Something digging holes in my lawn

Are crows active at night? I thought they'd be tucked up in the nests till dawn. Badgers dig for chafer grubs but those holes look too neat.

 

It might not be at night as I once thought. Just because they are there when I get up doesn't mean they couldn't have happened at dawn or around 6am when the birds get up.

I was talking to my wife last night and something occurred to me. This only started happening last year when I started reseeding my lawn. It didn't start until September last year which is why I immediately suspected squirrels but that was around the time that I reseeded some patches which incidentally happen to be where mystery animal keeps digging. This year it started in June which was around the same time I overseeded my lawn. Whatever it is seems to be attracted by the seed which fits in perfectly with the bird theory but of course it could still be something else.

 

Update. Had no visitors all week and also no rain. Went out last night to water the grass and look what's appeared this morning...

These are a bit bigger than normal.Had 4 happen today. Again not sure if it's was early morning or during the night. Whatever it is it is encouraged by rain or whenever I water. You can see how it's ripping my new grass up from the roots.

 

Its no good you're going to have to set up cctv I'm intrigued!!!!!
I to thought birds I've watched the magpies here bury bread and nuts when I've put it out, very clever birds even seen them covering the hole with leaves!!! not clever enough for our old lab though he could always sniff it out lol.

 

They bury food?! I had no idea they did that, a bit like squirrels!

 

I've seen a few large(ish) brown birds around look a bit like a female blackbird which keep pecking away but didn't think a bird could do such damage and pull so much turf away.

Whatever it is it prefers the ground when it's wet and the grass is short. Not that that helps narrow it down.

 

I'd stay up all night as it would be driving me mad wondering what was doing it!

Jays also bury food the same as magpies but then they are both Corvids so they're part of the same biological family.

 

I think you've got a badger.

 

I hadn't thought about that Kris, but I would have imagined them to dig bigger holes.

 

But one day last week it happened during the afternoon. Lawn was fine around 2ish when I watered the grass and when I went out later just after 4pm I discovered several holes. Aren't badgers nocturnal?

Up until this happened I swore it was a night visitor doing the damage as the holes weren't there prior to going to bed but were there around 7-8am when I got up. They always seem to be around the same spot in the shaded parts of the lawn like under trees or near to walls and fences. But the afternoon visit has totally thrown me off track.

The clues so far...

It's an animal that mainly operates either at night or first thing in the morning but has been noted to come about once in the afternoon on one occasion. It seems to dig for seeds or nuts and likes it when the ground is moist/freshly watered and happens most whenever there's grass seed present. Visits have been happening as early as June so I'd say that rules out squirrels. It digs in shaded areas which have been heavily reseeded. Holes are shallow and small but the main damage is caused by ripping or tearing up the turf around the edge of the holes. Some holes have been found to contain nuts but not all. I've set squirrel traps baited with bird seed and peanut butter and the only animal that's yet to be caught was a hedgehog which I released. Only signs of scat are hedgehog droppings. Neighbors lawns are not affected but the woman to the right of me feeds birds and leaves dry cat food out for hedgehogs. She also has several cats but not seen any of them digging or signs of them littering. Only visitors I've witnessed so far are cats, hedgehogs and birds. Still not seen any squirrels. I put chicken wire across the back hedge near to where it digs most and it still happened so whatever it is is getting in some other way. Front lawn is not affected.

 

id say set up a video camera or something similar, that would drive me crazy and id have to find out what it was at all costs. I cant contribute anything towards what it might be, but based on what other people have said in here my money would be on crows digging for jinnyspinner larva or something similar.

 

A badger wouldn't be burying the nuts. They'd stick their noses in the ground to find one that's already there. If they don't like what they find, they leave it, so it looks like a nut at the bottom of some holes, but not others.
They may also come out in the afternoon if it's really quiet and they need a drink, or food.
There's no way you're going to be sure unless you see it though.
I doubt it's any bird though as they'd be at it all day.
Interesting puzzle!

 

Yes Ellen we have so many magpies here they're hilarious to watch hollowing out a hole in the dirt with their beaks then stuffing the bread etc in even find pieces of bread forced into the soil in my planters, I saw one come back one lunchtime to dig up his buried food he did wander around a bit before finding it, you could almost hear him say I know its here somewhere, there's one strange one who likes to soak his bread in the birdbath prior to eating it !!!!!, one morning we heard a right racket outside there was a whole gang of them 7 or 8 and they were shredding the sunbed cushion obviously didn't like the colour lol, foam flying everywhere and last summer they took a dislike to all my red and yellow daylilies and early in the morning they'd peck all the heads off utter devastation!!!!, thank goodness they haven't done it this year, they remind me of a gang of unruly teenagers

 

Oh my! :lol: we only have the occasional magpie here; the crows chase them off. But they are comical! We had a lot where we used to live, they're like feathered Charlie Chaplins!

 

Well I've broken out my tripod and video camera and given my lawn a watering and guess who I saw in next door's garden while I was out there...



Also noticed that new shoots had been torn up with the seed still attached.



He's laughing at me I tell you!