I know we have rabbits around, and it looks like they couldn't get to the tall ones. I also have a fully fenced backyard, but have seen mice/rats and rabbits in my backyard occasionally. This was hopefully going to be my first year with figs!! =( =(

I got a few trees to feed the fig addiction late last year, now I think 2-3 are left but have damage. Also, my favorite ones/rarer ones are of course the ones that got eaten to the dirt. =(

Maybe next year? >=(

Any idea of what it could be that decided eating dormant fig trees was the bees knees?

               

Could be rabbits, maybe even rats. There's a main sewer in my garden that rats periodically come out of but there is an abundance of cats, foxes and badgers in the rural area I live in so I'm hoping to avoid your misfortune.

Really sorry your plants are so badly damaged.

Dont worry they will fruit for you this year also. its a lesson for next year though to plan a net of some sort..

That hurts to see.  I hope you can find a deterrent!

Looks like tree rat family aka squirrels/chipmunks... my chipmunks were so bad last year that I actually had to cut out and place 1/4" chicken wire and latte circles on the tops of all my pots to keep them from digging. Several blueberry bushes completely dug out of ground. I put traps on top of the wire and nailed several of the worst offenders and had a number of missed hits as well... Hope it doesn't happen again this year but I will plan for it... Thanks for the reminder!

Were they on the ground or on the table when the damage occurred? If they were elevated, I agree, likely squirrels. 

Dear Friend, I am in PNW as well, I have same problem, My potted small fig trees are eaten down to base, very sad, It is very hard to get cuttings in Canada, It is Squirrel that I saw them at night, They can not find food now and very hungry, I end up feeding them some peanuts, Avocado pits etc, I am trying to get mouse trap to catch them.

I think that fig trees, At the winter time, it converts its sap to skin as anti-freeze, When temperature is warmer,  it converts them back to tree in form of sugar and soften their branches ready to wake up from dormancy, Potted fig trees wake up earlier and Rats/squirrels can not find other food, They become target of eaten. In ground fig trees wake up later than many trees and their branches are harder, it is less problem of eaten by squirrels.

I have not had a problem with squirrels, yet, and have a ton of them We have grey squirrels, I know black squirrels are much more aggressive.

Barn/swamp rats devoured an 8'x10corn patch in two nights and the damage looked like your figs, but they did not touch the figs. They were busy with the tomato, peppers and corn. They even took jalapenos.

 Do deer eat fig plants? They seem to eat most other plants. I would try multiple deterrents. One for deer, Tom Cat bait for the rats and shoot the squirrels. Figs first, let God sort them out, or something like that. No mercy when it comes to the fig plants.

Mike... Deer don't eat figs... the latex puts any smart deer... I fawn may try a nibble... but only once.... Deer mow my yard every day and have ready access to figs... nope... not a touch....

both bunnies n rats will do that kinda damage.
1/2'' wire mesh is the only  thing that will stop them.
cylinders around each tree works but an L shaped bunny barrier attached to the bottom of your fence is
better.
poison is also nice.

Gremlins.....Definitely!

It looks like the jack rabbit damage my friend has this winter. So my guess would be rabbits. It won't make much difference in fruiting assuming you can protect from here on.

Rabbits. They chewed my new blackberries to shreds this winter. Looks exactly like that. Little bastards!

I feel for you, looking at those damages. I have groundhogs, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and deer problems here too. It's always the battle with wild ones and guess what? I always lose...tiring, only cuz I got really tired of fighting them.

rabbits caused me to buy my first handgun.
i suffered more than $200 in damage to figs n ornamental plants.
then they cost thousands in  bunny barrier construction plus hundreds of hours of hard labor,

Rabbits + Squirrels + Compound Bow = Dinner.... 

If you want to keep every manner of critter big or small away from any plant, follow my instructions in this post....They will never touch anything in your garden.... twice anyhow

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/how-to-keep-my-dog-away-from-my-fig-trees-8445440?pid=1295126091#post1295126091

Joe, I had a ghost pepper plant on my deck last year, someone (squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, who knows what), took a bite into one pepper and left the other half of the pepper hanging from the plant! Those ghost peppers can burn a hole in a human stomach but yet, that did not deter them from coming back for more. It never ceases to amaze me of what these critters will do to eat.

How many peppers did you lose of that plant to critters over the season? I doubt the same pest came back...It's a matter of teaching them that your place is not the place to be... If I can use this stuff and only lose 20 or 50 fruit in the course of a season to the little thieves... I consider it a success. In the past I've had lost large parts of my garden to our local scourge -  The squirrels. We have nearly no raccoons due to numerous coyote and the rabbits seem to be kept in check by a good hawk population. The squirrels however seem to be immune... I was on the verge of adopting an entire cat rescue, until I was turned on to this method.