What's burrowing in my yard??

[serbu50]

Way out front away from the house I've recently been finding 2" wide 4" deep holes that don't go anywhere. I thought it was an armadillo looking for grubs. Now up around the house I'm walking on soft spots and obvious fresh burrowing. It's dark now so I can't confirm a burrow.... But for the first time with these mystery holes, I feel soft ground. I've never ever had these issues. I'm out in the country and not near woods. I'm in pasture land. What am I likely finding here and how do I eradicate them? Ugghh

[TrickyNicky]

Could be all manner of critter I would guess. Best way we've found to eliminate moles and gophers is to take out the food source. If you have a seed spreader for your mower there are any number of products out there good for killing grub. Bad news is you generally need to apply them a little earlier in the fall, or after the last frost. Otherwise They make these little 40 grain lead pills that seem to work well, but you gotta launch them fast enough to inject the little buggers.

[R_Bert]

Skunk

[serbu50]

I've gone out at all hours of the night and snuck up on the area from 100 yards out with a super bright spot light. I have yet to see anything. My golden retriever smells everything and he doesn't hit on the holes much. Most of the holes I've found stop 4" in. It's shallow enough you can see the obvious bottom of it. With maybe a cup or 1/2 cup of dirt around the hole. But tonight was the first night out of the 3-4 month mystery that I felt the ground soft. Right at the house foundation. I wouldn't think mice could or would burrow 6-8' long soft spots. My experience is nice just get in the house. They are making soft dirt up around the foundation and on the edge of the concrete patio edge off the back porch.

[RED333]

See if this helps

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/wildlife/whats-digging-holes/

[Oh Shoot]

Lateral soft spots are usually mole or vole tunnels.

 

- OS

[serbu50]

Yeah. Moles are pretty big animals right ? Like a rat? You'd think I'd have seen them.

[Omega]

Set out a game cam at ground level, see if you can capture the critter.

[Oh Shoot]

Yeah. Moles are pretty big animals right ? Like a rat?

 

Ones in TN generally more like a mouse or small chipmunk.

 

You hardly ever see them unless you dig 'em up.

 

Voles on the other hand get out and about. Matter of fact, most "field mice" are really voles.

 

- OS

Edited November 23, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[serbu50]

Little turds. Need to eradicate them. Before they do more damage. We have chickens that roam, so I have to be careful about what I put on the ground.

[R_Bert]

I had a pair of skunks put over 100 holes in my back yard one night.  I saw them rooting, but did not realize they were taking divots out.  Often is funnel shaped.

 

But, the "soft ground" is probably moles as others have said.

Edited November 23, 2015 by R_Bert

[Dolomite_supafly]

Sounds like raccoons. They dig holes the same size as you describe. They are digging up some sort of bug, maybe grubs. They normally are digging in my yard starting around midnight and go to about an hour before sunrise. They come around so much now that our cats hang out with the raccoons.

[TrickyNicky]

Little turds. Need to eradicate them. Before they do more damage. We have chickens that roam, so I have to be careful about what I put on the ground.

Look into Milky Spore. It's a bacteria that specifically attacks grubs but is pet/people safe. I used to carry the product and the company is awesome about giving out safety info, look them up and call and ask about chickens, but you should be good to go.

[serbu50]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it. I don't think it's an above ground animal now. The holes are 2-3" max, but the soft spots near the fresh dirt is a game changer now.

[RED333]

I see night vision and a 50 cal in your future. :rock:

[serbu50]

Haha. Right!

[serbu50]

I did find these rodents alive and in my trash can I stored grass seed in. Tail looks too long to be a Vole. I'm starting to lean towards a vole. A mole is rather large. Just don't think that's what it is.

[tartanphantom]

 Skunk    Left Wing Liberal Marxist

 

Fixed it for you.

Edited November 23, 2015 by tartanphantom

[Pain103]

Goodluck. I have a fat groundhog that has been going through my yard. He is about to be introducted to high speed lead poisoning.

[analog_kidd]

I have the same kind of hole in my back 40. Mostly they are about 2" in diameter and maybe 2' deep, and there are dozens of them. Ours don't really have much of a dirt pile on the ground. I've covered them with twigs and leaves to see if anything moves them, but every time I go back, the twigs are right where I left them. We have a small creek back there, and the holes are all within about 20' from the creek. I've had a couple people tell me that it is craw-dads (somebody said mud-puppies, but I have no idea what that is). My gut tells me that it's not, but I don't have any other theory, and with the creek so close, it almost sounds plausible.

 

The thing I hate about them is some of them over time have gotten bigger. I think from erosion. Some of the bigger ones I've probed seem to go straight down a couple feet and then turn toward the creek. These larger ones are just big enough to get a foot caught in, and the smaller ones are about the size of a dog paw. We have family that come out there all the time to camp, and it doubles as my shooting range. I'm afraid that someone will break a leg.

 

I've thought about hiring someone with a tractor to come out and till the ground up and regrade it.

 

Also, we have been told that the UT Agriculture Department will come out and offer a theory. We've called a couple of times but never reached the person who comes out.

[R_Bert]

serbu50, on 22 Nov 2015 - 9:38 PM, said:

I did find these rodents alive and in my trash can I stored grass seed in. Tail looks too long to be a Vole. I'm starting to lean towards a vole. A mole is rather large. Just don't think that's what it is.

Those are common field mice.  You need another cat.

[enfield]

Those are common field mice.  You need another cat.

Nah, cats only kill when they're hungry or playing. What you need is a terrier. They don't tolerate the existence of vermin.

[quickbiscuit]

The random dug out spots in the yard are armadillos, and the soft spots/tunnels are voles. I have them as well. My neighbors use some poison from the co-op to combat the voles. You'll have to stand guard at night to take out the armadillos with your favorite scattergun. Edited November 23, 2015 by quickbiscuit

[serbu50]

Yeah I'm up to a hundred 2x4 holes in the front yard and nothing more. Guess they didn't like the ground there.

[peejman]

Yep, those are just mice/voles.  I have (had) them too.  I caught about a dozen in traps in my garage over a weekend about a month ago.  They haven't been back. 

 

When using poison, please keep in mind that there's other beneficial critters (foxes, hawks, owls, ...)  that eat all these little rodents.  If they eat a poisoned mouse, they die too.  And, you never can tell where they'll die and you may have to endure the smell or go cutting holes in places to find them.     

Edited November 23, 2015 by peejman