Hey there – new home owner here in the first month of owning this house. Woke up to these small dirt piles and clear evidence of burrowing. This surround my driveway and garage (which sits on a slab). Any clue what this could be? Does this call for concern or action? Thanks!
Edit: Location is Northwest Indiana
by fudsworth
30 Comments
Not sure if they’re known to be in your area, but those strike me as signs of gophers.
Moles,moles, moles, and more moles. Trap em before they become out of control
If they were moles you would see their tunnels heaved up above the grass not just holes and mound of dirt . Look up voles , maybe?
How do you get rid of moles? I just moved and need to sort this lout it brutal!
Gophers make less damage than moles do, probably moles
Could be armadillos
It looks like moles. They eat grub worms and are hard to kill. I had them in my yard and every year they came back. Read up on them and b see if you can find a better way to kill them than I did. Good luck
Graboids
My vote is voles or gophers. Gopher will eat the roots of plants. Voles primarily eat the plants above the ground.
mole
I have cicada killer wasps that make decent size holes. Can’t tell if size is the same.
Grab a mallet and start whacking
These are not moles. You have a gopher, my friend.
Time for a [GopherHawk.](https://gopherhawk.com/)
Moles! I just squish the mounds back down, they’re a natural part of an ecosystem and give me free lawn aeration…although I’m also anti-lawn / anti-grass and prefer wildflowers, so my approach may be opposite of many others here
[VOLES](https://images.app.goo.gl/EvRUc)
Definitely moles, bad year for them. Not sure who many I’ve trapped but we’re in the dozens category.
Moles or gophers.
It warrants action if you find the holes problematic for your lawn situation. The dirt piles can also interfere with mowing, even if you aren’t bothered by the appearance.
Gophers. Deal with them asap. Gophers literary destroyed my lawn and I let it happen because I tried to get rid of them myself and didn’t know what I was doing. I tried everything i could think of. It would work once then I’d get another one ands what I tried wouldn’t work again. I ended up calling a gopher pest control so that at least I don’t have to think about it but, by then they destroyed my lawn. But I can fix it. Things I tried; poison pellets, traps, water, car exhaust, electrocution, cats shit from our litter box, prayer—lol. Good luck
Ever see that Kevin Bacon movie “Tremors?”
Looks like the same thing in my yard. Found it to be Cicada Killers. A large wasp. Might be what you have.
Gopher City
Whatever critter it is, my dogs will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They sniff them out. Got any friends with dogs? Terriers are the best.
Oh I miss that. Moles.
Pocket gopher. Voles typically burrow close to the surface so you’ll see the path. Pocket gopher’s burrow deeper so you’ll only see where they come to the surface. They typically have a bit of a “horseshoe” shape, especially before they fill the hole in. Both of those were likely the same gopher as one will make many of these piles. Bane of my existence. Most common in sandy soils as they hate clay. I would not use poison as it can kill anything that eats the gopher (think cat, dog, snake, owl/hawk, etc). Lots of traps (make sure they’re for pocket gophers) but they take time for you to get skilled at use (I’m still learning). I’ve tried the smoke bombs in their tunnels when I can catch an active, open mound with some success (don’t let dogs etc get near. I drop the smoke bomb in and then cover with dirt and a cement block).
Every garden bed will need hardware cloth base (not chicken wire- they chew through that). New trees/bushes need protection, too.
PITA. Welcome to the gopher-hating-club!
ETA: i live in rural Texas. I have armadillos. I have moles. I have voles. These are gopher mounds. I know that which I speak of…
Moles I bet you wake up tomorrow with even more holes
Gopher hawk brand traps.. they kind of expensive but they work better than all the bullshit ones at Home Depot
Mole or Gopher
Could be chipmunks too. We have a problem with them in our neighborhood.
War
Tremors. Definitely tremors.