Could a squirrel have done this ?!?

13 years ago

Hi all. I live in an older neighborhood with tons of huge, mature trees. Hence, we have a ridiculous squirrel population. They frequently will dig around, in the ground near new (or not so new) plantings, in my large pots, etc. In my side yard, I have planted some foxglove near the base of a tree. Earlier this year, they had messed with these, in this area, a bit, but not excessively. I hadn't walked through the side yard in about a week, it's been very rainy, but when I walked through today, I saw this:

The largest dug-up area is the weird trench-like spot in the first photo; it's probably 2 ft long, and several inches deep. The other spots are more round, but still much bigger than anything I've ever seen squirrels do. Is it even possible that this is the work of a squirrel? If not, what could it be?

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Comments (3)

IanW Zone 5 Ont. Can.
13 years ago
Given the size of the damaged area more than likely it is skunks or raccoons digging for white grubs.....but squirrels could be the culprits too.....
My money is on the skunks.....

Ian
sleepy33
Original Author
13 years ago
Interesting! I wouldn't think we would have skunks/raccoons in the middle of a neighborhood. I wonder where they are living? Given the proximity to the tree roots, and I'm sure the high yield of grubs that are present in the yard, your theory makes sense. It's such a strange, straight, neat trench... I've never seen an animal dig so neatly! Thanks for the input!
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calliope
13 years ago
Racoons have no fear of proximity to humans. I live in the country, but my parents who lived in town had racoons move into their attic.

Put my money along side Ian's on a skunk. It looks like the typical skunk damage we get early each spring, when one rolls the turf back under a dying old red pine and has at grubs.