Suburban wildlife question

[bluesfordan]

since guitar players are known to be such experts on wildlife

I've got some little critter making holes in my front lawn. Noticed it a month ago when I mowed my lawn for the last time of the season. Since then, it has made about 8 little excavations. These do not look like something digging from the surface, but rather from below. I've seen mole (voles?) tracks before, you can see them like veins across the turf. There are none of those, just these mounds of rich black earth with little holes in the middle.

very hard to get pictures but I can try to see if I can get some with my mom's ipad.

[KevinB]

Sure sounds like an eastern mole to me. They do a good job aerating the soil and eating worms and insects.

Voles are entirely different, rodents and more mouse-like.

I would think the tracks you see depend on the quality and quantity of your top soil.

[emu!]

Fire ants?

[uriah1]

Our moles..usually leaves long mounds about 3" up in the air and about 2-8feet long.
Could be a vole.
Sure it is not squirels burying and unburying their winter stash?

[harlycarly]

Similar stuff going on around here. I'm guessing moles / voles, but have also had a preponderance of skunks and raccoons around at night.

[harlycarly]

Originally Posted by emu!

Fire ants?

You know how you southern guys always wonder how / why we live in the freezing north? Lack of these critters up here is one reason. (One of many.)

I hauled my bike in a trailer down to Florida last winter. I pulled into my buddy's place after 1700+ miles and parked the trailer near his house. Within 5 minutes of arrival I discovered that I had run over a mound of fire ants and my legs were covered with them! He hosed me off quickly, but the bastids left a bunch of bites that all turned into pustules the next day. Guess they were excited about feasting on Yankee flesh.

[adeiderich]

Nashua, New Hamster ?

[AndyLowry]

Sounds a lot like a gopher to me. Had to get one out of our yard a couple of months ago.

[bendecaster]

Small holes? Not a ground hog/gopher. They leave large mounds of fresh dirt and a hole big enough for a baseball to roll into.

Go out and start poking around in there, see what pops out.

[sir humphrey]

Sounds like a mole to me - get moles and voles in my garden. Moles leave mounds, no tracks. Voles just holes, unlike moles. ;-)

[choupique]

Originally Posted by harlycarly

You know how you southern guys always wonder how / why we live in the freezing north? Lack of these critters up here is one reason. (One of many.)

I hauled my bike in a trailer down to Florida last winter. I pulled into my buddy's place after 1700+ miles and parked the trailer near his house. Within 5 minutes of arrival I discovered that I had run over a mound of fire ants and my legs were covered with them! He hosed me off quickly, but the bastids left a bunch of bites that all turned into pustules the next day. Guess they were excited about feasting on Yankee flesh.

Yeeee Haaaa, New Meat!!!

[muchxs]

This seems to be The Year of the Skunk. I was trippin' over one every night in our backyard about a month ago. They root around like little hogs this time of year.

[Jakedog]

Skunk completely destroyed my back yard this time two years ago. Started with little holes here and there, eventually they were everywhere. Now the whole thing has grown back, but is lumpy from all of the digging and holing.

[src9000]

Originally Posted by Jakedog

Skunk completely destroyed my back yard this time two years ago. Started with little holes here and there, eventually they were everywhere. Now the whole thing has grown back, but is lumpy from all of the digging and holing.

What do they dig for?

[KevinB]

Originally Posted by src9000

What do they dig for?

Skunks typically dig for sod webworms, which are moth larva/caterpillars.

[Mike SS]

Place a garden hose into one of the holes and let it run. Soon the wet culprit will emerge from one of the holes.

[bluesfordan]

Originally Posted by muchxs

This seems to be The Year of the Skunk. I was trippin' over one every night in our backyard about a month ago. They root around like little hogs this time of year.

strange you should say that, I think our local skunk population had a massive crash this year. Used to be able to smell them at least once a night during the summer, only 2 or 3 times all year. And we have a skunk condo under our shed. I used to see them all the time last year, but not this year, even very few dead ones on the road.

[bluesfordan]

Originally Posted by Jakedog

Skunk completely destroyed my back yard this time two years ago. Started with little holes here and there, eventually they were everywhere. Now the whole thing has grown back, but is lumpy from all of the digging and holing.

I've seen what skunks do to my lawn, this isn't like that. It is loosely piled up, not like something dragging it's paws/claws from the surface.

[Boubou]

Originally Posted by Jakedog

Skunk completely destroyed my back yard this time two years ago. Started with little holes here and there, eventually they were everywhere. Now the whole thing has grown back, but is lumpy from all of the digging and holing.

The skunks just ate what was destroying your lawn, saving you lots of money in pesticide