This is a mole hill...right??

[llombardo]

My dogs try and dig up rodents all the time. My yard is full of holes. My cat knows to sit next to rodent holes and wait for them to come out, then he reaches his paw down and snatches them up. There's probably a crazy tunnel network under our feet at all times. I'm fairly certain prairie dog villages can span miles!

As if now the only holes I have are from squirrels burying walnuts and the dogs digging them up. Poor squirrels think they are hiding food...

 

[aart]

I'm betting the birds will investigate and expose tunnel.
Have many tunnel bulges and some of the piles on my place...
...moles, voles, ground squirrels(gophers) <shrugs>
Never seen a pile in the runs but some tunnel bulges that the birds take advantage of,
they like digging up the softened dirt.
Found a dead vole in the run once...was surprised they didn't eat it.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Moles are harmless to your chickens and chicken-keeping efforts. They stay underground and have no interest in chickens or feed- they just eat roots and insects. Plus, free entertainment for your birds, investigating things.
The main issue is that if they got in, so will other animals, and some of them may try to eat your birds.

 

[Trish1974]

I'm betting the birds will investigate and expose tunnel.
Have many tunnel bulges and some of the piles on my place...
...moles, voles, ground squirrels(gophers) <shrugs>
Never seen a pile in the runs but some tunnel bulges that the birds take advantage of,
they like digging up the softened dirt.
Found a dead vole in the run once...was surprised they didn't eat it.

You're right. They did scratch it down to even ground yesterday and there was a small hole/tunnel. This morning it was mounded up slightly, about a third of the size it was yesterday.

 

[Fishkeeper]

If it's back, that means you have a resident mole! They maintain their tunnels. If you don't want it there, dig along the tunnel to find its access point (and maybe even catch it), release it outside if you happen to find the mole itself, and block up the access. If you don't mind, let it be. Moles are pretty much harmless aside from their tendency to make lawns sort of bumpy.

 

[aart]

Moles are pretty much harmless aside from their tendency to make lawns sort of bumpy.

More like massively lumpy here. Was walking out in 'yard' yesterday and about turned an ankle.....'soft streaks' everywhere!
They regularly get 'scalped' with the mower in summer, makes for a bumpy ride too, and the skunks can make havoc digging them up(they are after the same bugs/grubs as the moles).
Had a neighbor in the city, sweet old guy, that would sit on his front porch in the evening with a long handled dandelion weeder...he would watch for them to be moving thru his otherwise immaculate lawn (I sat with him one night and saw this myself) then get up and stab them right thru the ground.

 

[Trish1974]

If it's back, that means you have a resident mole! They maintain their tunnels. If you don't want it there, dig along the tunnel to find its access point (and maybe even catch it), release it outside if you happen to find the mole itself, and block up the access. If you don't mind, let it be. Moles are pretty much harmless aside from their tendency to make lawns sort of bumpy.

Nah, I don't mind... I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something other than a mole. That's probably the only safe place he can tunnel considering my cats usually dig them up!

 

[Fishkeeper]

Yeah, that's probably a relatively safe area. Chickens don't usually dig deep enough to unearth moles. Which is good for the moles!
I wonder what kind of mole you have? I looked it up, and you have both Eastern and star-nosed moles in your state, though the star-nosed ones are pretty rare. Star-nose moles are the ones that basically have fingers growing out of their nose, and the rest of the moles are the slightly more normal-looking ones.

 

[Trish1974]

Yeah, that's probably a relatively safe area. Chickens don't usually dig deep enough to unearth moles. Which is good for the moles!
I wonder what kind of mole you have? I looked it up, and you have both Eastern and star-nosed moles in your state, though the star-nosed ones are pretty rare. Star-nose moles are the ones that basically have fingers growing out of their nose, and the rest of the moles are the slightly more normal-looking ones.

Interesting, I didn't know there were two different types here.
My cats usually dig up the normal looking ones. Ugly, but not star-nosed.