What has tunnelled in?

I seem to have a lodger... and I think the lodger might be under our shed. So, the history is..

As it is winter, we have the back half of the garden closed off (the grass etc) to keep the dogs off the grass and stop it turning into a mudbath (experience!); around a month or so ago, despite having flea treatment monthly, we got the unmistakable scratching etc and yes, they have fleas... they've not been in close contact with any other animals/dogs outside of our property (as the boys are rescues, we tend to keep them away from unknown dogs etc) and we don't seem to have any cats visiting the garden anymore, probably a legacy of being surrounded by houses that have dogs.
We've been fighting the flea battle since, having changed treatment to negate the fleas becoming immune.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I looked on the patio area and saw a small mound of soil and gravel over next to the barrel planters we have. These planters sit with their front half on the patio and back half on gravel in front of a fence, so I looked in the gap and sure enough, there was wee hole (see the somewhat poor diagram below)


Now, the bit that confuses me is that the soil and gravel that has been dug out has been pushed out onto the patio and the gap between these barrels is next to nil (they are touching in most cases) - in terms of size, if you think of a standard oil barrel and that has been cut in half, so they are a good 18+ inches high and each contains circa 200-300 litres of compost/soil.

I've since discovered that there is a second hole/mound further along. The hole itself is not wide - probably five or six inches in diameter.

This morning, it seems that something has been furtling around under our shed as there is some soil and detritus that has been kicked out onto the patio. Now this shed sits on breeze blocks that in turn sit on the patio, so whilst there is an air gap under it, there is nothing to dig under there. There is a bit of gravel/soil behind it that I've not yet checked, but that basically goes nowhere as it is the foundations of next door's extension.

My initial thought was that it might be a hedgehog, but I've never known them dig? I could simply get the pressure washer out and give everything under the shed a liberal blasting to try and flush whatever it is out, but obviously don't want to do that if it is a hedgehog.

 

That was my worry and indeed, I'd said as much to Mrs C only this morning. We had one hell of a time last year when a rat got into our outhouse and chewed through the wiring on the freezer.

I am going to have to see if I can't get some sort of rat traps then - dog proof ones.

 

I've got a couple of pre-baited, dog proof, poison boxes on their way - one will get shoved just under the shed and the other down the side of it and I will block off the bit down the side to be doubly sure. Even if I never get those boxes back out until we move the shed, I don't really care, as long as we are free of the vermin.

 

Given the damage last year was a rat, it does seem that it must be. Bleedin' things - we never had an issue here until one of the neighbours (now gone) decided to keep chickens in their back garden. We don't have any food sources accessible to them either, so it must be purely for shelter.

 

Thinking about it - I might put one of the bait boxes near the hole where they are coming in and out, assuming I can get it behind the barrel... with the other under the shed. Both would then be away from the dogs, but hopefully more chance of hitting the target

 

I've gone with sealed, pre-baited boxes for the safety of the dogs, so won't be able to do that. I was tempted to fill the holes in, but then wondered if all I would do is remove their exit...