Can't really help you with an ID, other than to tell you that moles don't eat plants or plant roots.

I have a lot of chipmunks on my property, but in all the eight years I've been here, I've never seen them do damage to the plants. I have, though, seen a couple plants die mysterious deaths...pulls up without many roots attached...that I blamed on voles. I only saw a vole once, but witnessed something burrowing under the woodchips a couple of times. Pretty sure it was a vole and not a chipmunk.

Okay, got another one. Hosta at the back of the house in a different garden. Walked past, thought it was weird that several leaves were into the ground so far. Almost like they were just coming up, but no stem. Pulled on one of the leaves and it came right out of the ground. like something had tried to pull it down. This is all very odd. Will read up on voles and see if that could be the problem. Lots of runs this evening, soft soil everywhere, but if moles don't eat plants then....
Tricia

Moles eat grubs...they are insectivores. Voles are mainly herbivores and much like a certain cartoon "wascally wabbit", can pull an entire plant underground in my experience. I've had young tomato plants just disappear down a vole hole overnight. My cats help control them to some extent. Unfortunately, they do not hunt on command. Heavy mulching creates favorable conditions for voles. But in our area, if we didn't mulch, we'd be watering every day, so we just hope for limited vole damage, some predators like the cats or snakes or owls, and keep a few extra plants for replacements. It's frustrating, isn't it?

Could it be a gopher? The definitely eat plants like that. I guess you might be able to tell based on the size of the hole. Gophers are a lot bigger than voles. I didn't know that voles burrowed though. I think I will go check on that quickly - hmm. . . learn something new every day. It could be voles. We used to use traps to control the gophers. Just around the garden though. You can put them down in the holes to trap them. That way you are not impacting the rest of your wildlife habitat.

Good Luck,

Kate

Th hosta that had lost several leaves is now gone. It was totally pulled underground. Raised runs and holes and soft soil are everywhere in the gardens. Holes into the runs are 1 1/2 - 2" in diameter. I'm walking around flattening the runs. Have done some research and think they probably are voles. Will check into gophers too, Kate. We have barred owls nesting close by so wish they'd get to work!
I found a recipe for a vole repellent that uses eggs and cayenne. Think I'll give that a try. I really don't want to lose more plants! Any other thoughts?
Tricia

All the above mentioned varmints begin eating plants with the leaves. I believe your problem is 'cutworms'. They borrow small hole next to the stem and at night emerge and cut the stem and lap up the sap.

There are several insecticides to control cutworm.

Voles. The answer is voles. They eat the roots and chew the stem off at the base. Depending on the plant they will pull the whole stem down into the hole with them to munch on. I have witnessed this several times- hearing little clicking noises, a leaf shake and watching an entire plant disappear into a hole. I've taken to carrying around a pitch fork and trying to stab the little suckers. Mouse traps baited with carrots work well set next to an existing hole. But beware my mistake! I have evidently genetically selected for a generation of super-smart voles that can outwit a trap!

No, no, check for "The Caddy Shack" gopher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!