Can you explain the holes in my soil?!

Hi everyone,

I have recently had some landscaping done at the south end of my garden. As of yet, I haven't done anything with the bed other than fill it with soil, ready for planting next month. However, I have noticed holes appearing in the soil, with mounds of displaced soil (photos attached). I filled the holes back in yesterday, only to find them there again this morning! What nocturnal creature have I got visiting my garden in this way?! I stupidly left an unopened packet of bird seed out last night and that had been ripped open by morning too.
Please don't say rats!
Phil.

 

Rats , sorry to say Phil , I have just sorted out the problem I had , last week, it was huge !!
and very cheeky as I watched it in the afternoon running around the garden.

Spruce

 

I could be wrong, but i'm thinking they may be rat holes, with all the bad weather at the moment rats are moving around alot

 

Up against the fence it looks like settlement to me.
Possibly the rain is washing it into crevices left during the spreading of the top soil.

 

If it is rats what should I do? I'll make sure there is no accessible food for them on the bird table each night. I may well have always had this problem as there used to be conifers against the back wall. Now it's been stripped bare, everything becomes more noticeable!

 

Never thought of that Pete , you could be right but unopened packet of bird seed opened that sealed the deal with me

 

dig the soil over and see if the holes re- appear , I dont use bird tables anymore but feeding the birds does attract rodents

 

It could be just mice opening the bird food, I've got quite a few mice here feeding on the bird seed and they never seem to be a problem, in fact I enjoy watching them.

 

I'm going for mice Phillip....sounds better than 'long tails'

 

Behind my house is an embankment and there are many mice over there; that sounds much more pleasant a possibility than rats!

 

My money is on improper drainage and the soil getting waterlogged.
See attached pic.

As for the bird food, that could well be mice but I don't believe it's them that are causing the holes.

 

The soil on the paving is from the large hole - as if something has moved the soil from the bed to create a hole. I've filled in the holes again so will see what tomorrow brings!

 

My guess is water.
The sand became waterlogged and water/mud started to overflow onto the paving.
Eventually too much of the soil was washed away and it "gave" in.

Good, did you compact the soil tightly (especially in the big hole)?
Also keep tabs of rainfall (if any) and monitor it for a few days.
Please post back as it will be very interesting to get to the bottom of this.

 

The mystery continues.............watch this space