Mysterious hole - help please!

Sorry, I thought I had posted a photo with this message but it won't upload...

Maybe foxes .
They've made some nice craters in my lawn in the back garden .
And I saw one of my neighbour's cats making another crater in the front lawn .
I give up !

Esmay

Maybe foxes .
They've made some nice craters in my lawn in the back garden .
And I saw one of my neighbour's cats making another crater in the front lawn .
I give up !

You are probably right, it must be a particularly brainless fox! What do they expect to find?

There are cats around but the hole is so deep, they'd have to stand on their head to reach in in there!

It could be a rat - they dig holes in pots to reach bulbs (tulips, crocus, for example, don’t seem bothered about daffodil bulbs).

When I find massive holes in the garden - I put kebab sticks around it plus some old citrus peel and black pepper , remembering to renew after rain .
It works .

Or a badger looking for food? They are omnivorous, and eat plants and bulbs, worms etc.

Most likely a rat, they dig and tunnel and are extremely clever.

OldFrill

Most likely a rat, they dig and tunnel and are extremely clever.

That's why we don't have a compost heap now.
Vegetable peelings and warmth. Ideal for a rat.

A squirrel ate all my tulip bulbs and buried fat balls in the pots instead.

Foxes eat earthworms. One of their main foods.

Baggs

Foxes eat earthworms. One of their main foods.

Yes. There might have been worms in the pots.

The diggers in my garden are badgers.

Is the hole in the garden or in the pot not sure I understand
Is it an empty pot or is it the garden around the pot

BlueBelle

Is the hole in the garden or in the pot not sure I understand
Is it an empty pot or is it the garden around the pot

The hole is in a large earthenware pot which stands outside in our front garden. There are two plants in it but also a bit of space and a deep hole has been dug into it and the soil flung out into a pile outside the pot.

I wish I could post a photo of it but the jpg file is too big to attach!

I've seen foxes about but the area is quite built up so I doubt it's badgers. Also the bag of small bag of compost which was ripped open, was also dragged out of a corner so a rat or a cat probably wouldn't be strong enough.

I'd love to see what it is but don't fancy staying up all night. I suppose we need one of those video cameras!

Most likely a rat or a badger.

We have quite a few foxes by us and I did once see one digging in my pot. I am now assuming everytime there is a hole in one it is Mr Fox. I once found eggs buried in a pot. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until I had put my hand fork through it and the egg had gone off and the smell was diabolical.
Normally large holes in the lawn are the badgers.

Well cats have dug into my pots before now The pot if it’s terracotta could crack and break from heavy frosts or strong roots I ve had both those things happen

Don't cats normally dig small holes, do their business and more or less cover it up? The hole is just too deep for a cat.

I think it must be a large fox if it can also drag a bag of compost out of the garden corner and then rip it open.

Unless, it's one of those 'big cats' usually mysteriously seen during August in various parts of the UK!

Fox or badger.
Badgers are about in built up areas in the small hours of the morning, as DP spotted one ambling up the centre of the road not long ago.

Squirrels do this to my pots, do you have any where you live?

Llamedos13

Squirrels do this to my pots, do you have any where you live?

We have one rather silly one which visits our garden but I haven't seen it for several months.

Perhaps it's been on holiday somewhere and returned with big muscles!

There is a real problem with badgers in my area, my lawn looks like a ploughed field sometimes, huge holes everywhere.

A badger would not be digging deep, but they will dig up the turf on a whole lawn looking for worms and grubs, a young fox is most likely the culprit, why I have no idea.

It might even have been a mouse or a rat and then along came a cat or fox that dug the mouse or rat out and ate it.

My father discovered once that he had a mouse living in the pot containing a plant in his sitting-room!