In my back yard there are about 50 or more holes. They are about 1.5 inches
in diameter and seem to be between 4 and 6 inches deep. It looks as if they
were punched in by a stick as there is no mound of dirt around them. They
have been there for several months and I have had several opinions on what
they may be. The ground is near the woods and there is a small stream about
50 feet away from them. Some are close to each other but some are about 20
feet from the others.

Photos can be found he

http://home.earthlink.net/~rmowery28146/Holes/

The shinny object near one of them is a quarter to compair the size.

They are not mole or vole holes as they only go down a few inches and stop.

Cicadas?

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
ink.net...
In my back yard there are about 50 or more holes. They are about 1.5
inches in diameter and seem to be between 4 and 6 inches deep. It looks
as if they were punched in by a stick as there is no mound of dirt around
them. They have been there for several months and I have had several
opinions on what they may be. The ground is near the woods and there is a
small stream about 50 feet away from them. Some are close to each other
but some are about 20 feet from the others.

Photos can be found he

http://home.earthlink.net/~rmowery28146/Holes/

The shinny object near one of them is a quarter to compair the size.

They are not mole or vole holes as they only go down a few inches and
stop.


Motion detector camera - about $50 at Walmart - they work for me.

Could they be squirrels.
I have lots of squirrels in my area, and they did small holes similar to
that to bury their 'cache'.
I have a big corn stalk right in the middle of my flower garden, the result
of a squirrel.
(even my Alzheimer memory is better than the squirrels)



"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
ink.net...
In my back yard there are about 50 or more holes. They are about 1.5
inches in diameter and seem to be between 4 and 6 inches deep. It looks
as if they were punched in by a stick as there is no mound of dirt around
them. They have been there for several months and I have had several
opinions on what they may be. The ground is near the woods and there is a
small stream about 50 feet away from them. Some are close to each other
but some are about 20 feet from the others.

Photos can be found he

http://home.earthlink.net/~rmowery28146/Holes/

The shinny object near one of them is a quarter to compair the size.

They are not mole or vole holes as they only go down a few inches and
stop.

Crayfish burrows.

On Sun, 6 Aug 2006 07:14:25 -0500, "FireBrick"
wrote:

Could they be squirrels.
I have lots of squirrels in my area, and they did small holes similar to
that to bury their 'cache'.
I have a big corn stalk right in the middle of my flower garden, the result
of a squirrel.
(even my Alzheimer memory is better than the squirrels)



"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
link.net...
In my back yard there are about 50 or more holes. They are about 1.5
inches in diameter and seem to be between 4 and 6 inches deep. It looks
as if they were punched in by a stick as there is no mound of dirt around
them. They have been there for several months and I have had several
opinions on what they may be. The ground is near the woods and there is a
small stream about 50 feet away from them. Some are close to each other
but some are about 20 feet from the others.

Photos can be found he

http://home.earthlink.net/~rmowery28146/Holes/

The shinny object near one of them is a quarter to compair the size.

They are not mole or vole holes as they only go down a few inches and
stop.

Ralph Mowery wrote:
In my back yard there are about 50 or more holes.

You don't indicate where you live, but if you're in the Midwest USA, it
could be voles. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole

One way to tell is to walk across your lawn...if you're walking on firm
lawn and then suddenly sink down a few inches, it's voles.

A local lawn pest service provider can help you get rid of them, if
that's what you have, by installing sonar devices (to scare them away
from your lawn and into your neighbor's lawn) or traps. I never tried
the castor oil solution mentioned in the wikipedia article.

Good luck!

dicko said:

Crayfish burrows.

There would be evidence of the excavated dirt. The OP stated that wasn't
the case.

--
Eggs

-How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.

"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
...
dicko said:

Crayfish burrows.

There would be evidence of the excavated dirt. The OP stated that wasn't
the case.

--
Eggs

I had thought of the crayfish as there is a small stream about 25 feet from
the holes, but did not know what one of their holes look like and I have not
seen any crayfish around. There are no built up mounds. They look like
they were punched in the fround by a pipe or stick. I do live in the middle
of North Carolina . I have seen squirrls, rabbits, turtles,frogs, black
snakes, but nothing digging or comming out of the holes.

Called the local agurcurtual agent and he mentioned the cicadas or the
cicada killers. Have not seen either of those either.

Ralph Mowery said:

"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
...
dicko said:

Crayfish burrows.

There would be evidence of the excavated dirt. The OP stated that wasn't
the case.

--
Eggs

I had thought of the crayfish as there is a small stream about 25 feet from
the holes, but did not know what one of their holes look like and I have not
seen any crayfish around. There are no built up mounds. They look like
they were punched in the fround by a pipe or stick. I do live in the middle
of North Carolina . I have seen squirrls, rabbits, turtles,frogs, black
snakes, but nothing digging or comming out of the holes.

Called the local agurcurtual agent and he mentioned the cicadas or the
cicada killers. Have not seen either of those either.

You most likely won't see the cicada, but I'm sure you hear them, daily.
Cicada killers have been out in force here, lately. They kill a cicada,
bury it, and lay an egg in it, IIRC. I'm sure you'd see the excavated dirt.
I'd say it's most likely something (beetles, cicada, etc.) emerging from
the ground, rather than digging from above. Perhaps, a little bit of both.

--
Eggs

-A jumper cable walks into a bar. The barman says "I'll serve you, but
don't start anything."

What about Ibis or Sandhill Cranes? They leave exactly the type of hole
you're describing as they look for grubs and worms . . . but I don't know if
you have them that far north -- Regards --
"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
...
Ralph Mowery said:

"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
...
dicko said:

Crayfish burrows.

There would be evidence of the excavated dirt. The OP stated that wasn't
the case.

--
Eggs

I had thought of the crayfish as there is a small stream about 25 feet
from
the holes, but did not know what one of their holes look like and I have
not
seen any crayfish around. There are no built up mounds. They look like
they were punched in the fround by a pipe or stick. I do live in the
middle
of North Carolina . I have seen squirrls, rabbits, turtles,frogs, black
snakes, but nothing digging or comming out of the holes.

Called the local agurcurtual agent and he mentioned the cicadas or the
cicada killers. Have not seen either of those either.

You most likely won't see the cicada, but I'm sure you hear them, daily.
Cicada killers have been out in force here, lately. They kill a cicada,
bury it, and lay an egg in it, IIRC. I'm sure you'd see the excavated
dirt.
I'd say it's most likely something (beetles, cicada, etc.) emerging from
the ground, rather than digging from above. Perhaps, a little bit of both.

--
Eggs

-A jumper cable walks into a bar. The barman says "I'll serve you, but
don't start anything."

"JimR" wrote in message
k.net...
What about Ibis or Sandhill Cranes? They leave exactly the type of hole
you're describing as they look for grubs and worms . . . but I don't know
if you have them that far north -- Regards --
"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
...
Ralph Mowery said:
"Eggs Zachtly" wrote in message
...
dicko said:

Crayfish burrows.

There would be evidence of the excavated dirt. The OP stated that
wasn't
the case.

I had thought of the crayfish as there is a small stream about 25 feet
from
the holes, but did not know what one of their holes look like and I have
not
seen any crayfish around. There are no built up mounds. They look like
they were punched in the fround by a pipe or stick. I do live in the
middle
of North Carolina . I have seen squirrls, rabbits, turtles,frogs, black
snakes, but nothing digging or comming out of the holes.

Called the local agurcurtual agent and he mentioned the cicadas or the
cicada killers. Have not seen either of those either.

You most likely won't see the cicada, but I'm sure you hear them, daily.
Cicada killers have been out in force here, lately. They kill a cicada,
bury it, and lay an egg in it, IIRC. I'm sure you'd see the excavated
dirt.
I'd say it's most likely something (beetles, cicada, etc.) emerging from
the ground, rather than digging from above. Perhaps, a little bit of
both.
Eggs

My first thought when seeing this was some neighbor running around in the
middle of the night poking a pole into the ground all over the yard just to
goof on old Ralph here. Could very well be grin. I did start doubting
myself when upon closer look I see that around each hole there is _no_
vegetation - every hole for about a half inch. So the clue here is that
something removed the vegetation around each hole. What eliminated this
vegetation is a key here.
Tomes