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Old 10-05-2003, 12:08 PM
Robert
 
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Default What animal digs small holes in lawn??

In message , al
writes
Anyway, this hole is in the middle of tough, well-established grass that
you'd be doing well to get a shovel through. Some serious claws to do that.
Seems a bit too small and round to be dog/cat/fox, but that's just
conjecture. Plus they normally only do that for covering waste/finding
bones don't they? Half a foot deep too - do squirrels dig that deep and
aren't they daytime animals?


From our observations of lawn excavations during the last five years -
If the holes were about 50/60mm in diameter and 60/90mm deep with no
evidence of the earth being scraped out I would suggest woodpeckers
after ants. Holes in lawns made by badgers are usually 70/100mm
diameter and 100/150mmm deep with very obvious signs of the earth being
scraped out to one side and they are often in small groups. If you can
get a shovel into the ground a badger will have no difficulty digging in
it - they only have problems if the turf is exceptionally dry and hard
after a prolonged drought. Foxes excavations tend to be larger with the
spoil scattered over a wider area than badger creations and they
normally choose softer ground. Squirrels tend to make quite small,
shallow scrapes in lawns to bury food and then fill them in again. On
the odd occasion we have found very deep holes about 50mm across which
we assume are made by small rodents. We have no experience of rabbit
depredations - the foxes see to that.
--
Robert