem to be working. I make them from poultry netting or hardware cloth. They are about 12 inches in diameter and about 12 inches tall. Open at the top but I don't think birds want to drop in from the top.

I still have a problem with the larger plants. Now something is eating the tips of the vines.

Zeuspaul

You dont need whole bunch of snails or sluggs to chomp off the top of a few germinated squasles.
It is easy to verify: go out after dark with a good flash light and patiently look around, especially near damp shady spots. You might be amazed. One big fat slugg or snail can eat a whole basil seedling, in one night. I have seen this one.

I think it is slugs. I have seen this happen in my garden, and I second the idea of going out at night with a flashlight. Small slugs don't always leave visible trails. Birds are also a possibility. Sluggo should help with slugs/snails (and is available in an organic version). Netting will help with the birds. I now always sprinkle sluggo around seedlings, and cover all my beds with netting until the seedlings get a little bigger. I use 4x8 foot raised beds, and have netting tents that sit right on top of them.

Sounds like it might be a cutworm. You can put a cutworm collar around the base of the plant. Use a toilet paper tube or a paper towel tube. Two or three inches inches high. Put it around the base of the plant and push it into the ground. Diachenous (sp) earth will kill snails and slugs. It is make of crushed shells, so it isn't a chemical. Try not to inhale the dust if you do use it. It can hurt your lungs. Good luck! I lost several kale seedlings to those boogers.

Last night I went out to the back yard with the new puppy and STEPPED on a big squishy slug on the deck, it was so disgusting. Thank you all who guessed slugs because there were several out there.