What is in my yard

[SF82]

Don't know if you have shrews up there, but they leave a similar hole. Used to have em all over my yard when I was a kid

 

[MossRoad]

The holes are about the size of a golf ball. They are plugged up down an inch or so. No dirt on the surface like a mole.
I can not see a tunnel move like I see in the clips on line. But they collapse under you when you walk over them.

Could be some other critter using mole tunnels.

 

[Egon]

The holes are about the size of a golf ball. They are plugged up down an inch or so. No dirt on the surface like a mole.
I can not see a tunnel move like I see in the clips on line. But they collapse under you when you walk over them.

With that information a “badger” isn’t even close!

 

[stuckmotor]

Thanks for the size comparison. The ones I've seen might have been the size of a golf ball, too. It's been a while and my memory is not the best. I think they were there in late fall or early winter. I was probably looking for black wallnuts so I could show my grandson how to d rive them trough a hole in a board to remove the hull.

I did a search for images using the words (vole burrows South Carolina) and some of the pictures looked very close to the ones I've found in the pasture.

 

[bitseeker]

View attachment 759350
What's in my yard and how do I get rid of it. There is no mound like a mole have not seen anything and the sonic vibration things have done nothing.
Thanks

That looks like voles are active.

In my yard, I use a Castor Oil, detergent, and water mix to move them from areas where the burrows are a problem. Apparently, voles do not like Castor Oil. It works!

There are lots of online recipes for the mix and the process.

 

[edmoor]

If your yard is close

View attachment 759350
What's in my yard and how do I get rid of it. There is no mound like a mole have not seen anything and the sonic vibration things have done nothing.
Thanks

Is your yard close to a wet area..or drainage ditch? I had these to on my airstrip...they were crawdads..

 

[oldpilot]

chipmunk

 

[brkdrvr]

Hard to tell from the picture with nothing to reference for size/dimension but that looks a lot like when raccoons or possums hunt for grubs or bugs/larva in yard. I actually observed a raccoon making a kind of twisted round conical depression in my yard at 05:00 while hunting for something (we have a lot of grubs). The youngish raccoon had its nose to the ground while going in a circle which resulted in a 1 1/2” deep cone shaped hole with the “grass” (mostly weeds in our case) twisted in a tiny “crop circle”. We also have found similar formations after watching birds do the same thing, the hole tends to be smaller in diameter and more pointed at bottom.

 

[JimInGeorgia]

Try setting up a trail camera or two in the area.

 

[JWR]

If your yard is close

Is your yard close to a wet area..or drainage ditch? I had these to on my airstrip...they were crawdads..

Yes, exactly. Here in So MD there are quite a few of these and they are made by crustaceans of some sort, most people say crawdads. They sure as H are NOT voles or other critters mentioned. Groundhogs good grief NO ! Bears no resemblance to a ground hog hole. Badgers ? Silly.

 

[Atlfinfan]

The crawdad holes I've seen have a big mud hill around it.

 

[Buzzard7]

View attachment 759350
What's in my yard and how do I get rid of it. There is no mound like a mole have not seen anything and the sonic vibration things have done nothing.
Thanks

My first thought was an armadillo was digging in your yard. Don't know if you have them where you live.

 

[easymike]

I had the same issue this year around the pool. Like 25 holes and they r moles as several of them drowned in the pool. I used the 6 ounce castor oil, 2 tablespoons dawn in 2 gallons water.
Spray it in the holes and in the travel areas. They get sick because of the oil getting on their paws and leave in a week or two.
The dawn holds the castor oil
Making it effective.
It doesn’t kill ‘em but they do leave the area..
I sprayed at night .
Give it a try .
Easymike

 

[Richard001]

Around here - that's a mouse hole. Pocket gophers leave a mound of dirt. Chipmunks do not dig holes in the ground. I don't have voles nor moles or ground hogs.

When coyotes or badgers dig - they leave a MASSIVE hole.

Well I have proof that Chipmunks do dig in the ground. I had a hole in my yard, no dirt pilled up. The hole was about a 1 and a quarter in diameter.

I put a live trap next to the hole, put up some pieces of wood around the hole to encourage the critter too go into the trap. The next day, there was chippy, not happy to be in the trap.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

Looks a lot like the vole damage I get in my Christmas tree farm. I use a poison called Mole-Tox. Here's a link to its MSDS. Its active ingredient is zink phosphide.
https://files.plytix.com/api/v1.1/f.../68/49/60/604968cb196996309d8898ad/sds697.pdf

I HATE using poison, but hate to lose my Christmas trees.

 

[beenthere]

The holes are about the size of a golf ball. They are plugged up down an inch or so. No dirt on the surface like a mole.
I can not see a tunnel move like I see in the clips on line. But they collapse under you when you walk over them.

So far, what I see and what you describe then I would say moles. They don't always make a mound of dirt pushed up if just foraging for grubs and worms. Just burrow along under the surface making a tunnel to move around. May push up a mound where they make a nest and want more room.
I catch by rolling or stomping the ground back flat, then setting a spring mole trap in a tunnel run that they push back up.

 

[MossRoad]

Moles don't leave holes in their tunnels. They close them up.

 

[JWR]

The crawdad holes I've seen have a big mud hill around it.

Look closer at the OP's pictures. These have the mud hills, just not as large as some get. Come on guys -- these are crawdad projects.

 

[jayhawk238]

View attachment 759350
What's in my yard and how do I get rid of it. There is no mound like a mole have not seen anything and the sonic vibration things have done nothing.
Thanks

I also live in the Northwest. We have problems with voles and that looks like the holes in our yard.

 

[jayhawk238]

So I have tried putting out grains and peanut butter that is supposed to draw voles and mice and squirrels. Have not have anything taken. I will try again. They seem to dig all over the yard and garden but as far as I can tell they are not eating anything in the garden? Or maybe I can't tell because of what the deer eat...

Voles also feed alot on worms.