Golf ball size holes around barn ?

[cvcman]

Just in the rear of the barn out about 4 ft from the building in the topsoil over the bankrun , are about 10 holes... now it’s cold her now in Upstate my..
I stuck a stick in the hole and they go down a foot or maybe less...
There is nothing to eat around, no garbage etc so wth is it ??

 

[velocipede]

See if the holes bend and go on horizontally. If so, I'm guessing rats.

 

[dlundblad]

Varmints for sure. I'd be getting some poison and bait stations.

 

[hotroddeuce]

Have you seen any chipmunks around? they will play havoc..

 

[pattenp]

Around here we have a terrible time with Voles. They leave a golf ball size hole and some holes go straight down almost a foot before turning. They are vegetarian, eating grass seed, bird seed, plant roots, etc. I've had them kill bushes eating the bark/skin off the roots and girdling the trunk.

 

[Jazz1]

Snowsnakes.

 

[BillK]

Moles leave those types of holes in my yard but I imagine any other burrowing rodent would do the same. Set up a game cam and see if you can catch them in the act.

 

[LB-1911]

Just in the rear of the barn out about 4 ft from the building in the topsoil over the bankrun , are about 10 holes... now it’s cold her now in Upstate my..
I stuck a stick in the hole and they go down a foot or maybe less...
There is nothing to eat around, no garbage etc so wth is it ??

\/ Base on your description I'm casting my vote for - Voles

Around here we have a terrible time with Voles. They leave a golf ball size hole and some holes go straight down almost a foot before turning. They are vegetarian, eating grass seed, bird seed, plant roots, etc. I've had them kill bushes eating the bark/skin off the roots and girdling the trunk.

Damage and Damage Identification

The most easily identifiable sign of voles is an extensive surface runway system with numerous burrow opening (Fig. 6). Runways are 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) in width. Vegetation near well-traveled runways may be clipped close to the ground. Feces and small pieces of vegetation are found in the runways.

More @
http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/Voles.asp

 

[theundermount]

norway rats?

 

[velocipede]

norway rats?

Yup. They're everywhere.

 

[cvcman]

I’m pretty sure voles too, multiple holes close to each other, rats usually need a source of food and coles eat roots and grass,,
Time will tell, I set some mouse traps under a bucket covering the holes

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

They are here outside Rochester too. Around here, there are shallow trails in the grass between the holes. They work under the snow, then all the damage appears when the snow melts.

Over the years, I have tried dozens of "sure-fire" ways to get rid of the moles, nothing really works. I think the funniest attempt was when I drove two lengths of concrete reinforcing rod into the ground, and connected each rod to one conductor of an extension cord. Within 5 minutes, I had enough worms coming out of the ground to fill a 1-gallon pain can. Also, the electric meter was spinning so fast, I could hear the gears in it when I was 10 feet away.




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[21bubba]

They are here outside Rochester too. Around here, there are shallow trails in the grass between the holes. They work under the snow, then all the damage appears when the snow melts.

Over the years, I have tried dozens of "sure-fire" ways to get rid of the moles, nothing really works. I think the funniest attempt was when I drove two lengths of concrete reinforcing rod into the ground, and connected each rod to one conductor of an extension cord. Within 5 minutes, I had enough worms coming out of the ground to fill a 1-gallon pain can. Also, the electric meter was spinning so fast, I could hear the gears in it when I was 10 feet away.




.

But what did it do the moles?

 

[rburke65]

What ever they are.....they are not your friends.

 

[Beau Nugget]

I bet it’s rats too. Poison bait stations work pretty well in my experience.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

Ah, I forgot.....In spite of the bountiful harvest of worms, I noticed no difference in the mole population/damage.





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[MushCreek]

Remember the groundhog in Caddyshack? Moles and voles are much harder to eliminate.

 

[AA7483]

I get similar holes from chipmunks each summer.

 

[redidbull]

I agree with the game cam idea. I have done that many times and found out exactly what I was dealing with. Jim

 

[Bad Habit]

Pump a bunch of propane down them and let 'er rip

 

[CraigStu]

Be careful w/ poison. At work they poisoned the rats that were hanging around the dumpsters. Problem is they feel sick and find a nice comfy place and then die. There they died under the floor of a room that had been made from shed roof. Unfortunately they laid 2x6s on the blacktop for the floor and did not seal the ends. When we couldn't stand the smell any more the county people came and pulled up some of the plywood floor. 5 decaying rats was just horrible. I'd use traps.

 

[Rc_Guy]

I would say voles also. We have a lot a little golf ball size holes in the snow around our birdfeeders, they come up and eat the bird feed and duck back into the hole, every now and then I can shoot one with a BB gun

 

[UpstateNY]

A quasi-interesting side note. We live in a private 12 acre hardwood forest, 1000' off the road.

When we moved in we had a million squirrels, a billion chipmunks, and a zillion mice/voles.

I eliminated 90 % of the squirrels and the mice/vole/chipmunk issues went to near zero as the local predators switched to smaller prey. No poisons except for the lead pellets.

Not a fix for you, but the food chain is a real thing, is brutally efficient and reacts instantly.

 

[cvcman]

Got one in a trap,, vole ,,, now what’s the best way to get rid of them ?? Bait station ??

 

[MBfreak]

Fill with carbide gas and light up.
That was what my grandfather did biyearly on his farm, kept all kinds of vermin, rats, squirrels under control.

Ola

 

[Kev442]

They like peanut butter. Mix it with boric acid.

 

[ard]

Snowsnakes.

Only on the ski slopes....

 

[OneOfEm]

Unrelated, but it might be helpful.

We had an armadillo holed up under a shed. Every morning the yard would look like the aftermath of Bastogne.

I tried drowning it, but the tunnels must be fashioned to protect from water.

Dry ice was successful. CO2 is heavier than air. Dropped in dry ice and covered with a scrap of plywood to minimize the disturbance of the gas.

Voles need to breathe, too.

 

[Mecha]

Need a barn cat. or five.

 

[Gerald O]

Moles tunnel just below the surface underground. Voles do dig burrows, but 'tunnel' above ground under the snow pack.

Mole tunnels leave raised mounds and make the ground feel squishy when you walk on it, because they tunnel just under the sod roots to hunt for grubs which is their main diet.

Deeper holes with a distinct round opening and no mound are more likely some kind of gopher.

 

[snyder]

Unrelated, but it might be helpful.

We had an armadillo holed up under a shed. Every morning the yard would look like the aftermath of Bastogne.

I tried drowning it, but the tunnels must be fashioned to protect from water.

Dry ice was successful. CO2 is heavier than air. Dropped in dry ice and covered with a scrap of plywood to minimize the disturbance of the gas.

Voles need to breathe, too.

Baltimore city's rat patrol was using the dry ice method with a lot of success. no poison and not expensive. the EPA made them stop because it was not on their list of approved substances. gotta love em.

 

[CN Spots]

Baltimore city's rat patrol was using the dry ice method with a lot of success. no poison and not expensive. the EPA made them stop because it was not on their list of approved substances. gotta love em.

I read about something like that but I thought it was NY. The guys ended up having to buy their dry ice from a licensed pesticide company. It was still just dry ice but it had big fancy words and a logo on the side of the box.

 

[nes999]

My best method are dogs. When I get moles my dogs just dig down and rip them out. They've learned if they bring me a mole they get a treat.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

 

[TagMan]

Used to have a problem with moles, as well as red squirrels until my wife started feeding a couple of ferral cats. A few of weeks after the cats came around, I started noticing the varmits were gone.

 

[Rc_Guy]

Used to have a problem with moles, as well as red squirrels until my wife started feeding a couple of ferral cats. A few of weeks after the cats came around, I started noticing the varmits were gone.

My wife has fed the stray cats around here for 2-1/2 years now since we had the house built, there are voles, mice, squirrels, and Chipmunks.

 

[UpstateNY]

Yea, I only provide water to my feral cat, it keeps his hunting skills sharp for the critters.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

I could go for the feral cat idea.... where do I get one, I imagine the Humane Society would be reluctant to release a cat for that purpose. Once I get one, what do they need, besides water, and how to keep the water as a liquid in WNY?



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[UpstateNY]

Heated water bowl.

Not sure how to ethically source the cat. You could get a young cat for free and google the interweb for plans on how to build a shelter for it.

Neighbor has barn cats, one of them patrols my property. I built a cat shelter but he never uses it, he sleeps elsewhere. The cat is a stone-cold critter killer. All night, every night, he kills things around my house and 30x40 shop.

 

[redidbull]

I bought some stuff from Victor Pest so get their emails. Saw this the other day. Jim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=pn29SY2_gsg&trk_msg=9DJDTM28A204RALPOLHBEN14CO&trk_contact=ALA0EP50QL17CMDTAUUP3S19OK&trk_sid=R8TTFT2O3N5MVTSEDAQNT8I9L8&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Victor%26reg%3B+Quick-Strike%26trade%3B+Mole+%26amp%3B+Gopher+Gasser&utm_campaign=VP_2019_02_13_Gasser