I notice this hole in my yard while mowing and it had just happened but not slowly. This hole is about 1 foot in diameter and just as deep and inside the hole there is a hole/chamber that runs up into and under the yard but nothing is visible other than what is shown in the photos.
Does anyone have any ideas what animal might have caused this?
Raccoon? Fox? Opossum? Beaver? This isn't some small/little hole but it's a very large hole, to have just come up.
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One possibility.
Groundhog.
Armadillo. You must have some good eats under there. They're destructive buggers.
1. Reminds me of an Armadillo, a big one (12" opening). I have same occurrence happening on a small ravine on my property. Armadillo will burrow on the side-wall of ravine and burrow tunnels and coming out on the upper side, adjacent to ravine. I assume your bottom photo could be the initial digging entrance and the top photo my be an exit burrow hole. (due to no extra loose dirt around hole) Wish I had a good way to keep them off my property or near the house. My old lab's Teeth aren't what they used to be..He was an Armadillo Killing Machine..
2. Ground Hog, perhaps, not too familiar enough with their digging habits..
3. One last thought, was there ever a tree cut down, and root system rotted away and left the hole?
Hopefully, its just a critter's home. We live on limestone -- lots of sinkholes.
GBRK, do you have one of these in your yard? I do, and I have "mysterious holes" popping up sometimes.
Thinking of getting one of these to patrol.
Then, it could be one of these!
direstraits posted:
Then, it could be one of these!
That's when you need this one!
gbrk posted:I notice this hole in my yard while mowing and it had just happened but not slowly. This hole is about 1 foot in diameter and just as deep and inside the hole there is a hole/chamber that runs up into and under the yard but nothing is visible other than what is shown in the photos.
Does anyone have any ideas what animal might have caused this?
Raccoon? Fox? Opossum? Beaver? This isn't some small/little hole but it's a very large hole, to have just come up.
Maybe JT went to ground again.
Well I'm going to get a live trap from the animal shelter and try and capture it. I'm sure, along with my Sheltie I've been feeding this fellow also. Every now and again the Sheltie will corner something under the deck so likely it's what's been coming out of the hole.
I also have a NATO 5.56/.223 that would make quick work of what ever it is but I'd just as soon relocate it if possible.
Will be my luck though if I end up getting a live skunk in the trap and having to deal with that.
Bait it with tuna.
gbrk posted:Well I'm going to get a live trap from the animal shelter and try and capture it. I'm sure, along with my Sheltie I've been feeding this fellow also. Every now and again the Sheltie will corner something under the deck so likely it's what's been coming out of the hole.
I also have a NATO 5.56/.223 that would make quick work of what ever it is but I'd just as soon relocate it if possible.
Will be my luck though if I end up getting a live skunk in the trap and having to deal with that.
If you trap a skunk, toss an old blanket over three sides of the trap, the ones away from you, then pick it up. I'd watch the Sheltie, if it's a skunk that could be a bad ending. I still think it's an armadilla.
uandurine posted:Maybe JT went to ground again.
He's made some outrageous posts lately and then gone to ground. However, that is how he operates.
giftedamateur posted:uandurine posted:Maybe JT went to ground again.
He's made some outrageous posts lately and then gone to ground. However, that is how he operates.
Yes, so he's "gone to ground" again.
giftedamateur posted:gbrk posted:Well I'm going to get a live trap from the animal shelter and try and capture it. I'm sure, along with my Sheltie I've been feeding this fellow also. Every now and again the Sheltie will corner something under the deck so likely it's what's been coming out of the hole.
I also have a NATO 5.56/.223 that would make quick work of what ever it is but I'd just as soon relocate it if possible.
Will be my luck though if I end up getting a live skunk in the trap and having to deal with that.
If you trap a skunk, toss an old blanket over three sides of the trap, the ones away from you, then pick it up. I'd watch the Sheltie, if it's a skunk that could be a bad ending. I still think it's an armadilla.
For clarification, I'd like to see a schematic of that blanket toss. Covering the ends away from me seems to leave me wide open like looking down the muzzle of a loaded gun. Plus, when picking up the trap, don't forget the bottom side.
See why I need a schematic?
I'd more in favor of dispatching a trapped and caged skunk with a handgun or rifle loaded with a .22 long rifle or a shotgun loaded with a rabbit load [#6 shot.] Skunks and the like are carriers of rabies.
My objective would be to relocate the offensive critter to another hole.
I'm blessed to have both groundhogs and armadillos on the farm. Groundhogs are prone to dig under shelter such as slabs of concrete or logs. Armadillos will dig in the wide open but will also dig under bush hogs, base of power poles, etc.
Critter hunting, day or night, has become a source of amusement for me. A light mounted Ruger 10/22 has been given the name "Critter Gitter" and the Ruger SR22 is known as the "Armadillo Assassin." Of course, no one pays attention to late night gun shots out here.
This hole here
Has me befuddled. It's not an entry hole. it would be excavated on all sides like an oblong funnel. This pic has no funnel sides, but with lips around for hanging vegetation, yet unlike a sink hole, has a shelf just below for the critter to pause and observe before exiting. I don't know that armadillos do exit holes but groundhogs do.
Anyhow, GBRK, lay a conibear across the opening. Maybe illegal as hell but no more so than blowing it away with a 5.56mmNATO round in the middle of the night in a suburban neighborhood.
Off the front porch, I pop at least on armadillo per week and a groundhog maybe twice a year.
Your photo is also another example of how badly we need rain.
Actually, thankfully, my only concern with the firearm method is the sanity and hearing of the neighbors and of course safety in making sure there is no mistaken path of a bullet as I live in the county and don't have to worry about the city regulations of shooting a firearm within city limits. Out in the county I just have to worry about waking or scaring the neighbors but given it's a fairly condensed neighborhood and one that I do have to concern myself with potential ricochets I either will choose my shooting position/platform very wisely or just rely upon the live trap as I do have a secondary location in which to release the creature.
As for the directions or suggestion of what to do if a wayward skunk gets into the trap my luck and fortunes would surely dictate a smelly end to the endevour and one that I would not find too amusing. I've seen some videos of skunks that have got their heads stuck in bottles and containers and watched them as they were freed from their situation and in most cases they weren't to polite to the ones that freed them but rather was intent on leaving something for the person to remember them by. Maybe I won't have to concern myself with a skunk and I do believe most are right about the armadillo so we'll see how lucky I am at capturing it next week. I'll update with photos if things work out.
