Help identify hole in garden

bothyhead

Can anyone identify what's making this hole?

https://s28.postimg.org/tx2gwclgt/garden.jpg

It's 3" in diameter and situated out in the open. I can't see any droppings. A few moments ago (midday) I saw something like a rat or vole running into a hedge which is perhaps 10 feet away.

Thanks

baaba maal

I think it would be unusual for rats to nest out in the open like that. Having said that, it was probably a rat you saw, so you never know. Block up the hole and see if it is unblocked the following day.

Discodog

Put some wet sand around the hole & the footprints will tell you what it is.

blackbox

My guess is that it was a fox digging for worms.

listermint

Rats don't make holes in the middle of gardens they are intelligent and will seek out cover or shrubbery for holes. Also most likely to do that sort of work under cover of night

Livefornow

Had an identical hole in my garden last summer. About 5 metres from the house and 2m from side wall. I filled the hole with grass clippings but the hole was reopened the next day. Friends said it was from rats but I never saw one.

I placed Rat poison blocks under cover near the walls, and the bait was eaten over the next week. I filled in the hole a few more times with grass clippings and after a while it stopped being re-opened, and the bait wasn't being eaten anymore.

Then, after about a three week break the hole was open again. I refilled the poison spots and this time put some down the hole. It went down about 12-14 inches. Refilled all the spots and put more down the hole again after a few days and blocked the hole with cut grass again. It hasn't been re-opened since.

I never saw what was causing it or found any dead rats etc so am none the wiser of the cause but was definitely not a fox. As in OP's picture the hole was the size of a Jam jar but it was over a foot deep and then veered off underground. When it was re-opened, the grass I put in the hole was moved above ground and not pushed down. I only used grass to fill the hole as I didn't want to block it permanently and find holes appearing elsewhere.

pwurple

It could be a shrew you saw. They use burrows created by other animals. I've seen a few of them out and about the last few weeks.

MECND

I have a similar sized hole in my garden. It's in the middle of the grass and about 2 feet away from a manhole. I noticed it on Sunday and there was definitely movement around it overnight as it was slightly larger on Monday. I saw a cat around it on Monday too. I put rat poison down and it was quite deep. I filled it with pebbles - it took 4 handfuls of small stones before it reached the entrance. I'm assuming it's a rat run but there are no droppings near the entrance.

Any ideas? And any solutions?

bored_newbie

I noticed a hole in my lawn while mowing it the other day. it was about three inches diameter and perfectly round, and it reminded me of this thread.

I threw a rock over it and carried on mowing.

when I turned around there were about 20 wasps wondering who’d blocked the entrance to their nest. From reading, I shouldn’t have done this as it can make them angry. They’re still using the nest, they seem to have found their way in.