r/Portland • u/catzarella • 1d ago
Discussion What on Earth is doing this to our lawn?
Is it a rabbit warren? At first we thought rats, but then we found a hidden even bigger hole (in second pic, hand for scale) that goes down insanely far. We stuck a phone on a tripod down there with a light and it just keeps going insanely far. Got as deep as my shoulder and the phone still didn't reach the end. Just curious! I've seen molehills and rat tunnels and neither have looked like this! It's kinda freaky how huge and deep it is.
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u/gnomechompskidaddle 1d ago
A friend had holes like this in their front yard. They were made by rats; he had open holes, with no dirt mound like a mole or gopher will leave behind.
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u/Norvard 1d ago
Yep, we had similar hole or two in yard few years back. Rats it was.
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u/Smilingsequoia 1d ago
The rats can get crazy big. If it’s not an irrigation problem, this would be my next guess. Usually a rat sign is small trinkets around, shiny candy bar wrapper, bright colored pieces of plastic or coins.
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u/Nacho_Libre479 21h ago
Its Rats, and your sewer line is probably just below and broken. You won't be able to get rid of the rats until the sewer line is fixed.
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u/gnomechompskidaddle 19h ago
This is exactly what happen to my friends yard. Part of the waste line had settled and water was seeping out.
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u/UltraViolentNdYAG 22h ago
Highway flares in many holes is highly effective. Just sayin. Make certain you don't light up some tree roots, that can smolder and catch up with you.
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u/BreathOfWildebeest 1d ago
"Gophers, ya great git! Not golfers! The little brown furry rodents!"
(Actually, I think they might be Vole holes).
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u/Yeahdudebuildsapc 23h ago
I painted a vole on the walls of Gregory Heights as a kid. It was a masterpiece. I’ve always wanted to go see it and the Skunk I worked so hard on. Don’t know how to make that possible these days.
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u/naughtykitty4 1d ago
I had a hole like this in my back yard and it ended up being a skunk den. She had 3 adorable babies and when they were old enough everyone moved on out and I filled the hole in. I don't have a dog or outside cats so I was willing to have a live and let live attitude about it.
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u/chaosorbs 1d ago
This is a hybrid. This is a cross, uh, of Bluegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California Sensemilla. The amazing stuff about this is that you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bejeezus-belt that night on this stuff. I’ve got a license to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case, my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit—ever. They're like the Viet Cong—Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote.
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u/Methadoneblues 22h ago edited 22h ago
So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I’m a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama himself... Twelfth son of the Lama, the flowing robes, the grace, bald -- striking.
So, I’m on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one – big hitter, the Lama – long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? "Gunga galunga… gunga, gunga-galunga."
So we finish eighteen and he’s gonna stiff me and I say, “Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know”? And he says, “Oh, uh, there won’t be any money... but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.”
So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice...
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u/Double-The-Fupa 1d ago
wat
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u/AndrewPDXGSE Hail, Portlandia! 1d ago
They are quoting Caddyshack.
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u/PDXpedaler 1d ago
That second photo does not look like it was created by an animal. The first photo is a bit too blurry to tell if there's fresh dirt around the holes, if so then those are likely from a critter of some sort. Are the holes in a line or scattered around? Broken pipes can eventually create a sink hole similar to the second photo.
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u/Ok-String-9879 1d ago
Could be voles. They are like a hamster that digs. We have them around us, West Portland. They tunnel and scar up the yard. They pop up from the tunnel and eat vegetation then run back down the hole. They spread like crazy in the spring.
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u/PrivateBurke 1d ago
I would guess a gopher. Moles make little piles where they dig in but gophers eat the vegetarian they dig up and it doesn't look like you have little volcanic like piles. Just let them be, apparently they are good for the soil if you aren't worried about them eating everything.
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u/Polymathy1 1d ago
This is backwards where I'm from. Pocket gophers leave big piles of dirt at the entrances. Moles speed it farther so it scatters.
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u/PrivateBurke 1d ago
It's apparently a common miscommunication: https://www.crittercontrol.com/wildlife/gopher/gophers-vs-moles/
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u/jac-q-line Rubble of The Big One 1d ago
This looks like voles.
I have them in my front yard. They are so annoying. The only way to stop the holes is to get an exterminator...
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u/zeroscout 1d ago
They look like sinkholes. The second image with the larger hole and grass around. You can see a tuff of grass at the bottom. There's no mound of earth around them and it doesn't appear that the earth was being pulled down. I think they might be sinkholes from subgrade water erosion.
Where do your downspouts go? Do they enter a foundation drainage system or do they empty out onto the grading?
There's a good amount of trees vegetation around that area for root systems to interact and create voids.
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u/catzarella 11h ago
I have no idea. We rent and I just moved in, bf has lived here awhile. I'll have to ask him. I put my cell camera down the big hole and it very much looks like it's been intentionally dug out... smooth, multiple tunnels splitting off from the main one, and it just keeps going for way farther than I imagined. That's why I was thinking bunny Warren. We have a LOT of rabbits running around here. I'm going to set up a trail cam and see if we can spot the culprit (if there is one)
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u/zeroscout 10h ago
Do you hear any activities underneath the floors in the house? If it is an animal tunnel, you may want to check out the foundation vents. Make sure the screens are all intact.
It's still a good idea to look at the health of the gutter/downspout/foundation drainage systems.
There shouldn't be any water stains or growth on the gutters. They shouldn't spill over during rain.
If the downspouts terminate into an underground drain system, they shouldn't spill over during rain or have any staining or growth. If the downspouts have a bend and empty directly on the ground, they should be do so ten feet from the foundation.
Water infiltration into the crawlspace will make the house feel colder in the winter when you have the heat on as the warm air sucks up the moisture. In the summer it will make the house feel like it won't cool down.
Even though it's a rental, it's a good check to make. Hopefully someday you and maybe your current partner will buy a home. Good gutter/downspout health will make the home more comfortable, less expensive to make comfy, and reduce mold risk.
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u/catzarella 11h ago
I have no idea. We rent and I just moved in, bf has lived here awhile. I'll have to ask him. I put my cell camera down the big hole and it very much looks like it's been intentionally dug out... smooth, multiple tunnels splitting off from the main one, and it just keeps going for way farther than I imagined. That's why I was thinking bunny Warren. We have a LOT of rabbits running around here. I'm going to set up a trail cam and see if we can spot the culprit (if there is one)
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u/Nacho_Libre479 21h ago
Where is your sewer line? If it’s roughly under that area, it’s rats.
They use the sewer system for traveling. They find breaks in the line and make nests there.
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u/DistributionFrosty23 20h ago
I agree with your assesment that it looks like a rabbit den, especially with it being so close to the brush. Way too big for a vole or rat.
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u/catzarella 10h ago
Yeah and there seems to be smaller tunnels coming off the main one, and multiple exits/entrances. All at a slanted angle too, all smooth. We have tons of bunnies around here at night running around, too, so they're definitely in the area. There are rats too but this thing is massive. We have lots of brush and a garden full of veggies so... if it is bunnies they're happy I'm sure
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u/coldhamdinner 15h ago
Rats. I had a clog that backed up my basement floor drain. Plumber saw the yard holes and predicted rats right away, put a scope down and I got to see one walk right up to the camera. When the main city sewer line water level gets high they retreat into connecting lines. In my case, they chewed through old cast iron pipe and burrowed straight up into the yard. Pushing all the dirt and gravel down into the pipe behind them, causing the clog. Connection had to excavated and replaced.
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u/MyDumLemon 14h ago
Ground squirrels? Flood the hole with water, or mapp, or oxy-acetylene... To find out it's extent.
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u/Precatlady 1d ago
My neighborhood crows and squirrels dig around a lot and it led to me realizing they're doing it because they're eating grubs (helpful!) because the lawn was incredibly unhealthy
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u/russellmzauner 20h ago
If you are anywhere near a river/creek/etc nutria are known for destroying the layer under the grass and plants - they resemble beavers but have very few shared behaviors. Beavers build, nutria burrow.
Yes rats get big, like 15lbs big some of them, and they're probably nutria.
Legal to trap, legal to kill, legal to eat. IIRC they used to be called "marsh rabbit" and I have old cookbooks with recipes for such (as well as possum, etc). Check out a camping manual from the 50's, there WILL be a section on cooking and a lot of it is what we would call "roadkill" today.
So, just like the lionfish - I guess you could eat your problem lol sorry couldn't help it.
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u/_mikeposner 19h ago
I was looking to see if anyone had said nutria yet. We had this issue for a while. At my mons house there’s a creek and a pond. There’s been a couple different times where nutria will move in for a summer and they destroy the lawn and bank of the pond with holes exactly like these. At first we thought they were harmless but then the holes kept multiplying and were becoming a hazard that someone might step in one brake their ankle. Plus we have dogs that would run outside to bark at them and we found out that nutrias have a vicious defense mechanism and can easily kill dogs going for their jugular with the sharp teeth. I can’t remember if we actively got rid of them somehow or they just moved on the next season.
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u/alphasierranumeric 22h ago
Looks like my lawn. The last renter had a dog that loved to dig holes in the yard.
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u/KentuckyFriedChris 18h ago
Mole will leave a major sized mound… voles… are golf ball sized holes and gopher… is likely what you have.. or raccoons
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u/Ok-Chocolate6150 15h ago
Best way to kill rats in burrows is to put dry ice in their burrows and cover the entrance (generally one emergency exit too) do it during the day and they stay sleeping
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u/IntrovertedDetective 10h ago
I concur with the others who said rats. My parents apartment complex had those all over because people would sit outside throwing bird seed and bread to the birds. Old people live there. It's what they do. But hell if it didnt cause rats and their holes to appear everywhere.
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u/fieldju 1d ago
I had some thing similar, I filled it in and in a few days it was back,
Turns out my irrigation system pipe ruptured during the winter because I improperly winterized it.
So every time my sprinklers ran, it water blasted a new hole..