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Sorry to hear that. They are tough leaves and a little spiny, not usually the first choice for critters. Maybe it would be best to cover the young plants with some kind of plastic or wire mesh until they are big enough to fend for themselves?

Yep! And then they dug under the wire mesh.
They don't eat the spines of the leaves, and they prefer the young leaves, so they have killed, stopped the plant from growing, without killing the plant

Sorry to hear it. Perhaps you need to lay some wire mesh on the ground also. I use the long landscape staples that sink way into the soil.