Rat or other creature?

[erehwon]

A couple of weeks ago a hole appeared in my lawn. It was about 10ft from my back door, close to the edge of the patio. The hole was about 2in wide and went down about 6in or so. It then joined a tunnel, going off in two directions. There were no other signs of activity around and I've never seen an animal near the hole.

I decided that the hole wasn't desirable and so filled it in. Next day it was back again! So I filled it in with stones and it stayed filled in. But a few days later I found another hole right next to it!

So I have a persistent creature living just outside my back door. Whatever it is, I want to stop it creating holes in my lawn! If it's a rat then I'm prepared to use stronger measures.

Could it be anything apart from a rat? What's the best way to encourage it to move on?

Any advice is much appreciated.

[eeyore]

could it be a mole ? (voles/mice is another possibility if the soil is friable and thus holes likely to enlarge themselves - pictures would help in determining what it is -

[Phoebe]

If it is a rat, and it could be, the only consolation I can give you is that they usually only stay around for a couple of weeks, unless there is a food source for them. I know that rats don't like it too wet, that will make them move on.

You didn't mention if there was any soil around the hole from the excavation?

[erehwon]

There was no soil around the edge of the hole. The grass was a bit thin near the hole so the hole might have been enlarged slightly.

I forgot to say that the second hole was slightly smaller. It was made in longer grass (just longer mowed grass) and the grass doesn't seem to be disturbed - it's still covering the hole which was why I didn't spot it first.

Does this help? Do you need any more info?

Cheers.

[Merrow]

I'm no expert but I'd say it's a vole

[erehwon]

Hmmm... Could be a vole. After you suggested that, Merrow, I did a quick google and found that they can be elusive. How could I get rid of voles? Are they likely to disappear on their own?

Would a rat's burrow be a bit bigger? Phoebe - if it is a rat, are you suggesting a few minutes with a hose pipe to make it wet around that area of the burrow?

Ta.

[Merrow]

We used have voles burrowing about in our garden in England when I lived there; they didn't seem to be much of a problem really (to me). I don't know about getting rid of them; our cat used polish off a few...

[TheSeagull]

As far as I know you can live with voles and they do not pose any threat, unlike the rat which carry disease, to humans.

[eeyore]

you cant get rid of them as they are protected - but like merrow said , why worry they are no problem.

Its difficult to tell scale from the pic but rat holes would be a lot biggerthan a vole hole - to get a conclusive answer i'd put some bait like bird food or similar down about a foot from the hole and then watch and wait - voles and rats are hugely different so seeing the animal would solve the question.

[salukiwhippet]

I'd be inclined to say vole too, possibly the end of a mole run but I doubt it.

I'm 90% sure it's not a rat though!

James