Any idea what animal caused this?

Good Evening

Any idea what caused this hole? It is about six inches in diameter. Do Lowes sell anything that can smoke out whatever it is?

Thanks for the input!

 

Welcome to the forums! Possum, raccoon, dog, cat, skunk, choose one. Curious, why is your deck sitting below grade? Perfect invitation to what you have, plus moisture will kill the deck in short order since it has no ventilation.

 

Sometimes moth balls can be used to keep critters away. Might see if throwing a handful under the deck will help. I agree with Larry that a wood deck should never ever be that close to the ground. When it fails you should replace it with concrete since it needs to be so low.

 

...groundhog...

Yes there are poison smoke bombs you can buy, and the packaging is covered with warnings. You can live-trap the critter, then do what you want with him. A critter control company can't kill anything larger than a rat--they release it back into the wild.

I have a neighbor that does catch & release--but for target practice or to train his dogs ;-)

 

Usually ground hogs leave a lot of excavated dirt outside their holes. Is there another hole very close by that has the excavated dirt? IF so, then this hole pictured could be his secondary hole that was excavated from underneath.

Yes, the dark void space under the deck is appealing to animals.

Don’t use anything under there that requires a lit fuse. Generally those “gas cartridges” have black powder, sulphur, etc in them. A lot of excitement, but things can go bad fast if under a structure.

Moth balls, like several pounds may help. Might also work to mix up a gallon or two of warm ammonia water and pour in. Might have to evict it several times as they are persistent. Don’t mix ammonia and bleach (dangerous to all).

If a groundhog then they will be active in daylight, especially dawn and dusk.

If the activity is night time then more likely a skunk, opossum, raccoon.


One way to tell would be to ball up old newspaper and pack the hole tight enough that wind won’t blow it out, but an animal can still move it. This could help you “time” it’s appearance and activity. That would be a good clue to have.

Keep us posted.