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What has been in my backyard? deer, squirrel, skunk,other????
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Posted by shanc21 (My Page) on Sat, Oct 31, 09 at 22:27
| I am trying to figure out what animal has been chewing/foraging in my backyard. We had a 1/4 inch drip irrigation line running along a ridge beside a row of azaleas. It wasn't buried but laying right on top of the ground. Something has completely chewed it up. The area was covered in grass clippings used as mulch. The mulch in this area is trampled and disturbed. In several places there are holes as if something was rooting/digging. Most of the holes are 1-2 inches across at the surface and get progressively narrower and go 4-5 inches deep. They remind me of the holes squirrels leave when retrieving nuts but are deeper. I found one track that looks like deer to me, but it is indistinct and I'm not sure. The chewed up line has teeth mark impressions on it. I have posted pictures of the disturbed area / teeth marks / holes here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/shanc21/09OctCritterId?authkey=Gv1sRgCJil4aSYvp6NDw&feat=directlink
Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks,
Shannon |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: What has been in my backyard? deer, squirrel, skunk,other????
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| My guess would be either a raccoon or a skunk. Both would leave the small puncture holes and dig holes close to what is showed in your picture. Both dig for grubs and raccoons will also catch. I'm leaning more towards a raccoon because of the hose being moved. If you want to see if you have an active burrow of a vole/mole or mouse, you can put some twigs or grass covering the entrance. You can also put down a board and put a good dusting of flour on it. An animal will the leave foot prints as it travles across it. |
RE: What has been in my backyard? deer, squirrel, skunk,other????
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| reading up on your problem, I found that voles will dig a hole about the size of golf balls near hostas. It's possible that they might be the hole diggers and another animal got to your drip line. http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/article.phtml?cat=32&id=453 |
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