What animal is living in this hole?

[atgcpaul]

Just the other day my wife noticed this hole in the ground that seemed to
come from nowhere. It's about 5 feet from the entrance to the house. The
other side of the house used to have a mole. You could feel the tunnels
when you stepped across the lawn. There isn't evidence of tunnels on this
side of the house.

To annoy it, we stuffed 2 pine cones down the hole but they were out by the
next day. Now it's annoying me. I placed this brick over the hole yesterday
and today it burrowed under it. The hole seems to go pretty deep. I'm not
about to flood the hole because the water will probably find its way to my
basement. What's living down there and how do I get rid of it?

Paul

[Hellrazor]

Chipmunk is my guess...

[BobSch]

Run a hose from your vehicle's exahust and let it idle for a while.

[MilDoc]

Well, if this was in Texas I'd say possum. Had one last year that dug deep.

[JR]

Mole's as good a guess as any. Death to the invader! Take no prisoners!

JR

[cabinetman]

Set up a rat trap outside the hole. Or, if you're so inclined to find out, set up a video camera.
.

[Alex Franke]

Ah, yes -- that is a very distinctive hole. I'm afraid your yard is the new home of a family of the rarely-seen and recently though to be extinct Eastern Maryland Fang-mouth Rodent of Terror and Peril.

If it's not that, then I have no clue, but I'd be tempted to set up a camera and see -- especially if it's that close to the house. I think you can set up a cheap wireless web cam to "record when something moves".

I'm always afraid to stuff things down holes in the yard for fear of getting attacked by a swarm of hungry yellow jackets. But I guess you'd see them coming and going...

[mclear6]

Chipmunk..... My in-laws have the same problem.. I tried flooding the hole, shoving rocks down the hole, and covering it with a brick.. but the little sucker always clears his hole. Has any one in the Northeast noticed how many chipmunks there are? They are having a banner year.

[Pappy]

Skunks will burrow like that, too. A live trap inside a black palstic bag works. Lift the opening slowly and take a look after it is tripped. Then decide if, and how, to dispatch it. The hose on the exhaust works good for skunls. They go to 'sleep' without ever sensing danger. Just don't stop the engine too soon. You don't want it to wake up while you are disposing of the body.

[Uncle Cracker]

If it were in the South, I would bet gopher, although they usually leave a pile of dirt. Since it's up North, I'm inclined to go with the chipmunk theory. To get rid of it, pour a bottle of $3 tequila down the hole, and the critter will immediately move to someplace where they're serving better booze...

[atgcpaul]

I guess I'm a little more relieved. I would have never guessed chipmunk but
everything else I've read points me in that direction. The hole is too small to
be from a skunk, gopher, or possum. Only about 2" in diameter once you get
past the opening. I've never seen one around here. Raccoons, squirrels, foxes,
and groundhogs, but never chipmunks. I guess I'd rather have them than the
others. They don't seem to be as destructive.

Too bad for this guy because he's living under my future patio. Maybe I can
train him to excavate and haul away this dirt for me so I don't have to.

[Ed62]

About 45 years ago, I had hunting dogs in a pen in the back yard. I saw a hole like that near the pen, and my neighbor told me he saw a rat around there. I did the hose hooked up to my exhaust pipe trick. No more problem after that.

Ed

[shoottx]

To get rid of it, pour a bottle of $3 tequila down the hole, and the critter will immediately move to someplace where they're serving better booze...

Usually after pouring down a $3 bottle of tequlia, I have seen invasions of Pink elephants, flying pigs and other obnoxius vermin.

[Uncle Cracker]

Usually after pouring down a $3 bottle of tequlia, I have seen invasions of Pink elephants, flying pigs and other obnoxius vermin.

You musta poured it down the wrong hole!

[phrog]

I'm betting you found the secret recording studio of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. Have you heard any music coming from the hole?
Richard