When I glanced out my kitchen window this morning, I discovered that the grass under one of my bird feeders had been disturbed -- to put it mildly. It actually looked like it had been blown up by tiny bombs. There were shallow holes where grass had once been, surrounded by mounds of grass with the roots still attached, as though they had been exploded from the earth. These holes covered an area about four feet by six feet, shown in the photo as dark mounds from just to the left of the shepherd's crook holding the bird feeder to the right edge.
I suspect the dirty work was done by Armadillos in search of worms and grubs. I've had them in the yard once before, early last fall. Gardening Daughter and I found a large burrow/hole beside a dead tree stump through which we believed they had entered the yard. At that time, we filled it with clay-based cat litter, small to moderate sized fallen tree limbs, and yard dirt, and I didn't see any more evidence of them until today.
This afternoon, I looked beside the old tree stump and, sure enough, there's a hole that must go all the way to China. I've stuffed the hole almost to the top, again, and placed a large clay pot in the remaining opening. I'll at least be able to tell if the pot has been moved.
I don't mind the Armadillos looking for food, but I do mind their tearing up the green weeds grass around the feeder.
It's just one exciting thing after another.
Tomorrow is also a day.
13 comments:
The Atmadillos do even more damage than the squirrels and chipmunks do in our yard, We haven't found a way to discourage either of those critters from their digging. At least I get plenty of exercise repairing the damage.
I could lend you Mighty Dog. He tends to scare them into "playing possum". Then it is easy to pick them up by the tail, put them in a cage and take them for a ride.
I'll trade you 30 moles for one opossum.
Hope your pot works.
When that happened to our yard, it was our ginornous herd of turkeys that caused the mess. They completely and totally destroyed the majority of our front yard. They were looking for grubs - which, of course, were infesting our yard. So, though they made a mud hole of the lawn, they did get the grubs! Pain in the rear, tho.
Amazing.... I was thinking nightmare sized worms or insects that like to make collective burrows.... but Armadillos, that is something we just can't match in our part of the world! Glad to see pottery being put to creative use... so much better than plastic I always think!
There are armadillos in Georgia and Florida too, but I don't know how they crossed the Mississippi.
We also have our share of turkeys.
Armadillos! You have all the fun.
Raccoons will also dig for worms and eat them like candy.
Armadillos - wow! We don't get to see those much in our part of the world - but if they cause that much damage, that isn't an invitation to send us one!!! x
Armadillos are unknown animals in my country. But we have moles and they can plough a whole field too. We have a mole catcher here in our village though. I should like to see some armadillos too. I hope your pot does keep them away.
Personally, I'm thinkin' faeries....................
I think the Gremlins were looking for buried treasure - probably like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow - Gremlins think rainbows taste like candy!! And the band played believe it if you like... Slow news days affect Bloggers everywhere...
Ugh, those nasty armadillos...I despise them! They chew up my grass, and are so hard to get rid of. Good luck with yours!
I'd put my money on an armadillo. I've read your more recent posts about the return of the "mad bomber" even after you filled a burrow, but it could actually have an abode elsewhere. Then again, it could be turkey-sized robins.
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