Unidentified Beast

[zippydeedoodah]

Hello everyone

can you solve a mystery?

A hole has appeared in our garden, it is at least a metre deep, before it turns of where cane can't reach, it is about 3" diameter at the entrance.
Despite the depth of the hole there is no spoil anywhere?

Last night I brushed the soil around the area to hopefully see some foot prints.

Now I think there are a dozen or so small deposits of wet soil balls carefully scattered, well away from the hole, hard to spot but look fresh compared to dry soil around.

Worried that it might be rats as we have small children, but don't want to intefere if its something other than a rat?

Any ideas please.

[mrbright]

voles or shrews are my guess, this is covered in post last feb on this site, i googled small holes in my garden. hope this helps.

[HedgehogRescue]

I would think it's unlikely to be a rat, they tend to tunnel into easier things like compost bins.

[vole-woman]

3" diameter sounds like a rat. No need to panic, though. Just keep an eye on things and call in your council pest controller if it looks as though they're expanding in number.