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The most obvious culprit is our scottie, but the dirt doesn't track back to the house.

The container is about 17 inches high, there's loads of dirt piled at the patio step, but the digging and damage is on the far side. Is this potentially bunnies? Birds? They seem to have been more interested in chard than the tomatoes.

I'm a novice - I stuck small plants in the dirt last night. That's all. If it is a land based muncher, will moving it away from the patio stop them?

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The little boy is 7
The littler girl is 3

Could be magpies or even those fat wood-pigeons. They love tender seedlings. And fresh soil is like a big magnet for them cos they know the worms will be close to the top too.

Have a look at the soil though and see if there is any cat poo in it - a cat could have decided to use it as a litterbox.

If it's birds then you can cover the seedlings with a net or hang those freebie CDs or twists of tin foil on bits of string and sticks.

Cats take a bit more deterring - but it's a small space so netting could do them too.

Was just going to say it looks like a cat to me - check for poo.

I'd guess it was a cat having a poo!
The soil is all over one side. Be very careful and wear gloves just in case. Cat poo is deadly!

Hmm. Cat. Ick. If it was just pooing, would it really have bitten the tomato plant in half?

Magpies are a huge possibility - we have a ton of them here. But why all the dirt to one side, and so much on the patio,

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The little boy is 7
The littler girl is 3

Dirt to one side cos they faced out to the garden to keep an eye on things while they flicked out all the dirt.

A cat would never bite a tomato plant - they really don't seem to like the scent from them at all.

A bird would though - but maybe it just got broken while being flicked.

A bit of netting is your best bet - and some little 'kite-tails' made of tin foil.

Just did a visual inspection. No cat poo. I don't have cats - do I need to dig around for it? *pleasesayno*

The plants don't look eaten so much as thrown around. Does this suggest magpies again? We have so many of them. Until now, they've mostly entertained me with their taunting of the dog. Could I just nail some netting to the fence?

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The little boy is 7
The littler girl is 3

Crossed posts. Will head off for more tomato plants AND NETTING.

Kite tails won't scare away our little songbirds will they? We have a little robin that's so friendly and recognizable that he's practically a pet.

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The little boy is 7
The littler girl is 3

It was your dog, the way they do and the plant broke when the dog shoveled it under them IYKWIM

I have 2 dogs, various hens, 2 wood pidgeons, magpies, blackbirds and cats,

oh and a fox and hares all visiting our garden to kill my latest veg

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If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ' thank you,' that would suffice.

I would be leaning toward thinking it's magpies alright.

I don't think anything scares robins away - they'd practically come into the house, or they come right up to you when you're gardening.

Birds will just avoid the immediate area of the 'scares' and they will be fine and happy in other parts of the garden.

I don't think it's the dog - he's not acting nearly guilty enough and he's not dirty either.

I potted up three big pots of herbs, and those are so far being ignored, so I guess it was the fresh dirt that attracted the birds. They are mean feckers. But funny to watch them messing with the dog. They'll let him get just close enough, then fly up to the fence and sort of stare down at him.

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The little boy is 7
The littler girl is 3