Gophers in New England?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Something new is burrowing in our yard.</p>

<p>One section of our yard has about two dozen holes. The holes are about 1 1/2 inch in diameter, and the holes appear to have been dug at an angle (rather than straight down).</p>

<p>I would guess that whatever it is is going after small bulbs. (This area has small wildflowers every spring.)</p>

<p>We have had woodchucks, raccoons, squirrels and chipmunks in the yard, yet we have never seen holes like this before.</p>

<p>New to our yard this year is a fox (who we see dashing over our patio and back into the woods), and I have also seen a fisher cat once.</p>

<p>Could it be a pocket gopher? Any other guesses?</p>

<p>Edit: Forgot to mention that we have also had moles. They usually leave tunnels and their holes are smaller and more widely distributed.</p>

2

<p>voles? That might be why the fox is hanging around.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the suggestion, as I hadn’t heard of a vole before.</p>

<p>But I see no evidence of tunnels.</p>

4

<p>If it’s a pocket gopher there’ll be mounds of dirt where they covered the entrance to their holes and there’d be tunnels under that to other mounds. The mound will usually have a dent in it where the entrance was filled with dirt. Sometimes there are holes as well without the mounds but if they’re active there, there should be the mounds. I’ve gained some expertise in this area due to the high number of gophers I always have on my property. I’m always battling with them but can never get completely rid of them.</p>