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NocturnalAnimalDamaging lawn

lizmikecakebreadlizmikecakebread Posts: 1
in Problem solving
Please help we have an nocturnal
animal ruining our garden lawn.  Making many fairly deep holes in our back garden.  This has been going on for weeks now.  What can we do to deter them.  We live adjacent to an allotment.

Posts

  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Hi there, this sounds like badgers visiting your garden looking for larvae in your lawn.  The damage can be quite distressing.  Badgers are protected animals so only minor action like sourcing the possible entry to your garden and blocking it up are advised.  Check to see if one of your neighbours is feeding them at night and try to disuade them.  This guide has some useful information:

    How to Deter Badgers from Your Garden | Hillier Garden Centres

    I hope this helps.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd agree with @Plantminded that it could very well be badgers, but foxes will also dig a fair bit, and can be a r*ddy nuisance, especially when people try to 'attract' them with food.
    If you've used Blood, Fish & Bone anywhere in the vicinity - ie beds/borders, it's a magnet for them, but they'd usually dig there rather than the lawn.

    If you can access a camera for nocturnal viewing, it will help to ID them though, and you can then see what action you can take, if any, because - as already said, they're protected.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited October 2021
    Voles can also cause damage to lawns .... we currently have crows making holes a couple of inches deep in our lawn when they're searching for grubs.  'Fairly deep holes' can mean different things to different people ... holes also can be a bit vague ... are these 'tunnels' or 'scraped' hollows?
    Measurements of the holes and photographs of the lawn and holes would help us to determine what's causing the problem.
     :) 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Another thought, speak to the allotment holders nearby.  They may know the cause and be equally keen to prevent it!
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • jo4eyesjo4eyes Posts: 2,058
    Agree foxes & badgers most likely. Foxes in particular dig individual holes in lawns & fresh cleared soil. Never use bonemeal!! 
    If you are more urban then badgers less likely & tbh they are really disruptive. 

    There are various fox deterrents around, but am not totally sure it’s worth it. I automatically cover any cleared soil in raised beds with either mesh of weed fabric. 

    I noticed we’ve had ‘visitors’ on our back lawn again….
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