You don't say where you are located. You could have pocket gophers. Or it
could be voles. However, I've had voles in my garden before and they never
much laid into the beans. (They've pulled corn plants under and defoliated
kohlrabi

Thanks for the info - I couldn't imagine what could be eating these plants - I
never had a problem such as this before (I know we have had moles in the past)
but nothing has ever eaten the plants like this year.

Thanks again.