Saturday, October 2, 2010

Did You Ever Have This Yard Problem?

This just happened over night!  We got up this morning and look what I saw when Gerard told me to look out our back window:

Half our yard was all torn up.  Looks like an animal was looking for something in our grass.  At least it was our backyard and not our front yard.  Our next door neighbor had both the front and back torn up.  What animal would do this?  A mole?  A skunk?  The bigger question is what do we do about it?  This is just beginning our 14th year living here and nothing like this ever happened before. 

Would a fence stop them or would they just burrow under it?  Here's our conversation to start our day:
Gerard:  Put up a fence or something.

Karen:  Well, I don't have a magic wand I can wave and up goes a fence.

Gerard:  Then call someone.

Karen:  Who?  I don't know who to call.

Gerard:  Look in the Yellow Pages. 

Karen:  Under what?  Yard torn up?

Gerard:  Under yard torn up by animals.

Karen:  Yeah, right.  I don't know what to do either.  I have to think about it.  I'm not good at making snap decisions.

Gerard:  Well, I'm putting down more patch.  It looks like they didn't tear up where the patch was.  Then I'll put bricks over it until you come up with a better solution.

Karen:  Fine, do what you want, but the animal probably won't dig up where it already dug, it'll move on to the rest of the yard.

Gerard:  Ask your blogging buddies.  Maybe they'll know what to do.
So now our yard looks like this:


Any suggestions on who to call or what to do?  We're asking you!  Help!


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13 comments:

Sharkbytes said...

This doesn't look like a mole- that would be lines of mounds. My guess is a skunk. They will scratch up the dirt looking for grubs. Maybe your having a good grub year.

Kathy said...

What the??? I've never seen anything like that before. It looks like aliens landed and tried to make a crop circle, but none of them were very creative,so they gave up. Geesh!

I love Gerard's "Under what? Yard torn up?" Hilarious.

Wow. Just wow.

Rebecca said...

Looks like skunk. We get that, too, although not so bad. They are digging for grubs, the larvae of Japanese beetles. The beetles lay their eggs on the lawn in the fall, and the larvae hatch in the spring. Skunk are really hard to get rid of, I've heard that the best thing to do is get rid of the foods they like, or set traps. Maybe "pest removal" would help.

Java said...

Hi Karen!!
Thanks for visiting me and for entering the $65 CSN Giveaway!

Thanks also for joining the Over 40 Bloggers I added your blog to the list!!

Thanks for joining the party!

Hope you get lots of followers from it! Including me!!

Be sure to come by on Sunday for the Meet Me On Monday Blog Hop!

Have a great day!!

Karen and Gerard said...

Sharbytes: We think you are right.

Kathy: Could be aliens, we didn't even think of that!

Rebecca: We went late yesterday afternoon to buy something to put on the grass that is supposed to repel them called
"Critter Ridder." A picture of a skunk was on the can so hope it works. BUT, still frustrating because have to put it on when it's a dry sunny day and we had rain all day yesterday, getting more today and tomorrow so Gerard won't be able to put it on until Tuesday.

We'll try this first, then if that doesn't work, maybe I'll call pest removal in.

Java: Thanks for including us in your list. I will check out the blog hop.

Daisy said...

Where we live, armadillos sometimes dig up the grass. I think they are looking for bugs to eat.

What Would Jen Do (jennifer) said...

wow I have never seen anything like this before. just google local fence companies, i bet you can get quite a few people out for estimates.

thanks for stopping by my blog!

Anonymous said...

My lawn looks like that when the neighborhood kids play football on it! Was there any little foot prints around the damaged area? :-)

Nanny Anna said...

Holy cow, what in the world got a hold of your yard? It looks like a 'herd' of something, lol. I have never seen anything like that either!

I happened on your blog via the Follow Friday 40 and Over. A bit of a late entry since it is now Sunday... but here none the less.

I am now a new follower and look forward to getting to know you (and learning the answer to the yard mystery) through your blog posts.

Anna

http://iamnannyanna.blogspot.com/

Lin said...

GRUBS! You've got them and they eat up the roots to your grass. Many animals eat them from skunks to raccoons, so that is where the damage came from. We had raccoons do this to our yard years ago. Just plant grass seed and put down GRUB-X in March or April.

Animals have this 6th sense for knowing when you've got grubs, unfortunately!

Lin said...

Oh--to test for grubs in any season, just grab a handful of grass and give a tug--like you are lifting a toupee off an old geezers head. If it is grubs, your lawn will lift up.

Karen and Gerard said...

Daisy: I like Armadillos--they fascinate me and are kind of cute, especially their tiny ears! We don't see any around here except at the zoo.

Jennifer: We never had this before either. How did those grubs find us anyway?

Old Geezer: No footprints. Nice of you to let the kids play football in your yard.

Nanny Anna: Thanks for stopping by and following us!

Lin: Thanks for the advice! You have been very helpful. Gerard said we HAVE to get Grub-X.

Jody said...

Are you near wild boars? Because I have to tell you that is exactly what they do.

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