I have a large backyard that borders an open field. At night some type
of digging rodent(s) come under the fence and dig up bugs in my lawn.
While natural, it leaves holes in the lawn and holes under the fence.

Problem is that the land drops off past the fence, so am lookiing for
a cheap way to put down some type of barrier along the back. Yes, have
put down bug killer to lessen the food supply, but need a permanent
solution.

Cannot afford a retaining wall or sunken stone wall, and with the drop
off, don't know if it would hold anyway. ONe more thing - sprinkler
line runs along same fence.

Anyone have a economica, viable, solution?

cc wrote in
ups.com:

I have a large backyard that borders an open field. At
night some type of digging rodent(s) come under the fence
and dig up bugs in my lawn. While natural, it leaves holes
in the lawn and holes under the fence.

how do you know it's a rodent? does it tunnel or just dig
holes? is it digging in under the fence or just pushing the
fence up to get through?
if it's something just digging holes & not tunnelling, my
first suspicion would be a skunk.
and since i'm a fan of skunks (they eat ground dwelling
yellojacket nests), i can't tell you how to get rid of one.
i've been encoraging *my* skunk to stick around (he's back,
Cheryl! g). he eats with the barn cats.
if it's tunnelling & making lumpy trails through the yard, it
would be moles, in which case treating your yard with Milky
Spore will kill the grubs that attract moles without killing
the enviroment. milky spore does take a while to take effect,
however. about a year.
if it makes big holes (6") it's probably a groundhog. just
shoot it.
lee

On 9/22/2007 10:54 PM, cc wrote:
I have a large backyard that borders an open field. At night some type
of digging rodent(s) come under the fence and dig up bugs in my lawn.
While natural, it leaves holes in the lawn and holes under the fence.

Problem is that the land drops off past the fence, so am lookiing for
a cheap way to put down some type of barrier along the back. Yes, have
put down bug killer to lessen the food supply, but need a permanent
solution.

Cannot afford a retaining wall or sunken stone wall, and with the drop
off, don't know if it would hold anyway. ONe more thing - sprinkler
line runs along same fence.

Anyone have a economica, viable, solution?


It could be a raccoon or oppossum.

You can use a large Havahart (have a heart) trap. When you catch an
animal, take the trap to your local animal control agency. They should
relocate the animal away from you.

Alternatively, trench along your fence about two feet down. Use chain
link fencing to extend the fence the depth of the trench. If the
existing fence is not chain link, extend the mesh about two feet up the
INSIDE of the existing fence. (If you put it on the outside, it will
provide a convenient way for an animal to start climbing your fence.)

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

"cc" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a large backyard that borders an open field. At night some type
of digging rodent(s) come under the fence and dig up bugs in my lawn.
While natural, it leaves holes in the lawn and holes under the fence.

Problem is that the land drops off past the fence, so am lookiing for
a cheap way to put down some type of barrier along the back. Yes, have
put down bug killer to lessen the food supply, but need a permanent
solution.

Cannot afford a retaining wall or sunken stone wall, and with the drop
off, don't know if it would hold anyway. ONe more thing - sprinkler
line runs along same fence.

Anyone have a economica, viable, solution?


Having no idea where you are I wouldn't even guess what it is. Why don't
you go out at night with a big torch and see. The nature of the culprit
will determine the solution.

David

"enigma" wrote in message
. ..
if it's tunnelling & making lumpy trails through the yard, it
would be moles, in which case treating your yard with Milky
Spore will kill the grubs that attract moles without killing ........

I just priced Milky Spore at Lowe's yesterday. At $25 per small container
it's cost prohibitive for anything other than a small yard.

"Manelli Family" wrote in
:


"enigma" wrote in message
. ..
if it's tunnelling & making lumpy trails through the yard,
it would be moles, in which case treating your yard with
Milky Spore will kill the grubs that attract moles without
killing ........

I just priced Milky Spore at Lowe's yesterday. At $25 per
small container it's cost prohibitive for anything other
than a small yard.

so, how big is your yard, & how badly do you want to protect
your lawn & plants?
a 10 oz container of milky spore treats 2500 square feet. you
can find that online for less than US$20. there's a lawn
spreader mix that treats up to 7000 square feet for around
$42, or a 50 gallon drum for treating up to 5 acres for around
$1140...
remember when figuring cost that once applied milky spore
will keep working for at least 10 years, so it's not like you
have to reapply every year.
try a search for milky spore bulk & see the hundreds of hits &
compare prices. Lowe's is pretty expensive.
lee