In the last few days, an animal of some kind has been making its way across my garden and those of the three houses next to me. It has tunnelled under the fence leaving a hole that might allow a small terrier to pass through. It makes small round holes in the lawn. These are about one inch in diameter and roughly an inch deep. Whether it does this in a search for food, I can't tell. They don't look like tracks.

The animal seems to be nocturnal as the holes appear overnight and we haven't yet seen the culprit. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

GDMc

On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:13:44 +0000, NORTHDUK northduk(OMIT
wrote:


In the last few days, an animal of some kind has been making its way
across my garden and those of the three houses next to me. It has
tunnelled under the fence leaving a hole that might allow a small
terrier to pass through. It makes small round holes in the lawn. These
are about one inch in diameter and roughly an inch deep. Whether it
does this in a search for food, I can't tell. They don't look like
tracks.

The animal seems to be nocturnal as the holes appear overnight and we
haven't yet seen the culprit. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

GDMc

It may be a skunk looking for grubs.

Boron

"NORTHDUK" northduk(OMIT wrote in message
...

In the last few days, an animal of some kind has been making its way
across my garden and those of the three houses next to me. It has
tunnelled under the fence leaving a hole that might allow a small
terrier to pass through. It makes small round holes in the lawn. These
are about one inch in diameter and roughly an inch deep. Whether it
does this in a search for food, I can't tell. They don't look like
tracks.

The animal seems to be nocturnal as the holes appear overnight and we
haven't yet seen the culprit. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

Those holes are much too small to be made by a wombat.

FarmI wrote:
"NORTHDUK" northduk(OMIT wrote in message
...

In the last few days, an animal of some kind has been making its way
across my garden and those of the three houses next to me. It has
tunnelled under the fence leaving a hole that might allow a small
terrier to pass through. It makes small round holes in the lawn.
These are about one inch in diameter and roughly an inch deep.
Whether it does this in a search for food, I can't tell. They don't
look like tracks.

The animal seems to be nocturnal as the holes appear overnight and we
haven't yet seen the culprit. Does anyone have any idea what this
is?

Those holes are much too small to be made by a wombat.

Lucky we are able to rule that out then. It could still be a bunyip.

D

Helps to know where in the world you are, so that lemurs can also be ruled out, etc. My guess is that you are in Britain and the cause is badgers. They are quite flat and will get through a surprisingly low hole. They will dig for grubs.

NORTHDUK northduk(OMIT writes:

In the last few days, an animal of some kind has been making its way
across my garden and those of the three houses next to me. It has
tunnelled under the fence leaving a hole that might allow a small
terrier to pass through. It makes small round holes in the lawn. These
are about one inch in diameter and roughly an inch deep. Whether it
does this in a search for food, I can't tell. They don't look like
tracks.

The animal seems to be nocturnal as the holes appear overnight and we
haven't yet seen the culprit. Does anyone have any idea what this is?

I get the same thing here in NJ USA.

I guess skunk or raccoon.

No permanent damage to the lawn.

--
Dan Espen

[quote=echinosum;933425]Helps to know where in the world you are, so that lemurs can also be ruled out, etc.

You're quite right! I didn't realise that this forum had an international readership. I should have mentioned my location.

I'm in the North East of England where, fortunately, we don't see many bunyips! You may be right about it being a badger. Other suggestions have included some creature with a wooden leg or a pogo stick which might account for the holes. Either way, we blocked up the gaps under the fence and there's no sign of its having returned last night.

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. Other ideas are always welcome.

GDMc

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

FarmI wrote:
"NORTHDUK" northduk(OMIT wrote in message
...

In the last few days, an animal of some kind has been making its way
across my garden and those of the three houses next to me. It has
tunnelled under the fence leaving a hole that might allow a small
terrier to pass through. It makes small round holes in the lawn.
These are about one inch in diameter and roughly an inch deep.
Whether it does this in a search for food, I can't tell. They don't
look like tracks.

The animal seems to be nocturnal as the holes appear overnight and we
haven't yet seen the culprit. Does anyone have any idea what this
is?

Those holes are much too small to be made by a wombat.

Lucky we are able to rule that out then. It could still be a bunyip.

D

With that in mind, what has Australia done to stop continental drift,
hmmm? With "Global Warming" the Earth's mantel is getting softer and
less viscous, thereby promoting continental drift. You know what I'm
talkin' about. It'd just be typical if Australia floated in some night,
just off Seattle, unloaded it compliment of undocumented wombats and
bunyips, and then cruised back to where it belongs (just to the right of
the Indian Ocean) by morning. (I've heard that there are even pictures
on the internet that shows Australia on hydro-foils.) Then they would
say, "'Ou me?" And then act all innocent like. This is the sort of thing
that keeps our "Fatherland Security" defenders up at night.

Take action, and "STOP CONTINENTAL DRIFT" for garden's sake.
--
- Billy
Both the House and Senate budget plan would have cut Social Security and Medicare, while cutting taxes on the wealthy.

Kucinich noted that none of the government programs targeted for
elimination or severe cutback in House Republican spending plans
"appeared on the GAO's list of government programs at high risk of
waste, fraud and abuse."
http://www.politifact.com/ohio/state...is-kucinich/re
p-dennis-kucinich-says-gop-budget-cuts-dont-targ/

[W]e have the situation with the deficit and the debt and spending and jobs. And it¹s not that difficult to get out of it. The first thing you do is you get rid of corporate welfare. That¹s hundreds of billions of dollars a year. The second is you tax corporations so that they don¹t get away with no taxation.
- Ralph Nader
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/19/ralph_naders_solution_to_debt_crisis

[quote='Billy[_10_];933465']In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:
[color=blue][i]
FarmI wrote:[color=green][i]
"NORTHDUK" northduk(OMIT wrote in message
...

In the last few days, an animal of some kind has been making its way
across my garden and those of the three houses next to me. It has
tunnelled under the fence leaving a hole that might allow a small
terrier to pass through. It makes small round holes in the lawn.
These are about one inch in diameter and roughly an inch deep.
Whether it does this in a search for food, I can't tell. They don't
look like tracks.

The animal seems to be nocturnal as the holes appear overnight and we
haven't yet seen the culprit. Does anyone have any idea what this
is?



I'd say the hole in the fence may be caused by a different animal.

The holes in the lawn are exactly the size that a grey squirrel would make, when they try to bury a nut.
They aren't bright enough to cover them up and a pigeon or another bird will usually later find and eat the nut. I get several of these holes in my lawn every year, because my wife insists on leaving peanuts out for them.

I close 'em up as you would a rather large pitch mark on a golf green.

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
FarmI wrote:
"NORTHDUK" northduk(OMIT wrote in message
...

In the last few days, an animal of some kind has been making its way
across my garden and those of the three houses next to me. It has
tunnelled under the fence leaving a hole that might allow a small
terrier to pass through. It makes small round holes in the lawn. These
are about one inch in diameter and roughly an inch deep. Whether it does
this in a search for food, I can't tell. They don't
look like tracks.

The animal seems to be nocturnal as the holes appear overnight and we
haven't yet seen the culprit. Does anyone have any idea what this
is?

Those holes are much too small to be made by a wombat.

Lucky we are able to rule that out then. It could still be a bunyip.

LOL. I vote for a Dragon. I've always wanted a Dragon on my lawn.