A whole village of little black dirt hills appeared in my yard
seemingly overnight. There must be 20-30 of them in one 10x12
area, most about three inches in diameter. There are similar
but smaller villages elsewhere in the yard.

I scraped some of the dirt hills away and found a small hole,
maybe 3/8" in diameter, under each one. It looks like the
hole of a burrowing snake or something.

What have I got? Is this thing harmful to the lawn, or does
its tunneling help aerate the ground? The areas it has chosen
to tunnel in are only sparsely covered with grass, so it
really can't do much damage unless it spreads to the healthier
areas.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Armadillos looking for grub.

-sw

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 15:07:38 -0600, Brian Anderson
wrote:

A whole village of little black dirt hills appeared in my yard
seemingly overnight. There must be 20-30 of them in one 10x12
area, most about three inches in diameter. There are similar
but smaller villages elsewhere in the yard.

I scraped some of the dirt hills away and found a small hole,
maybe 3/8" in diameter, under each one. It looks like the
hole of a burrowing snake or something.

What have I got? Is this thing harmful to the lawn, or does
its tunneling help aerate the ground? The areas it has chosen
to tunnel in are only sparsely covered with grass, so it
really can't do much damage unless it spreads to the healthier
areas.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

If you see a round hole underneath it could be mudbugs.

--
Victor Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 15:46:49 -0600, Steve Wertz
wrote:

Armadillos looking for grub.
.....
I scraped some of the dirt hills away and found a small hole,
maybe 3/8" in diameter, under each one.

I missed that part... obviously not armadillos. Probably bugs, as
Victor said.

-sw

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 15:07:38 -0600, Brian Anderson
wrote:

A whole village of little black dirt hills appeared in my yard
seemingly overnight. There must be 20-30 of them in one 10x12
area, most about three inches in diameter. There are similar
but smaller villages elsewhere in the yard.

I scraped some of the dirt hills away and found a small hole,
maybe 3/8" in diameter, under each one. It looks like the
hole of a burrowing snake or something.

What have I got? Is this thing harmful to the lawn, or does
its tunneling help aerate the ground? The areas it has chosen
to tunnel in are only sparsely covered with grass, so it
really can't do much damage unless it spreads to the healthier
areas.

Hmm

Could be some sort of wasp. In our yard we get some honking big wasps
that dig around in the fern beds by the front door. But the holes are
a little bigger than you describe, maybe 15 mm. And they are long gone
by now.

Earthworms leave castings (worm poop) around their tunnels like you
describe but the holes would be much smaller. Perhaps 2 or 3 mm.
(Maybe 1/4 inch?)

Could be crayfish as Victor suggested, but they leave their diggings
in a little levee around the hole. You would not have to scrape
anything away to see it. And they dig down to the water table, so if
the holes are crawdad holes you have some subsurface irrigation. Lucky
you.

Cut worms (the larvae of June bugs, aka May beetles) don't leave
mounds and the adults are long gone anyway. The May beetle larvae will
not hatch until next spring.

So, this is not much help except to say that my guess is the holes are
most likely some sort of burrowing arthropod or annelid and absolutely
harmless to your lawn.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

The insects you describe are probably cicada killers. They look like giant wasps
or bees and make holes, which lead to dens where they lay their eggs and insert
a cicada for the larvae to feed on till it is morphed into a flying cicada
killer.

V


On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 04:50:33 GMT, Elliot Richmond
opined:

Could be some sort of wasp. In our yard we get some honking big wasps
that dig around in the fern beds by the front door. But the holes are
a little bigger than you describe, maybe 15 mm. And they are long gone
by now.

Earthworms leave castings (worm poop) around their tunnels like you
describe but the holes would be much smaller. Perhaps 2 or 3 mm.
(Maybe 1/4 inch?)

Could be crayfish as Victor suggested, but they leave their diggings
in a little levee around the hole. You would not have to scrape
anything away to see it. And they dig down to the water table, so if
the holes are crawdad holes you have some subsurface irrigation. Lucky
you.

Cut worms (the larvae of June bugs, aka May beetles) don't leave
mounds and the adults are long gone anyway. The May beetle larvae will
not hatch until next spring.

So, this is not much help except to say that my guess is the holes are
most likely some sort of burrowing arthropod or annelid and absolutely
harmless to your lawn.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 13:20:06 GMT, animaux
wrote:

The insects you describe are probably cicada killers. They look like giant wasps
or bees and make holes, which lead to dens where they lay their eggs and insert
a cicada for the larvae to feed on till it is morphed into a flying cicada
killer.

V


Yep, cicada killers, most likely Sphecius grandis. I did not want to
get technical. Cicada killers rarely dig in healthy turf. they prefer
well drained, loose, sandy soil. And they are completely harmless
except that they can sting but rarely do, unless you step on one or
try to catch one in your bare hand.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 23:40:39 GMT, Elliot Richmond
opined:


Yep, cicada killers, most likely Sphecius grandis. I did not want to
get technical. Cicada killers rarely dig in healthy turf. they prefer
well drained, loose, sandy soil. And they are completely harmless
except that they can sting but rarely do, unless you step on one or
try to catch one in your bare hand.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

The first spring in this house, we had an infestation of, oh I'd day, about 600
of them. They dug holes all over the place. I didn't have the heart to kill
them, but my husband did, one at a time with a tennis racket. The following
spring, we had about 100, last spring, about 50...so on. They dug holes in soil
which was amended with 12 yards of Revitilizer compost!

I had none in the turf.

Could be the South Texas bolling lizard.


"Steve Wertz" wrote in message
...
Armadillos looking for grub.

-sw

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 15:07:38 -0600, Brian Anderson
wrote:

A whole village of little black dirt hills appeared in my yard
seemingly overnight. There must be 20-30 of them in one 10x12
area, most about three inches in diameter. There are similar
but smaller villages elsewhere in the yard.

I scraped some of the dirt hills away and found a small hole,
maybe 3/8" in diameter, under each one. It looks like the
hole of a burrowing snake or something.

What have I got? Is this thing harmful to the lawn, or does
its tunneling help aerate the ground? The areas it has chosen
to tunnel in are only sparsely covered with grass, so it
really can't do much damage unless it spreads to the healthier
areas.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

On Sat, 01 Nov 2003 01:40:29 GMT, "torresd"
wrote:


Could be the South Texas bolling lizard.

Thems good eatin'

-sw

Welcome to the wonderful world of armadillos. Pesky little varmits that are
quite difficult to get rid of once they descend on your yard. They dig in
search of grub worms so I would suggest checking for and treating for grubs
in your yard. Other than that you can use a variety of scents (wolf ****,
coyote urine, etc) to scare them off. Mostly blind, they find their way
around by habit and by smell.

Good luck.
Chris


"Brian Anderson" wrote in message
...
A whole village of little black dirt hills appeared in my yard
seemingly overnight. There must be 20-30 of them in one 10x12
area, most about three inches in diameter. There are similar
but smaller villages elsewhere in the yard.

I scraped some of the dirt hills away and found a small hole,
maybe 3/8" in diameter, under each one. It looks like the
hole of a burrowing snake or something.

What have I got? Is this thing harmful to the lawn, or does
its tunneling help aerate the ground? The areas it has chosen
to tunnel in are only sparsely covered with grass, so it
really can't do much damage unless it spreads to the healthier
areas.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Chris wrote:
in your yard. Other than that you can use a variety of scents (wolf ****,
coyote urine, etc) to scare them off. Mostly blind, they find their way

They don't hurt anything, why would you want to get rid of them. They
not only eat harmful grubs, they also help aeriate the soil.

--
Victor Martinez
Send your spam he
Email me he

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 05:39:03 GMT, Victor Martinez opined:

Chris wrote:
in your yard. Other than that you can use a variety of scents (wolf ****,
coyote urine, etc) to scare them off. Mostly blind, they find their way

They don't hurt anything, why would you want to get rid of them. They
not only eat harmful grubs, they also help aeriate the soil.

I think we have a little guy. He snubs his way around and gently knocks things
over. I've done some things to keep out cats so they don't kill the birds, but
with a backyard wildlife habitat, I welcome the little dinosaurs!

V

animaux wrote:
I think we have a little guy. He snubs his way around and gently knocks things
over. I've done some things to keep out cats so they don't kill the birds, but
with a backyard wildlife habitat, I welcome the little dinosaurs!

We have at least one armadillo, possums, racoons and lot of other
critters. We don't mind sharing our garden with them, in our view, it
makes it better.

--
Victor Martinez
Send your spam he
Email me he

"Chris" wrote in message
...
Welcome to the wonderful world of armadillos. Pesky little varmits that
are
quite difficult to get rid of once they descend on your yard. They dig in
search of grub worms so I would suggest checking for and treating for
grubs
in your yard. Other than that you can use a variety of scents (wolf ****,
coyote urine, etc) to scare them off. Mostly blind, they find their way
around by habit and by smell.

You do realize that the wild animal urine and scent business is a
horribly inhumane operation for the animals involved?

"Brian Anderson" wrote in message
...
A whole village of little black dirt hills appeared in my yard
seemingly overnight. There must be 20-30 of them in one 10x12
area, most about three inches in diameter. There are similar
but smaller villages elsewhere in the yard.

I scraped some of the dirt hills away and found a small hole,
maybe 3/8" in diameter, under each one. It looks like the
hole of a burrowing snake or something.

What have I got? Is this thing harmful to the lawn, or does
its tunneling help aerate the ground? The areas it has chosen
to tunnel in are only sparsely covered with grass, so it
really can't do much damage unless it spreads to the healthier
areas.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.