18 January 2011

What the heck is in my yard making holes the size of a 20c piece?

| Mia80
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Last night I discovered my dog franticly digging a hole in my backyard. It was dark, so I told him off, brought him inside and left it.

Today I investigated my new crater, to find a small tunnel in the wall of it.

The opening is about the size of a twenty cent piece.

What could make a hole like that? Is it nasty and how do I get rid of it?

I don’t want to loose my overly curious dog, to his stoopid curiosity.

Cheers

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Thanks for all the input…

Rats/mice wouldn’t surprise me (we have chickens – who make surprisingly good mousers themselves)

The holes are too large for wolf spiders (we have a couple of those and know their regular haunts)

We also have a few mole crickets. We’ve seen them getting around at night, and wondered what these truly fugly bugs were. So thanks for the education, sesmiaggi.

Nobody came up with anything that terrifies me, so thanks for putting my mind to rest.

maniac said :

I’ve seen Dune – might be an immature sandworm.

Walk without rhythm, and it won’t attract the worm.
(But if you walk without rhythm, you’ll never learn…)

luther_bendross12:48 pm 29 Jan 11

Ze Germans.

Best written and most intruiging subject heading so far in all of ’11… (IMHO)

One possibility is a large beetle from the scarab family. I found a kind of Rhinoceros beetle in my son’s sandpit recently, in a tunnel about the size mentioned. A ways down, had to dig for it…

They are not uncommon especially if you use mulch.

These particular beetles (Xylotrupes species) ‘squeak’ quite loudly when they feel threatened, which might explain your dog’s interest Mia80. All bluff, they are totally harmless (the sound is actually their wing covers being rubbed on their abdomen).

Have a close look at the hole/tunnel. If there are no signs of threads, it is unlikely to be a spider.

Captain RAAF11:26 am 18 Jan 11

It’s Hobbits’es

If you hear the sound of crickets in the early evening, more than likely you have Mole Crickets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_cricket

georgesgenitals11:18 am 18 Jan 11

EvanJames said :

I noticed such a hole in my veggie garden last night, massive, with the crater sides. Is it a cicada or a giant spider?

It used to be a giant spider, but then a seriously tough cicada opened a can of whoop-ass, and took the spider’s home. If I were you I’d evacuate the premises.

I’ve seen Dune – might be an immature sandworm.

I noticed such a hole in my veggie garden last night, massive, with the crater sides. Is it a cicada or a giant spider?

Pommy bastard10:15 am 18 Jan 11

Pixies.

Probably a snake, possibly of the trouser genus.

There was a post a while ago about the number of wolf spiders around at the moment. It sounds like one of their burrows.

Yeah a cicada grub, I’d watch it as I saw one take a dog once

At my place it’s spiders doing the tunnelling. Not sure what species though. They look after all the bugs in the garden and don’t come into my house unlike those scary huntsmans!

Most likely a Black Prince Cicada grub.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_prince_cicada

probably a spider, heaps of them tunneling in my yard at the moment and some of them are pretty massive

Uh oh, you got rats.

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