Worms?

[Maggie Cummings]

I have a situation going on here that hasn't happened in the previous years.
I have a burrower. At the beginning of winter all the leafs fell evenly covering the lawns and flower gardens. Then the leafs started moving themselves until they were each tiny piles all over. Then I noticed the leaves were at an odd angle and there were sticks sticking straight up out of holes, the leaves also were marking where the holes were. So here's a couple of pictures. If I move the leafs there's a tunnel. Does anyone know what type of worm or bug comes up from the ground, does whatever then goes back down using a small twig or leafs to mark or close the entrance to his hole? I hope you can understand the pictures. It doesn't look so obvious in the pictures but the leafs are stuck in the hole. It's in my garden and the lawns...

I move those leafs and this is what's there...

This is why you should never allow your tortoises into their pens when wet...

This is the new chair given to me but Max has claimed it for her own...

Back to my holes, anybody have any ideas what kind of creature does this? The holes are bigger then nightcrawlers and I don't think worms can pull the leafs into the hole like these are...I sure would appreciate any help...

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Could it be voles or some other burrowing mammal?

Maggie, you take such captivating photos! Max is adorable and definitely has staked her territory there.

 

[dmmj]

could the sticks just be a coincedence?

 

[Meg90]

My thought is salamander, or newts.

Its amazing how complex the little things are. I researched the kind I found in Reid's parents back yard. They are about as big around as a pencil, and maybe 3.5-4 inches long with their tails, and YET they have family hierarchies, and territories, similar to wolves. They take care of their young, and will drive off outsiders. And they are only teeny newts. Crazy, eh?

I don't think you're going to find out what lives in those holes without some 24/7 observation! Things that tiny try not to be noticed.

Oh, and is that a loose tortoise in the lower left of the shot with Max? Cuz if its not, its an amazingly realistic figurine!

Good to see you posting, Mags. Max has grown into quite the ladycat.

 

[t_mclellan]

Very interesting.
From the photo's I would bet on crayfish.
There are several terrestrial varieties in your area.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

could the sticks just be a coincedence?

No, it's hundreds of them all around my yard...

---

My thought is salamander, or newts.

Its amazing how complex the little things are. I researched the kind I found in Reid's parents back yard. They are about as big around as a pencil, and maybe 3.5-4 inches long with their tails, and YET they have family hierarchies, and territories, similar to wolves. They take care of their young, and will drive off outsiders. And they are only teeny newts. Crazy, eh?

I don't think you're going to find out what lives in those holes without some 24/7 observation! Things that tiny try not to be noticed.

Oh, and is that a loose tortoise in the lower left of the shot with Max? Cuz if its not, its an amazingly realistic figurine!

Good to see you posting, Mags. Max has grown into quite the ladycat.

No Meg, it's a figurine. I have many turtle collectibles and figurines around my house.

---

Geez, I thought it would be an easy thing for this knowledgeable group. Thanks Chris, I'm hoping it's not a crab. I live in Western Oregon. Thanks everyone for your help. I think it's a type of worm, but I can't figure out how they would pull the leaves or sticks back in the hole entrance to close it...and once I move the leafs from the hole it never gets leafs again. I am watching one hole but so far nothing...

 

[GBtortoises]

If these holes were in my area (Catskill Mountains of New York State), I'd easily say they were mole salamander burrows. I see them all the time here. After heavy spring and early summer rains they come out to gorge on insects and then head back underground to wait for the next rainstorm.

 

[Laura]

Got a shovel?
Is it only done at night?
Very intersting...

 

[Yvonne G]

My vote is for some sort of salamander too.

 

[t_mclellan]

I have seen crayfish pulling sticks & leaf litter into burrows. I didn't think salamanders did.
But then again I never looked into that one.

 

[dmmj]

so the burrow looks pretty small, but according to bing woodchucks, beavers, and chipmunks do this.

 

[Yvonne G]

I found this:

http://naturesblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/prairie-crayfish.html

Kinda' looks like Tom might be correct!

 

[t_mclellan]

Its been known to happen!

 

[dmmj]

crayfish is good eatin.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I see what looks to be a Camaro or Trans Am in the background in one of his pictures. I wonder if it runs...?...Tom?

I have lived in this house for 4 years in May and this is the first year I have seen these holes. There would be several hundred crayfish in my yard and wouldn't I or a neighbor see them. These damn things have forced me to talk to a neighbor for the first time since I moved in. "Hey mister neighbor, I know I have ignored you for 4 years but now I need your help"...yeah right! He didn't feel like answering me. I guess after me ignoring him for almost 4 years, he's going to ignore me now...oh well!

 

[t_mclellan]

crayfish is good eatin.

Your thinking of the aquatic variety of crayfish. the terrestrial types have smaller tails since they don't swim. On the other hand some terrestrials have interesting faces & some very brilliant colors.

 

[chadk]

I'm gonna say either a larvae like a cranefly or just nightcrawlers. Do you notice them more after a heavy rain?

In the south, i'd get the crawfish holes in my yard after a rain, but we don't have them here in the PNW like that. Just the nice fresh water kind in the clean lakes and rivers.

 

[Yvonne G]

OMG!!! like a scorpion????? YIPES!!

Can you imagine Maggie stepping out on her deck one night, turning the light on and seeing a hundred little scorpion-like creatures crawling all over her back yard? With her tame raccoons scurrying around catching them?

No thank you...I'll stay right here in my dry, hot climate!!

 

[egyptiandan]

Might just be these guys as they have been introduced to Washington state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procambarus_clarkii#Range_and_range_expansion
They may just be expanding to new territory or might have been introduced by fisherman to Oregon.
Seems they are also in Oregon http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/country_pages/state_pages/oregon.htm

Danny

 

[chadk]

Crawfish holes are very easy to spot. They use their tails like an icecream scoop and build very deliberate mounds contrusted of mud balls. And they will need to be near a pond, creek, season wetland of some sort.

I'm starting to think it may actually be a rat or squirrel either digging for worms or larvae, or burrying something to come back for later (hence the leaf blocking the hole). How deep are the holes?