I live in the suburbs of NY. I noticed a few months back that about 1' circle of grass was lower than the rest. Over time, it sank lower, and when I put my weight on it, it compacted. Eventually, I dug out a hole, about 1' in circumference and 2' deep. When I got down that far, the dirt was very loose and there was a tunnel running under my yard -- about 4" in circumference. I have chipmunks and rabbits in the area, so I'm assuming one of them dug the tunnel. But I guess there could be some other cause of erosion -- although my yard is a high point in the area.
I'm not sure what to do about this. I can fill in the hole, but I don't think that will stop the erosion. Although the part that sank was only about a 1' circle, I can see that for an area of about 3-4' around the whole (not area, I should say radius), the yard is sloping down.
What do I do about this? Dig out the entire area where the yard is sloping? Fill what I can see of the tunnel with gravel?
Do I need to check if I have a larger problem of soil erosion under my house? My neighborhood was developed in the 1920s, and it's pretty close packed (about 1/4 to 1/2 acre lots). I'd be surprised if there was a major sink hole forming under the house.
Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.
I’d want to figure out what made that tunnel.
Any possibility that this is an old tree root system that is finally rotting away? I've had several trees removed and there is always a low spot where the trunk was and occasionally where some major roots were. Takes awhile to show up but eventually they do. Just a thought. Hope you solve your problem>
(10-03-2023, 09:30 PM)David Stone Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah. How do I do that?
Obstruct the tunnel and see if it is "repaired" that will tell you if its active or not. If active, get a mole trap, sticks in ground and spears the tunnel occupant when comes by. Examine the carcass and you will know your culprit.
(10-04-2023, 11:07 AM)branchacctg Wrote: [ -> ]Any possibility that this is an old tree root system that is finally rotting away? I've had several trees removed and there is always a low spot where the trunk was and occasionally where some major roots were. Takes awhile to show up but eventually they do. Just a thought. Hope you solve your problem>
It's possible. I found a small root (about 5") when I dug out the hole. But I don't see anything else.
(10-04-2023, 11:29 AM)vernonator Wrote: [ -> ]Obstruct the tunnel and see if it is "repaired" that will tell you if its active or not. If active, get a mole trap, sticks in ground and spears the tunnel occupant when comes by. Examine the carcass and you will know your culprit.
I stuck some grass in the holes and haven't seen any movement yet. I guess it's possible that the tunnels are abandoned?
Who would I call about this? A landscaper? A pest control guy? Carl Spangler?
I'm betting tree root.
To monitor it, see if you can borrow a motion sensor game camera.
Exterminator who also does rodent control would be the professional to call. EatenByLimestone is the local woodnet expert...
(10-02-2023, 08:12 PM)David Stone Wrote: [ -> ]I live in the suburbs of NY. I noticed a few months back that about 1' circle of grass was lower than the rest. Over time, it sank lower, and when I put my weight on it, it compacted. Eventually, I dug out a hole, about 1' in circumference and 2' deep. When I got down that far, the dirt was very loose and there was a tunnel running under my yard -- about 4" in circumference. I have chipmunks and rabbits in the area, so I'm assuming one of them dug the tunnel. But I guess there could be some other cause of erosion -- although my yard is a high point in the area.
I'm not sure what to do about this. I can fill in the hole, but I don't think that will stop the erosion. Although the part that sank was only about a 1' circle, I can see that for an area of about 3-4' around the whole (not area, I should say radius), the yard is sloping down.
What do I do about this? Dig out the entire area where the yard is sloping? Fill what I can see of the tunnel with gravel?
Do I need to check if I have a larger problem of soil erosion under my house? My neighborhood was developed in the 1920s, and it's pretty close packed (about 1/4 to 1/2 acre lots). I'd be surprised if there was a major sink hole forming under the house.
Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.
When I worked on my FIL's vegetable farm in the late 70s, we had extensive problems with groundhogs, who would tunnel into the middle of the bean patch (rows 800 ft long!), and while I would have a shotgun in the truck, I also dispatched many of them with my hoe when I was working on tilling the beans. When we found a tunnel, we'd get poison smoke bombs , toss it in the hole, cover that end with dirt and then look for smoke coming out of the ground where the tunnel had another entrance. Sometimes there were 3 or 4 of them, and the groundhogs would not come out and died in the hole. This was very effective. In your case, you might be able to find the other end of the hole by looking for smoke, and that would give you more information to work by. Worth a try.
They sold these smoke bombs at the farmers Co-op back in the day; perhaps the poison ones are now restricted, but there are smoke bombs out there that will serve the same purpose - just light the fuse, throw it in, and cover with dirt then look for smoke in the area.
(10-05-2023, 10:12 AM)Admiral Wrote: [ -> ]When I worked on my FIL's vegetable farm in the late 70s, we had extensive problems with groundhogs, who would tunnel into the middle of the bean patch (rows 800 ft long!), and while I would have a shotgun in the truck, I also dispatched many of them with my hoe when I was working on tilling the beans. When we found a tunnel, we'd get poison smoke bombs , toss it in the hole, cover that end with dirt and then look for smoke coming out of the ground where the tunnel had another entrance. Sometimes there were 3 or 4 of them, and the groundhogs would not come out and died in the hole. This was very effective. In your case, you might be able to find the other end of the hole by looking for smoke, and that would give you more information to work by. Worth a try.
They sold these smoke bombs at the farmers Co-op back in the day; perhaps the poison ones are now restricted, but there are smoke bombs out there that will serve the same purpose - just light the fuse, throw it in, and cover with dirt then look for smoke in the area.
We had a ground hog infestation when we moved to our acerage 17yrs ago. I acquired "sulfer bombs" from Amazon (I think) and they were very effective. The smoke settles in the low spots and suffocates the little buggers, it also allows you to find their escape hole (they always have one). I would stand by the escape hole with a .22 while my son dropped the sulfur bombs in the main entry. Once you popped one in the escape hatch they hunkered down an died in their den. Very satisfying....