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Thu 27 Apr, 2006 08:56 am
I tore my old deck out last weekend and found an interesting tunnel network running through that area. Some of the tunnels were cobwebbed over so I assumed that the tunnels were abandoned. I tossed some dirt on them and smashed it in.
Yesterday a new tunnel exit appeared.
I'm getting ready to do some serious digging in preparation of putting in a patio and I'm a little concerned about Alice, as we have dubbed the varmint.
I don't think Alice is a mole as I do not see the typical mole tunnel hump thingies and I'm not having a lot of plant damage.
The tunnel holes are about the same size as a beverage can - maybe just a little bigger. They only go down a few inches before they angle off so you can't see much.
What might Alice be and what should be done about her prior to digging?
Thank you!
should have elaborated..
one of my clients just had a bad rat problem.
BUT- she saw signs in her home too.. but the exterminator also treated what he called rat tunnels outside as well..
a rat is about the size of a coke can...
I've never seen a rat around here but I suppose it's possible. Still, with the gagillions of stray cats I wouldn't think rats would be much of a problem.
Really small Knights Templar?
Chipmunk or ground squirrel perhaps?
Stick a garden hose down one of the holes and flood it - see what comes out the other holes.
are there prairie dogs where you live?
I remember, when I lived in north texas ( lubbock) maze tunnels were everywhere those little guys were.
And they rarely showed visible signs of destruction besides dirt piles and dead insect bodies
cjhsa wrote:Chipmunk or ground squirrel perhaps?
Stick a garden hose down one of the holes and flood it - see what comes out the other holes.
Be careful though, if there ARE really small Knight Templar down there, they come out and beat your ass.
Chipmunks?
Alvin, Simon, Theodore?
Knights would be serious cool. With that Di Vinci thing getting ready to open I could make an absolute fortune.
Chipmunks are something I see a lot of in the forest but not really in my neighborhood so much. There has been a lot of building going on around here though.....
We have a lot of squirrels around so that perhaps could be the answer.
My neighbor reported seeing an opossum recently. Do they live in holes?
I suspect that whatever Alice is she might be responsible for some of the missing dog food. I've been blaming all the filching on racoons.
Alice has got a skunk on her head,
Alice has got a skunk on her head,
Alice has got a skunk on her head,
And everybody ran away!
I think I'll let Mr. B do any tunnel flooding that might need to happen around here. Faced with a wet, angry Alice I would completely freak out.
wouldn't flooding kill Alice?
Does Alice even live there anymore?
I imagine she would try to scurry out. I don't really want to kill her I just want to give her the opportunity to relocate before we start digging up the ground back there.
What if Alice has babies under there? I really don't have the heart to flood Alice out. Heck, I make Mo send all his worms catchs back to their families.
dagmaraka wrote:wouldn't flooding kill Alice?
Most likely not. Haven't you seen
Caddyshack?
Quote:Carl Spackler: I have to laugh, because I've outsmarted even myself. My enemy, my foe, is an animal. In order to conquer the animal, I have to learn to think like an animal. And, whenever possible, to look like one. I've gotta get inside this guy's pelt and crawl around for a few days.
<singing heard from Boomer's next door neighbour>
"But for 24 years I've been living next door to Alice"
I say rat, myself. Or little guys wearing futuristic clothes who live in "THE LAND OF THE GIANTS".
If you find one, you must remember to imprison it in a glass jar and go to the shops so that his little futuristic friends can rescue him, using a cotton reel and a spoon as a lever.
Perhaps it is filled with refugees from the relocation of Mills End Park:
Quote:While not quite a garden, Mill's End Park, located downtown in the middle of a crosswalk on Front Avenue at Taylor Street, is one of Portland's most noteworthy green spaces. It was begun years ago by Dick Fagen as a lighthearted way to fill in a hole, which had been dug for a light pole that never arrived.
Today it is the world's smallest city park, at only two feet across! Fagen, a columnist, planted a few flowers in the hole to improve his view. Then he went on to write about the imaginary, wee inhabitants of the park and the many festivities they staged under the flowers. Now, years later, many Portlanders who share Fagen's sense of humor add their own touches to the tiny park.
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