What is digging holes in my backyard?

[luvflorida]

Something is digging holes in the slope next to one of our block walls and they aren't small holes!

Some are just partial digs and don't really go anywhere.

This one is a bit bigger, but again, doesn't go very far. It looks like whatever is digging, hits the block wall, then stops and tries in a different spot.

Now these are big holes! They aren't connected. One of them stops just inside the hole, but the other one tunnels left and right.

Big, scary hole!

I can't figure out what it is or why it is digging where it is. It only comes at night and is digging in dirt. There are no plants or anything else edible in that area. I've looked online and the only critters that seem to match these holes are raccoons or skunks, but I don't think we have those around here.

We're in Southern Arizona, in the desert. There is no water supply nearby, no big trees or any grass. We have seen desert bunnies hop through our yard, but they seem to be around in the daytime and I haven't seen them digging anywhere. I've also seen lizards, lots of birds, and a few small squirrels that look like chimpmunks, but I don't think they are. I know there are snakes and other creepy crawly things in the desert, but I haven't seen any, and I don't think they'd dig holes the size of the ones in our backyard.

We're in a new house and the backyard isn't landscaped yet. It is just dirt. We have an open view fence along the back. There is also a small opening under the gate in the block wall. As soon as we can get a landscaper out here, we'll be blocking up any openings to the backyard, but until then...

Anyone have any thoughts about what critter is visiting us at night? Also, I always go out and fill in the holes each morning, but IT returns at night!

 

[JessicaR]

Could be lizards. Do you have gophers and moles? Around here its moles and chipmunks that make lots of holes. Oh, what about snakes?

Strike the lizard apparetnly they don't dig.

 

[Wall-E1]

Do you have prairie dogs out there?

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Here it would be armadillos

 

[luvflorida]

Could be lizards. Do you have gophers and moles? Around here its moles and chipmunks that make lots of holes. Oh, what about snakes?

Strike the lizard apparetnly they don't dig.

I don't think there are any moles in Arizona. Could be gophers, but from what I've seen from online pictures, the digging doesn't match. I don't think it snakes because of the size of the holes.

Do you have prairie dogs out there?

From what I've researched online, I don't think we have prairie dogs in this area, but not 100% sure.

Here it would be armadillos

No armadillos around here.

The holes are big, about five or six inches in diamenter. Many of the critters I've read up on, like to dig up and eat plants or other such vegetation, but there is nothing like that in our backyard. We have a few random tufts of grass that I've seen rabbits munching on, but nothing else.

 

[perdidobay]

I live in Tennessee and we had a pest control company come put a termite treatment around the base of our house. We had holes like that and he said it was armadillos. His nickname for them is "Possum on the half shell"!

 

[Uncle Remus]

Well, I'm really intrigued, I hope you'll keep us posted.

 

[Uncle Remus]

I live in Tennessee and we had a pest control company come put a termite treatment around the base of our house. We had holes like that and he said it was armadillos. His nickname for them is "Possum on the half shell"!

That's a good one!

 

[dngnb8]

Im in North Phoenix. Rabbits and ground squirrels are our burrowing pains.

 

[greengeen]

Sprinkle a tiny bit of ammonia around the area. Most ground-digging critters have sensitive noses and the smell will keep them away. It got rid of our armadillo problem.

 

[kellyg403]

Im in North Phoenix. Rabbits and ground squirrels are our burrowing pains.

I was going to say rabbits as well. We had several holes this last spring around our yard. I had thought it was mole. Turns out it was rabbits. One hole had several baby rabbits, dead baby rabbits.

My assumption after that point was it was the rabbit. I haven't seen many more since the spring. I actually don't WANT to think it is anything else. At least rabbits are cute!


Kelly

 

[chrissyd1]

it could be a Vole.

they are nocturnal.
most people have never heard of them.
They are really hard to get rid of!!!

 

[Magic Mom]

Ground squirrels.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Sprinkle a tiny bit of ammonia around the area. Most ground-digging critters have sensitive noses and the smell will keep them away. It got rid of our armadillo problem.

That's a really good idea.

 

[sand2270]

that's funny, I am in Tucson and just yesterday I was walking around my front yard wondering what the heck all those holes were.

 

[Dan Murphy]

LARGE snakes?

 

[golfgal]

it could be a Vole.

they are nocturnal.
most people have never heard of them.
They are really hard to get rid of!!!

Those are pretty big for vole holes though. Voles are little, mice little. My guess is some kind of ground squirrel or rabbit.

 

[travelbug]

it could be a Vole.

they are nocturnal.
most people have never heard of them.
They are really hard to get rid of!!!

That's what I was thinking. I've had those in my yard and they are a TOTAL PAIN. I have found a particular mole poison that seems to have worked though.

It's a little hard to tell how big the holes in the picture are. The voles I've had usually leave holes about the size of a quarter or slightly bigger.

 

[luvflorida]

My assumption after that point was it was the rabbit. I haven't seen many more since the spring. I actually don't WANT to think it is anything else. At least rabbits are cute!
Kelly

My thoughts exactly! I don't mind seeing cute, little desert bunnies hopping around in the yard!

Ground squirrels.

That does look like our holes. I've only seen very small squirrels around here, though. I wonder if they would dig big holes. And, do they only dig at night? Any squirrel I've seen during the daytime has just been sitting on the low wall by the fence or standing up on its' hind legs looking at the desert scenery.

that's funny, I am in Tucson and just yesterday I was walking around my front yard wondering what the heck all those holes were.

Maybe IT leaves our yard and then visits yours!

LARGE snakes?

Thanks, Dan! That is something I DON'T want to think about!! If we have snakes that are 5"-6" in diameter slithering around our yard and digging holes, the For Sale sign goes on our house this afternoon!