Hole in my garden

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

I built a raised garden bed 3 weeks ago in my backyard. I've noticed
something was digging a hole between my cucumbers and tomatoes. I tried
a diluted hot sauce spray, but this did not work. I eventually built a
chicken wire cage to go around the entire bed to protect it from
rodents and animals. The hole is still there about every other day!
It's always in the same spot, and the dirt is usually wet in that area.
I've tried researching holes and can't pin it down to anything
particular. There is no loose soil around the hole, there is no
burrowing, it's just a dead end hole. It's typically around 1-2 inches
in diameter, but the soil surrounding it that is wet is around 6
inches. The soil surrounding the hole is smooth, so it makes me thing
it is a slug or a snake. After doing some research I tried a beer trap
for slugs but the creature just dug around the cup! This week I laid
out mouse traps and a big fake owl. This morning when I checked the
garden the owl was knocked over and the hole was there! I'm at a loss
for ideas. The creature that is doing this must be smaller than a
quarter (the size of the chicken wire) but I can't figure out what it is
or how to stop it from happening. A few weeks ago whatever is digging ate the leaves off of my spinach and kale crops as they were sprouting.

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Comments (6)

lisanti07028
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
It sounds like a mole/shrew/vole type animal. If you can, please post a picture of the hole(s) and tell us where you are - state and zone.

You will probably get more responses if you post this query in the Garden Clinic forum here.
Kari F
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I'm in Clearwater, FL. I thought it may be a vole, based on the reading I did, but the dirt around the hole isn't ever loosely thrown around. There's kind of a smooth packing around the perimeter. My boyfriend thinks it may be a sprinkler head underneath the garden, but there's no set pattern of days/time this happens. It's typically overnight but there have been 2 times it happened during the day while I was at work. I also doubt the sprinkler would eat my spinach and kale leaves, lol! I will take some pictures when I get home tonight.
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Kari F
Original Author
11 years ago

That ring in the lower left corner is from the mouse trap I set last night. There was a big bobble head owl where that hole was last night too, whatever is causing it knocked it over and dug underneath. I just filled it again and put some bricks on top of that area, so hopefully that helps.
lisanti07028
11 years ago
Your boyfriend may be right, but the big question is do you have in-ground sprinklers to begin with? I saw something like that in my garden when I put a hole in the sprinkler connecting hose when I was digging; so, could you have done that when putting up the raised bed?
Kari F
Original Author
11 years ago
we do have in ground sprinklers but not many as our yard isn't very big. I dug out the hole when I got home and there're isn't a sprinkler head underneath it. There isnt a pattern to when it is happening (like there would be with a sprinkler system) so I'm no sure what else it could be. I even checked the roof, but there is a gap in the gutters and no roof fall off there so it's not coming from there.
lisanti07028
11 years ago
Does the sprinkler line go under that part of the bed? If there is a hole in the line, even a little pinhole, the water will shoot out of there with amazing force.