We also have no rabbits or deer in area.

pepper plants had been destroyed down to the stem. This morn several other plants had the same damage.

Don't have a clear picture of what you mean. So looking forward to seeing a picture.

Is the stem sticking straight up, bare with all the leaves gone like a stick in the dirt OR maybe stem cut off at the ground like a cutworm would do? Just the pepper plants? What are the common mammal pests in your area? Do you have lots of crows, jays, mockingbirds around? They are the 3 I have seen steal leaves. Then there is the rodent family - mice, rats, voles, etc?

Dave

Its pretty much just a stem sticking up out of the ground. The eggplant also had similar damage. I have alot of birds that land in the backyard seem to feed off seed pods that come off the tree in my yard. But never seen them in the garden area.

We use a non-woven row cover to shield our seedlings from rabbit damage. When swiss chard seedlings reach about 3 inches high, the local rabbits will go right down the row, taking every one. So we cover the garden with a non-woven cloth, and hold down the edges with rocks & dirt. When the seedlings get up to 8 inches or so, they are not so interesting to the bunnies, & the row cover is removed.

At first glance i thought it would have been a rabbit or something but in 5 years of living in the area i have never seen a rabbit. We have possums that come out in the night maybe them ? Im leaning towards mice or rat since it was so much damage.

The fact that rabbits was not there before, doesn't mean they'll never come. Rabbits, deers, sometimes even mice eat like that. Earth digging vermins such as voles devour the root.

A short term temperaty test is to cover the seedling with soda dome or milk jug. Wet the soil around (or sprinkly flour around the soil). You'll find out pretty soon.

Well as a preventive im going to put down some slug bait tonight and then maybe spray some hot pepper and soap mixture see what happens............