Holes in the lawn

We have a few holes in the lawn, almost 2cm in diameter.

Any suggestions as to what’s in them?

They’re likely to be due to shrews

Really? The cat :black_cat: is going to be thrilled!

1 Like

Could also be larger animals like deer foxes or badgers - we have tons of holes where some bloody creature has been digging for grubs. They make fist-sized holes.

Our lawn looks like the Western Front in 1916…

1 Like

We get exact same type of holes in our lawn and occasionally in beds. Funny thing is there is never any digging waste around the holes. They must eat it.

If they start eating every root in sight it’s voles. But small rodent of some form.

Voles tend to burrow just under the surface, lifting the “thatch”. Little round holes are definitely shrews.

Badgers make a right bloody mess .

1 Like

I’ve probably got badgers then. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

We get quite a lot of holes like those, but assume it’s squirrels digging up cached nuts and bulbs.

Badgers make a huge mess, especially if they find a bees nest in the ground.

Hopefully minus bloated corpses…

3 Likes

The holes are usually made by voles. Not much you can do about them apart from rejoice that they have decided to set up home and mess up your lawn. Not something even I get involved in!!

3 Likes

…and unexploded munitions!

Imagine the mess an exploding badger would make. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Probably going to save on cat food then, until he’s massacred them all.

Not being a lawn devotee, but a wild grass kept to a reasonable height sort of person, I would welcome such visitors but obviously the rocks beneath are too close to the surface. The residence of a large dog might have some sort of effect though. :thinking:

I’m sure it does - when my parents had dogs there were no such pitch invasions. :slight_smile:

1 Like

My daughter’s dogs would not leave a hole alone next to their aircon unit at back of the house and there was a hole. Son in law put a camera down the hole which went into the crawl space under the house and discovered they have a visiting skunk. Actually he looked very sweet, Pepé Le Pew comes to mind. Not wanting him to stay or invite some mates to move in, they put the used cat litter down there three days ago and it seems to have worked, nothing on the camera and the dogs are ignoring the hole. Might work for lawn invasions putting some used litter down to deter critters.

It could be campagnols…
"Lorsqu’il creuse, ce mammifère campagnard à l’allure de souris laisse apparaître un trou peu profond qui fait la taille d’une balle de golf, et qui est le plus souvent de forme ovale…
We had some a few years ago. Holes everywhere.
They don’t make mounds like the taupes. And their tail is short and stubby compared with a mouse tail.

We eventually managed to catch one of the culprits and deposited it several km away.

2 Likes

A section of our lawn is covered in (thanks to this thread) what I now understand to be voles holes, identical to the ones in @Porridge 's photo. Our dog recently dug up some of the holes and we were amazed to find a complex network of horizontal tunnels linking the vertical holes. As the holes were spreading, my wife put some small slates across the tunnels, and they seem to have, for now at least, curbed the voles desires for world domination .

3 Likes

Don’t count on it - they are learning lots from the penguins… :slight_smile:

1 Like

What does vole taste like? Asking for a friend.

1 Like