Henry Rifle Forums

Tina was weedeating around the Workshop in preparation for mowing and came in and said, "Something is living under the shop." I just laughed. I told her a lot of somethings are living under the shop, that's no surprise. "Something, big." She had found a hole dug under the drain spout, where the ground was soft due to the last little rain we had gotten. The ground in other areas is as hard as concrete. I walked out and took a look. Yeah, Like I had a clue.


Whatever dug the hole, was enthusiastic, and went right to work. it went down at about a 30 degree angle along the footing, and went back a good ways. It's about six to eight inches in diameter, and just appeared after the last rain.


First attempt to identify the occupant was to flood the hole and see what emerged. It took about three minutes to fill so it was off good size but NOT a major network under the building yet, so some good news. Nothing came busting out, so it was unoccupied at the time. Tina looked online and due to the size, and our location in the state, two lead candidates are Weasel and Armadillo. I pulled a game cam from the orchard and aimed it at the hole. Any other suggestions? I'm hoping against weasel, since we have a weasel snack living in the house.... We will eliminate the varmint and plug the hole so water erosion doesn't damage the corner of the shop.

Game camera should tell the tail! (Get it? Tail). I’m curious what you find!

Looks just like the holes the Grounghogs make around here.

generously sprinkle some Red Devil Lye around and in the hole .... whatever it is will leave ... you can then fill in the hole and the Lye will discourage the varmint from digging there a gain

Thanks, I'll check the cam tomorrow. Nothing this morning since I didn't set it up correctly. Reset, now the waiting game.

markiver54 wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 27, 2022 10:26 am

Looks just like the holes the Grounghogs make around here.

I had issues once with groundhogs digging under our shallow pump house footings, I'd chase them out and fill the hole with rocks and dirt and they'd just dig in another spot. Placed medium sized rocks (sized so they would fall in the hole if they tried to dig under them) around the perimeter and that stopped them.

Funny, we used to always have groundhogs around but one year they all just disappeared. Haven't seen one for many years. Still have skunks though, my friends dog just got sprayed again last night so he had to spend the rest of the night outside. She was off early this morning to get some skunk smell remover. We had heard that tomato juice would help remove the smell but apparently that's a wife's tale that's not true or exaggerated, tried it once and it didn't help.

The tomato juice story was started by Heinz…

Redthies wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 27, 2022 3:13 pm

The tomato juice story was started by Heinz…

We now know that because of Heinz sight.

We got a recipe from a dog breeder that worked miracles after our shepherd went running off in the dark and had her face right in the skunks butt mouth open when she took a full blast. It was a three item mix:

Dawn Dishwashing Liquid
Hydrogen Peroxide
And Baking Soda

The peroxide supposedly negates the chemical binding agents
The Dawn releases the oil carriers
And the baking soda helps kill the smell.
Bathed her twice and you couldn't tell... Except...

When she started to sweat... The funk had gotten down inside her ears, and for six months... Every time she would sweat... Skunk Funk.

Also, when the skunk zapped her she ran for the house...
I yelled "Noooooo!"
But Tina instinctively opened the door.

On duty, I had sprayed a huge shepherd with OC Spray and seen it's immediate reaction. It turned away from charging me, ran about thirty feet, then dropped to the ground and pushed it's face along the ground trying to swipe the OC spray from it's eyes.

The shepherd cleared the kitchen door full speed, crossed the tile with Miss T in hot pursuit, (NO siren or lights ) and immediately upon reaching the living room carpet, duplicated that K9 drop and swipe. Had to rent a carpet cleaner and buy the special detergent. Three treatments and two months finally got rid of that smell.

If you were in Aus the hole would be 18-24" and start at the bottom of what looked like a 1000lb bomb crater.
The location is correct being under a building that is one of the favourite locations for wombats, the other is to stategically place them in long grass where they have the best chance of trapping an unwary full size SUV.
I am fairly sure it is a fact a wombat can move more dirt in an hour than a D6 dozer

Always wanted to visit, don't guess it will ever happen.