It depends totally on where you live. What sort of ground dwelling varmints do you have. Who ever dug the original burrow might not still be there and new occupants have moved in, like the rabbits

patriciae

You tell us what the options are? Ground Hog, rabbit, badger, opossum, chipmunk.....

It looks EXACTLY like the burrowing of a busy armadillo! I’m sure that there are other critters that will do that type of digging, too. It is reported that dillos are firmly established in Indiana and other non-southern locations, but I have no idea if Michigan has been blessed by their presence.

Some unexplained exciting digging there!

Maybe pointing a live recording camera that way will help solve the mystery. As Mr. Shatner says, ‘That’s what we gonna find out’.

A game camera sounds like a great idea! It seems odd to me that the target plant is a pineapple sage. Typically, critters (other than some insects) avoid plants that have such pungent foliage and high concentrations of essential oils. I couldn't begin to guess what would make off with the entire plant.

Where I live, that's the work of a woodchuck. They love to burrow under things and throw dirt everywhere when they do.

This just happened within the last day or two. BOOM! All of a sudden.

I'm in MI. We have skunks, rabbits, possums, groundhogs, racoons, chipmunks, squirrels, foxes, badgers, etc. -- all the usual critters you'd find in the midwest.

Wouldn't be the chippies, squirrels, or rabbits -- dug-out is too big. I'm leaning toward groundhog due to the sheer size of it, but I'm really not sure.

What's odd is the deck is raised, it's only the parts by the stairs that touch the ground. Why would a creature dig like that when all he has to do is walk another two feet to the left or four feet to the right and he can just walk right under there?!?

Hmmm....now that I type that out, I'm thinking maybe it was the dog -- she's part terrier, if she picks up a scent that's all she can focus on and will dig, dig, dig a hole to China to find "it". But then again, no dirty paws or nose as evidence against her.

ETA: "It seems odd to me that the target plant is a pineapple sage."

Agreed! And I can't find the plant. It might be buried under the dirt pile - IDK I haven't cleaned up yet. I'm waiting to show this to DH before I do that.

If I have to guess, the chase could ensue up to that hole, then the pursuer couldn’t let go. After the deed, paws licked clean. Voila! Who, me? Mommy wouldn’t know.

In our area, I'd say woodchuck.

I had a hole like that going under my deck which I filled with large heavy stones. The creature moved the stones every single day. Then one day, while working farther out in the yard, I watched a mama skunk and six babies emerge from under my deck. Research said skunks are powerful diggers.

I have a paver stone patio now…

If you have foxes or coyotes (or even a stray dog) they could have dug that trying to get at the bunnies. If the bunny ducked into that area, a predator would try to dig for it, not using critical thinking that they could get under there from the side without digging. Apologize to your dog; it might not have been her, lol.

Curious to see what your DH found. I am glad you waited on his assessment. I would not want to trap the critter who dug that under my home. Ya want to be sure it is gone.

my vote is for a groundhog.

i wouldn't blame the dog because all dogs are perfectly innocent, even when they're not! 😂

Just 2 days ago I saw a large groundhog eating fruit under my fig trees, as I approached it ran away circling behind my garage to where I tracked it down going into a freshly dug burrow beneath a concrete slab. It dug that burrow overnight so it was fresh and just had one entrance. I tossed in 3 anti-groundhog smoke bombs and quickly covered it up with the excavated soil. Hopefully that takes care of it. Going unchecked it would have eaten through the garden in no time. That being said I doubt smoke bombs would be effective under your expansive deck, hope it was just your dog making the mess.

In central Missouri, it could either be groundhog or armadillo. When I first moved here, a groundhog was living under my deck and had dug underneath the house. I paid someone to ensure the hole was empty and then fill it back with gravel. At the time, I had dogs, so they kept the area free from anyone trying to re-dig.

My first thought was skunk.

My first thought was armadillo also. But looking more closely it looks more like a dog did it. There is a lot of dirt thrown pretty far on the leaves in the lower right corner. The armadillo we had that tried to dig under our garden fence didnt throw that much dirt; it was more in a pile by the hole. Racoons usually dig up a sheath of grass to get to grubs but it could have been determined to get under whatever went under your porch. I’m not familiar with groundhogs and their behavior, but that could be a possibility also.

Good luck getting to the answer. It’s frustrating no matter what it is.

I would have never suspected armadillos in MI! But apparently it is a possibility, although no known populations have been confirmed. It would explain the overnight appearance of the hole.....but not the missing plant.

That's so frustrating! My money is on a groundhog. I'm also in MI and a trio of groundhogs has decimated everything this year. Herbs, zinnias, perennials, tomato plants, milkweed....they've gotten it all. Until I blocked the stairs, they were even climbing two flights of stairs to our 2nd floor deck.

A plastic dishpan or large aluminum disposable shallow pan filled with ammonia. Whatever dug won't go near there again. We were quoted crazy prices to get rid of a ground hog under a part of our 1910 house in a crawl space that we couldn't get into. I looked online and read ammonia would deter it. Boy did it work. We put some debris in front of the hole at night and we watched and when the debris was pushed " out" we knew it had left. We placed the pan of ammonia and then put a pile of debris again . Nothing was disturbed so after 2 days we dug out the hole evenly and filled carefully with bricks til it was a tight seal. Left pan of amonnia in that area for over a week. It keeps its pungent odor very well and I also misted the ground for an extended distance all along there to prevent any further digging.

A " not funny " aside my neighbor reported a ground hog had dug out under her deck ...oops. I had to confess. :) c

I showed the hole to DH, he didn't have a clue what did it but didn't think it was the dog because he didn't see any evidence of dirt on her when he's been bringing her in. She's outside right now, I'm keeping an eye on the area to see if I can catch her in the act.

That is a good tip about the ammonia. I'll put the dirt back and keep an eye on things to see if I need to escalate the situation.

ha ha about the ammonia, I had a ground hog do that on the side of a garage, Moved out when I emptied the cat's litter box around the hole.

I wonder if ammonia would do anything to keep the deer away from my hostas? They have decimated mine this year.

My guess is groundhog, too.

I would think your dog would be alerted to the hole, new smell if it is a new critter.

I vote groundhog, woodchuck. They are beautiful, gentle, clean and shiny-furred creatures, but they can destroy vegetable gardens.

Buy a game came and see what it captures.

I've had a groundhug den on the property adjacent to mine for the 20 years I've lived here. For whatever reason, they generally leave my ornamental plants alone. I know, crazy right? there is an old wire fence along the property line but it's been compromised in so many places it might as well not be there.

But what is frustrating is once in a while, they go berserk and attack just one random plant that for some reason they dislike. Most recently it was a Colquhounia. This wasn't like a rabbit taking a snip of something to taste it - which probably wouldn't happen w/a shrub in the mint family anyhow. No, it was just digging the thing out and completely destroying the root system, leaving pieces of it all over a 3' X 3' area. There was nothing left to replant. It's like they deeply hated something about it! So bizarre.

"I wonder if ammonia would do anything to keep the deer away from my hostas? They have decimated mine this year."

If you have deer, you cannot grow Hosta.

I beg to differ. My home is surrounded by hosta beds and we have regular deer visitors. I can't tell you why they don't eat hosta at my house but I can tell you they have tasted my hydrangea, phlox, solomon's seal and even an evergreen tree!!

I can't comment about woodchucks, but I can tell you that around here it was probably a skunk. I once had a skunk dig a hole next to a window well.

I didn't notice it initially because it was completely covered by ivy vines. Eventually I discovered it and then my nextdoor neighbor photographed a mama skunk with five babies walking near there. So I investigated options online and decided to try ammonia. I bought a few bottles and repeatedly poured it down the hole over a period of a few days. Sure enough, she eventually moved out. A professional trapper once told me that skunks are great diggers, and sometimes opossums will opportunistically move into a hole that was previously dug by a skunk.

Arcy, the fact that your hostas are right up against your house, might explain why the deer leave them alone.

Why target the pineapple sage? The fragrance?

Well...I'm going to blame the dog. Circumstantial evidence: I put the dirt back, plugged the hole, it's been almost 2 weeks and no more digging. I think if it were an animal attempting to nest under there, they'd be back by now whereas the dog will dig when she's trying to rat out an animal, wherever that may be. She still gets lots of play time and cookies, so all is forgiven even if it was her :0)

Could be but I also have two acres of hosta growing under 100yr+ oaks the deer pass through when going from one end of our housing development to another. The beds are across the lawn from our home on three sides.

I believe what you have there is a Hyde. Any blood or carcasses scattered about?

Arcy, my guess would be that the deer around you are well fed and don't need all your gorgeous hostas.

Last night I woke up and saw a buck and a doe in my little front yard. The buck was finishing off what's left of my hosta next to the front steps. In a few minutes, another doe and two fawns joined them. That was a lot of deer in my little front yard. Luckily for me, they then moved on to the house two doors up. They put corn out for the deer and they are not afraid of humans in the least. Another neighbor also feeds and waters them. There's not much recourse to be done.

This is the view from inside my neighbor's living room.

Oh my, murraysmom !

What a photo.

Well come right in and make yourself at home.

Let’s come up with some captions.

“Is my chef’s salad and baked apple ready yet?”

“Is the buffet open now?”

People feeding deer are the worst. It leads to overpopulation and dependence on humans, while drawing larger than would naturally occur numbers of deer to an area. Neighboring homes' gardens become snack bars. It's probably illegal to feed them and I'd sure check with Wildlife agency.

Hosta protection: Try this product, recommended here. It's called Deer Off. You get wire rods on which to hang small scented plastic 'pots'. They're odorless to me, but evidently animals can smell something they don't like. I used them to deter rabbits. The odor lasts one season. They are Iinexpensive, and they work.

Deer are PESTS! Did some people fail to get the point of "The Yearling"?