I found this hole in my yard

[Tstraub]

While mowing the lawn I found a hole in the yard. Im hoping someone here might know what dug it and if it’s any threat to my chickens. I live on a 2 acre lot in Eastern Indiana, USA. This hole is located about 10 feet from a bean field and 40 feet from my chicken coop. The hole is about 4 inches at the opening and tapers down to 2-3 inches before taking a sharp turn and becoming a tunnel around a foot deep. There is no dirt mounded up. I haven’t noticed any scat, hair or anything else that might be related in the area. Just this almost perfectly round clean hole.

 

[Sequel]

I have no idea but I’ve found a few of those over the years.

 

[Logar]

vole hole?

 

[Tstraub]

vole hole?

I definitely do have voles on the property but I have never seen a vole dig this wide or deep of a hole. The vole holes I’m used to seeing are surface level with lots of loose dirt near the opening.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Voles are harmless herbivores if it is them

 

[Susan Skylark]

Voles are basically chubby mice with short tails, that hole is a bit large (and not sure they actually dig deep, I’ve always found them in grass, snow, bushes, compost pile type stuff). Maybe a ground squirrel? We have thirteen lined ground squirrels or ‘streaky gophers’ here in the Midwest, that looks like the ridiculous rodent holes that have taken my yard (at least it isn’t pocket gophers!).

 

[Al Gerhart]

Bumble bee or ground hornet nest? Maybe abandoned?

 

[SmiYa0126]

Ground hog?

 

[aart]

Hmm.... hard to say.
In the second pic it does look like there is something piled up?

I have no idea how wide your shoe might be, can you put a tape measure or a dollar bill next to the hole for a pic?

 

[Tstraub]

Hmm.... hard to say.
In the second pic it does look like there is something piled up?

I have no idea how wide your shoe might be, can you put a tape measure or a dollar bill next to the hole for a pic?

I did set a live trap last night baited with an old catfish filet I had in the freezer since 2020. No takers. The hole measures real close to 4 inches at the opening but funnels down pretty quickly and is probably closer to 3 inches or a bit smaller. The tape went in 16 inches before it hit bottom.

It’s hard to tell but I believe I see a possible side tunnel around 8 inches deep. I did walk around looking for a possible second entrance but couldn’t find one. There is a bean field about 10 feet away that has been recently plowed so it’s possible that there was a second entrance out there.

This is in an area that gets mowed regularly so I would think if it were bees or hornets I would have scared them out and saw them while mowing.