So what dug this hole???
dreher
Member Posts: 8,893 ✭✭✭✭
Sorry no pics but I will try and describe the hole I'm talking about. To begin with, I live in Upstate South Carolina in a rural area in a subdivision made up of 3/4 acre lots or just a little bigger. 150 feet from my front porch there is a small stream and maybe 10 acres of woods.
I have a detached garage that has a roof ran off one side of it to house about 1/3 of my bunny raising set up, containing 19 cages. About 6 feet from one end a hole appeared this morning. The hole goes underneath the cement floor of my garage. The hole is big enough I could put my fist/forearm into it. The digging starts about 18" from the wall going down to below the concrete and dirt being thrown 36" from the wall.
Critters I have ruled out: rats, chipmunks, squirrels, mice, possums and * either because they don't do holes this big or because they don't dig. At least I don't think possums dig. What other critter options are there?? Whatever it is digs a pretty good sized hole but managed to get into an area that used to keep chickens with out any chickens getting out meaning it was chicken tight. I should add it threw the dirt it removed pretty far. Usually I have a pretty good idea what I'm looking at but I really have no idea what this might be. I might use this as an excuse to buy a game cam!! 😁
Comments
A ground hog?
Armadillo maybe. Don
Lots of ground hogs in the upstate and they dig some pretty big burrows.
raccoons dig holes for grub worms and will wreck a yard. They will also eat the bunnies or chickens.
Stick the garden hose in it and turn it on. What ever it is will come out fast!
Ground hog. Snare trap over the tunnel should do it.
That's my 1st. pick with the way the dirt is thrown.
"Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee
if its a worm, better get Burt Gummer to come shoot it...........
I had thought of a ground hog but the hole doesn't appear quite big enough. I have never seen an armadillo's hole so no clue. Only the last couple of years have I seen any armadillo's born dead by the side of the road here in Spartanburg County so I know we now have armadillo's in Spartanburg County but I haven't seen an armadillo within 15 miles of my place. I haven't seen a ground hog within a couple of miles of my house either. The soil here locally is a very hard clay, not conducive to digging holes. The soil underneath my bunny cages is very easy digging due to the build up and removal of bunny poop X number of times per year.
Could also be a skunk.
Game cam will tell
Dollars to doughnuts it was some critter or another.
Careful there, Bruce! They'll change your name to Sherlock with deductive powers like that!😋
We got ourselves one a them fancy Krispy Kreem doughnut stores here in Spartanburg so we can swap all the dollars for doughnuts you want to swap!!! We will just go down and get them while still hot!! OMG melt in your mouth!!
I second Don's Armadillo idea, we have tons of them here in Florida and I've seen them dig holes exactly as you described many times.
Weasel.
It's not a bear.
I go with ridgleyart and say skunk, put the hose in and turn water on low as somebody else said, it will come out.
We do have skunks in the area but I usually can get a whiff of skunk odor if one is around. If this hole has been dug by a skunk we will get along just fine. BUT............... I 100% guarantee one or both of the Border Collies will get sprayed should skunk and BC end up in the yard at the same time.
You know the saying "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" If Momma opens the door to a just sprayed BC, Momma wont get the door closed fast enough and the BC will be in our bedroom! We all know that somehow this would be my fault!!!!!
Both dogs and I will be sleeping in the garage. I'm not joking. Momma might stop screaming at me by June. Maybe.
Wiley Coyote, burying land mines
....you might want to check around your place for any more signs of fresh digging.
And don't let your pet roadrunner out of the house.
There is some digging under the bunny cages but it looks very similar to what the squirrels do when they dig underneath the cages. Often there will be something knocked off the top of the cages that is caused by the squirrels running on top off the cages. The squirrels are very cocky, sometimes just sitting there looking at me. 😁
Dillo's I would guess. None here but have skunks, raccoon's, possum's. Even saw bears dig bee's nest out of the ground.
Skunks dig small holes, almost like they pried it out, very little dirt scattered. Good way to tell if you have grubs, moles and skunks aplenty. Skunks will dig out a bee's nest to.
Never saw any evidence of raccoons or possums digging holes.
Ground hogs usually don't toss the dirt very far, just scoot it out of the way.
Yankee