Holes and Tracks

[jennyb]

I have been out by my pond today and am puzzled by the 2 recently dug holes and a couple of tracks which possibly don't have anything to do with the holes.

The first is a hole which I would guess to be water vole. Someone said they are the size of a Pringles tube. The strange thing about this hole is that it goes downwards vertically for about a foot before curving away. It must be quite difficult to climb out.




The next hole I thought was a rabbit hole. I think I saw rabbit droppings there recently. However, there are 2 tracks right outside in the spoil.






I think the track on the left is a roe deer and therefore nothing to do with the hole. I don't know what the other track is but I think I can see four toes.



Just to make the ID even more complex - this is where I saw the otter in June (don't think it was a mink) but I have looked through the tracks and signs thread and I don't think this was an otter.

Any suggestions about the holes or the tracks?

BTW it is very difficult to take photos of holes and tracks. Any guidelines would be useful. Of course, it would help if it stopped raining!

Thanks,

Jenny

[Dogghound]

#1. More likely a brown rat, water voles usually have a spoil heap near the entrance, the brown rat usually has the spoil heap away from the entrance. Although its not always the case, also water voles seem to prefer being in a more vegetated location. Was this definately the entrabce or was it where the side wall has collapsed? also what was the habitat?

#2,3,4. Looks good for a rabbit hole, the deer could be a sheep it looks quite wide for a roe, is this a possibility?, the other is a badger.

[mrs fish]

A Water Voles burrow is also just above the water line , was your like that ?
How big is your pond ?

You certainly have plenty of mammal visitors in your garden

[jennyb]

Thanks for your replies. It is difficult to explain where these holes are so I have found a photo which just happens to be a muntjac standing just in front of where these holes are.



The pond is made by damming a natural trickle of a stream. Although the "stream" is only a tiny trickle, the pond is quite large. The dam is made up of 2 concrete walls filled with earth. The muntjac is standing on the dam and the camera is roughly in the spot where the (probable) rabbit hole is situated. The other hole is a few feet away behind the camera. So they are both in the earth in the middle of the dam. This is at least a metre above the water line.

Dogghound, the track will not be sheep but must be a deer - either roe or muntjac.

There is not much vegetation on top of the dam and I don't know if this is a secondary entrance. I was just surprised that the hole was completely vertical. Most holes in the garden don't go down anywhere near so steeply.

A badger is a distinct possibility for the track (plenty of them around), but not for the hole. It is probably just coincidence to see the tracks outside of someone else's hole!

Jenny

[Dogghound]

, just looked sheep like so I thought best to check lol.

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

i have to disagree with dogghound and say the spoil heap is the other way around. Water vole burrows very rarely have any spoil outside them. But I would agree that maybe its the wall that has collapsed in. Do you have a water vole coloney near by? Was there any spoil near the hole. I don't know if a mink for instance hearing something near the surface might dig in to get to its prey. Another answer may if you have deer that one has simply stepped on a weak part of a burrow system. The ground looks wet enough for any thing to have left some tracks.

Not much help I know but it might spur another member on to replying.

BWD

[jennyb]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

, just looked sheep like so I thought best to check lol.

Dogghound, it was not a stupid suggestion. The farmer used to have sheep in the field next door but not for a few years now.

Jenny

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by Billy Wobble Dagger

i have to disagree with dogghound and say the spoil heap is the other way around.

BWD

Interesting all of the literature that I have suggests what i said earlier as a key way off differentiating brown rat burrows from water vole ones. And I have a limited amount of experience that also suggests it. I know spoil heaps can vary if the burrow is very close to water.

[jennyb]

Originally Posted by Billy Wobble Dagger

i have to disagree with dogghound and say the spoil heap is the other way around. Water vole burrows very rarely have any spoil outside them. But I would agree that maybe its the wall that has collapsed in. Do you have a water vole coloney near by? Was there any spoil near the hole. I don't know if a mink for instance hearing something near the surface might dig in to get to its prey. Another answer may if you have deer that one has simply stepped on a weak part of a burrow system. The ground looks wet enough for any thing to have left some tracks.

Not much help I know but it might spur another member on to replying.

BWD

BWD, I don't know if we have a water vole colony but I think it is highly likely. It is a highly desirable location if you are an animal that likes water and we are very rural so there is very little disturbance except for me and my camera!

I don't think anyone or thing just stepped on it. I shone a torch down it and it looked very purpose built. I was just surprised how vertical it was. We have dozens of holes all over the garden (badgers and rabbits mostly) but nothing quite like this one. That is why I posted it here.

Jenny

[Badger Watching Man]

Very interesting. From my limited experience the hole does look like the brown rat holes I had in the vegetable garden. They didn't have spoil heaps, they were just holes. They went down about 6" at a steep angle, so they weren't as deep, but they looked the same.