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Mystery holes in the lawn? Grubs maybe?

Started by Paschale, April 04, 2005, 01:51:26 PM

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Paschale

Hi all,

I've been doing some Spring cleaning around the yard, raking dead leaves and junk up.  I noticed the strangest thing yesterday--hundreds of holes all over my front lawn.  They were pretty big--I could put my pinky inside them all.  I have no idea what could have caused this.  I thought maybe grubs, since I've had problems in the past, so I started digging around, but didn't find anything.  I started thinking that maybe I DID have grubs, but that the birds have been feasting all over the yard, which might explain the holes.  I'm at a loss to explain the holes.  It seriously looks like someone ran an aerator over the lawn, with all those hundreds of holes, but they're completely random.  Everything's still pretty shabby looking, but in patches, the grass looks worse than in other areas, so I'm wondering more about the grubs again.  As to the birds, after I noticed all those holes, I've been trying to see if I find a ton of birds on the lawn, but so far nothing.  Right now, I'm just stumped as to what all those DanG, uniform holes could be from.   ???
Y'all can pronounce it "puh-SKOLLY"

etat

Sounds to me like you done had some armadillos move in.  I understand the pesky critters been workin their way across the country from florida. They do most of their work at night.

I had that exact same problem for a while when I lived at center.  And let me say that I had never even hardly seen a armadillo in this part of the country.  I talked to a lot of people including a county agent and that's what they came up with.  If it's like in my case once they clear your yard of grubs they'll move on.  A dog will help.

OR, I could be completely wrong.  :)
Old Age and Treachery will outperform Youth and Inexperence. The thing is, getting older is starting to be painful.

beetle

Skunks digging for grubs, happens at my place often.  And ya know what,  I like em, keeps the yard aereated and keeps the grubs down. I have several and they are out there every night from spring to fall, active mainly from around 10-11 pm and on.
Too many hobbies...not enough time.

Paschale

Hmm...I wonder if it could be skunks.  I live in the city, and don't often see skunks, but I sure have smelled 'em from time to time.  I wonder if yer on to something...

As to the armadillos, fortunately, those are just attacking the neighbor's yard across the street! :D
Y'all can pronounce it "puh-SKOLLY"

MULE_MAN

Maybe it was just a UFO flying over taking Soil samples  ;D
Wood-Mizer LT40HDG25 with Simple Setworks, debatker, 580 CASE backhoe

beetle

Keep a eye on your yard. The patches of holes will move around your yard, if so, garranteed it is Skunky.
Too many hobbies...not enough time.

Murf

Take it from me, whatever you do, do not shoot a skunk in your yard with a heavy loaded shotgun.  :o

Don't ask how I know either......  ::)
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

beetle

Too many hobbies...not enough time.

beenthere

When I have grubs in the lawn, and the skunks are after them, the lawn looks like it was rooted up by pigs. Also, the grubs cause the grass to be dead, as they eat the roots off.
From what you describe (holes that you can put your pinky in), I would guess grubs hatching into beetles, or snakes, or my best guess, would be nightcrawlers.

A picture of the holes would help.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Stump Jumper

you got to get early in the morning befor sunrise to see what is causing them holes .a real dim light will help  ::) ::)
Jeff
May God Bless.
WM LT 40 SuperHDD42 HP Kubota walk & ride, WM Edger, JD Skidsteer 250, Farmi winch, Bri-Mar Dump Box Trailer, Black Powder

Ernie

We used to get the same thing, mysterious holes in the lawn about 4 inches deep and tapering from finger size down to almost a point.  We watched one night and caught a Kiwi in the act of deworming our lawn.  Unfortunately we are in a prime spot for townies to dump unwanted cats and kittens, I try to shoot or trap as many as possible but I must have missed the one that got the Kiwi. Too bad, they are quite rare around here.

Bloody townies :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[

Ernie

A very wise man once told me . Grand children are great, we should have had them first

Ed_K

 Don't go out and give em the boot either  ;D.
Ed K

Tom

Garunteed what it is if it was in my front yard.  Armadillos make holes as big as a coffee cup, nightcrawlers make one half as big as a pencil.  One that was pinky size would a crawdad... crawfish,....  mudbugs  ;D :D

Be looking for Etouffee or Jambalaya a southern boil or just a bucketful of spicey, boiled crawdaddys. :D

Bro. Noble

Well that narrows it down,  Paschale. 8)


It's either Kiwis or Crawdads :D :D

Do you really have those pesky ramadillers up there?
milking and logging and sawing and milking

Jeff

Sounds like night crawlers to me. First long warm rain go out after dark with a flashlight.  Get yer sign ready to prop by the mailbox.

$1.50 a dozen. :)
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

bitternut

Jeff may be right about the nite-crawlers especially if you had a warm wet evening with no wind. One other possibility is that you had a flock of starlings drop in on your yard to dine on your grubs.

beetle

Crawdads..YUM YUM!   8) Catch em and send them my way.
Too many hobbies...not enough time.

EZ


etat

I once caught a skunk in a live trap underneath a house. ???

Last year I caught one in a live trap that was working on my dad's chickens ???

It's not as much trouble to move em as I thought the first time.   I fouund out on the last one that if you cover the cage with a blanket they won't spray what they can't see.  It was a guy working for me that told me that. ::)

To repay him I let him do the moving, I was to skeered to try it :)!
Old Age and Treachery will outperform Youth and Inexperence. The thing is, getting older is starting to be painful.

Cedarman

Last year we had an outbreak of the 17 year cicada.  In early spring the grubs will dig a hole to the surface as their escape hatch.  There were sometimes 10 or 20 holes per square foot. These were easily seen under leaf litter in the woods. Holes were about the size of your pinky.
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

RMay

cicada would be my guess ::) craw fish will have a mud castle over the hole.
RMay in Okolona Arkansas  Sawing since 2001 with a 2012 Wood-Miser LT40HDSD35-RA  with Command Control and Accuset .

etat

Something been worrying me

Cause I been thinking and thinking and studying my brain trying to figure out what could be the exact cause of these mysterious holes. 

After going back and reading this thread I KNEW there was a clue here if I could just figure it out.  You know, kind of a Perry Mason type thing.  So I just kept studying and deducing. 

I finally started figuring  it out.  You know how it is when they say the guilty party 'always' returns to the scene of the crime.  One of the reasons they do so is to try to throw ya off the scent. ::)

Gut instinct kept telling me the answer had to be within these posts. :P


I kept thinking.  WHO that could of posted on this thread could be  guilty?  Perhaps there's more to this person than meets the eye.  Time to do some research.

  I found the proof under forum milestones under forum extras at the top of the page.  The facts speak for themselves!

https://forestryforum.com//board/index.php?action=milestones



I'm sorry BRO. NOBLE but I feel it is my duty to expose the truth!!!!!!!!!


That Dang Noble keeps diggin up my Yard
;D ;D ;D

8) 8) 8) 8) 8)







Old Age and Treachery will outperform Youth and Inexperence. The thing is, getting older is starting to be painful.

asy

sheesh Charles, I think I wasted half an hour on that block game!

where do I find the high scores thingy?

asy :D
Never interrupt your opponent while he's making a mistake.
There cannot be a crisis next week. ~My schedule is already full..

SwampDonkey

I would also suggest crawlers or birds. This time of year or a couple more weeks for us up here, it could be migrating timberdoodles. ;)

www.dnr.state.oh.us

www.dnr.state.wi.us

pubs.caes.uga.edu
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

crtreedude

Jeff,

About 20 years ago (egad!) I was gathering up nightcrawlers at night to go fishing in the prescribed fashion.  I was out in the garden, head down on my knees, and getting a bunch.

I looked up, and about 3 feet in front of me saw I had competition.  :o A skunk was heading straight at me, munching up the worms.

I decided buying earthworms just wasn't that expensive....

Thankfully, I didn't get sprayed.

So, how did I end up here anyway?

Tom

Do you have Ibis in your area?   I've seen large flocks cover a large grassy lawn or pasture, grazing along like an infantry skirmisher formation and running their long curved beaks, almost to their cheeks, into the ground. 

woodchopper

I noticed the same in my yard a few days ago.... Luckily, yesterday, I discovered the culprit.  A big woodpecker digging for food... guess the tree pickings aren't good......

Isn't it amazing that a bird can heard the darn bugs and worms???

Here we are - the "Intelligent" species -  and most of us older guys all have aids....   don't panic !  you know aids?? Hearing aids, walking aids, seeing aids, aids for digestion, aids for keeping our hearts ticking.....  see I had you all worried.
We don't get older -  we just get better!

CHARLIE

I wuz out in da yard taday an' lo an beholt I seen a bunch a holes in my yard too.  It was a puzzlement fer awhile until I realized that it was whar da deer sank into da mud as dey tromped across my propurty.  Dey iz bout 5 of em dat tromps through daily.....or nightly. Dey is also bringin' corncobs over frum da cornfield an eatin em in mah yard too. Lotsa pieces of corncob and lotsa holes. ;D
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

UNCLEBUCK

 Youre all wrong , its crystal clear evidence of the elusive michigan snow snake bedding down for the summer , actually it sounds like a snow snake mating  ground.  Pull up a chair and play a song on your trombone and see if they all pop their heads up !  ;D
UNCLEBUCK    bridge burner/bridge mender

Grawulf

At first, I thought Charles had the culprit cornered but I'm not sure Bro. Noble likes da snow so I doubt he'd be tromp'in around in your neck o the woods. Uncle Buck! You've hit it! My guess is that those snow snakes have somethin' to do with all the mud here in Ohio too!  :)

Paschale

Is the suspense killing ya?  Wanna know what the culprit is?  I gotta tell you I like all of the suggestions:  could it be grubs, skunks, cicadas, ufo's, armadillos, ibis, snakes, crawdads, crawfish, mudbugs, kiwis, Bro. Nobles, birds, timberdoodles, woodpeckers, nightcrawlers  or  s  n o w  snakes?

Turns out I'm ready to go into business selling bait.  Jeff wins da prize.   ;)

Oh, and Uncle Buck...some of them there holes were caused by snow snakes scurrying under ground at the sound of the ole trombone.  It's a little known fact that snow snakes don't like trombones, and will burrow themselves underground to get away from the source.  It's sort of like being the  Pied  Piper.It's   a   chore  to bear ,   but  we  trombonists do what  we  need  to  do when ever someone's got an infestation of those pesky snow snakes.  We tend to get a lot of calls this time of year, just after the snow melts to make sure those DanG things burrow down good and deep! 
Y'all can pronounce it "puh-SKOLLY"

SwampDonkey

Pretty cool Pascale,

Our ground is just getting uncovered now with all this nice weather and rain taboot. But the ground is still froze harder than the hubs of #$!!, so we won't be picken worms for a couple weeks a least. ;) My garden in the warm season is a haven for earthworms.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Stump Jumper

 8) you are still going to need that dim light to hunt them critters  ;)
Jeff
May God Bless.
WM LT 40 SuperHDD42 HP Kubota walk & ride, WM Edger, JD Skidsteer 250, Farmi winch, Bri-Mar Dump Box Trailer, Black Powder

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