Huge burrow in bare field ID?

[lovecrawlies]

Hi,

As a townie, I realise this may be a dumb question, but what would make a really deep, large burrow in the middle of a pretty bare field?
Unlike most fox, badger or bunny burrows I've seen, this had no earth pile at the surface, just a wide (18"ish), deep (3-4'ish) vertical shaft, with equally wide horizontal holes branching from the bottom. I was quite startled when I found it, as it was deep enough to cause some damage if one had fallen down it, and the horizontal burrows looked big enough to risk collapsing under anyone walking at or near the edge of the hole.

Would foxes make burrows in such an exposed place?

Thanks!

[RKB]

Badgers often burrow in the middle of fields like this, and they're often hard to spot unless you're on top of them, with little spoil evident.

But are you sure it's an animal burrow? Is the entranced trampled (with any prints? Well-walked trails leading away)? Any sign of bedding (grass etc)?

It might be a sinkhole, caused by water on the site of a temporary spring. Is the edge crumbly? Badger hole would be solid and smoothed by animals going in/out.

[shagbat]

Could it be humans?
One of my usual haunts covers an old Victotian bottle dump and
holes often appear as people dig for bottles etc and can't be bothered to fill the hole in. Obviouly, there is a mound of earth though.
All I can offer.
s

[camo]

i have seen something like this before although it was at the edge of field and perhaps a little easier to understand. First i would guess it may be some investigation work however the most likely natural explanation may be:

In my case an old Badger set which had not been used for some years extended below a cultivated field. Over time the ploughing had got rid of the normal clues and the only visble entrances were some 20 metres away. there must have been a sleeping den under the field where the ground had collapsed into the den i could see partially uncovered burrows and a fairly sizeable hole.

Roy

[lovecrawlies]

But are you sure it's an animal burrow? Is the entranced trampled (with any prints? Well-walked trails leading away)? Any sign of bedding (grass etc)?

It might be a sinkhole, caused by water on the site of a temporary spring. Is the edge crumbly? Badger hole would be solid and smoothed by animals going in/out.

One of the things which made it so striking was the absence of a trail or smooth approach at the edge. A sinkhole is an interesting idea. There was no water in the hole at the time I looked, however, and the tunnels leaving the hole were very round. The soil was just normal clay.

In my case an old Badger set which had not been used for some years extended below a cultivated field. Over time the ploughing had got rid of the normal clues and the only visble entrances were some 20 metres away. there must have been a sleeping den under the field where the ground had collapsed into the den i could see partially uncovered burrows and a fairly sizeable hole.

This also sounds possible. It would be consistent with the absence of any obvious easy means of access to/from the hole, or tracks at the surface. I assume badger tunnels can be pretty extensive. This was very much in the open, but located roughly towards a corner of the field with woodland along one edge. Would tunnels extend more than 30-40'?

One thing which seems to be clear at least, the absence of multiple replies saying 'it's a .... of course' suggests it was OK to be puzzled!

Many thanks for the suggestions. Will try to get a photo if I ever see anything like it again.

[vole-woman]

In the field near me there are a lot of dog-burrowed holes, some of them quite deep and large as the dogs seem to like to go back and enlarge the project at every possible opportunity. Labradors can shift earth at quite a rate.

[Jonathan]

It might be something as simple as a collapsed field drain. Rabbits, foxes and badgers often utilise such drains (which may be very old). Sometimes animals dig their way out through cracks in the pipe/stonework, this then becomes an entrance, sometimes way out in the middle of a field. You can occasionally see the lines of these drains when they've collapsed as a slight sink in the ground, especially on old pasture fields.

Cheers
Jonathan

[Brocakat]

Originally Posted by RKB

It might be a sinkhole, caused by water on the site of a temporary spring. Is the edge crumbly? Badger hole would be solid and smoothed by animals going in/out.

Good point - I wonder if it's in ' Limestone Country ' ?