Groundhog holes

[suttles]

Well today being our third week with our Kabota, I found a large groundhog hole.

We have already bushhoged this area and it gives me a fright to think that this hole was there.

The ground is soft and where we mowed it was mostly tall weeds and now some of this is laying on the ground and covers the hazards.
Even walking over it with all the tall stuff mowed over it you can't see the what is under it.

It is a little hard to see the ground and I would like advice on how to safely get this area of the pasture safer to mow?

This groundhog hole looks like it goes far under the ground and I don't know if there are other soft spots that might cave in with a tractor.

Has anyone ever heard of a hole like this causing a problem?

I would like to find something to use for a while that mows heavy weeds. I wonder if one of those walk behind like a Gravely would be the best thing to use for a while.

Please give adive.
Thanks,
travis

 

[Soundguy]

I've mowed areas with the odd gopher hole or two... Just try to watch for them.. and if ya hit one.. just try to make it as easy on the tractor as possible.. like stomping the clutch and easing out.. etc.. and then keep going.

Anything that makes holes is an enemy to horse owners. Any time I see -anything- that has dug a home in my pasture, I collect a couple days worth of droppings from the cat litter box, plus a nic plop from the cow pasture, and a shovel full of horse stuff.. and then shove it down the hole...

Usually in a few days.. the hole has caved in from -non use-. After it's evident it's a dead hole.. I cover it up..

Soundguy

 

[suttles]

Well,
I will keep that in mind.
What concerned me the most was how safe the ground would be with such a long tunnel.

I didn't know if it would colapse under the tractor and if there could be other ones that I could not see.

My horses are not there yet. I could scoop some dog and cat droppings in the hole.

Groundhogs are awful for horse owners.

travis

 

[rickmacheske]

Hmmm....job for a 15 year old with a 22 cal. One of the great joys growing up....

 

[Egon]

Don't think your tractor will dissapear in a suden tunnel collapse unless you are in an area of Karst geology!

Whats wrong with a 9 year old and the .22? Or maybe even an old guy and a .22 caliber with a little more zip?

 

[ptfarmermd]

Someone once asked me what ground hogs are good for? I said "target practice".
I have mowed over many ground hog holes. The holes cause the problems, not the tunnels. I assume the tunnels are so deep the dirt over them support almost any size equipment. I have never in almost 40 years on this earth had my tractor fall into a ground hog tunnel, but the equipment has fallen into many ground hog holes.

 

[roxynoodle]

Ground hog holes are definitely bad news for horses. The first time I got one in my pasture it was a horse that showed it to me! She was acting pretty excitable and seemed to be trying to catch my attention. Curious, I went into the pasture and she ran up to it and stopped. Yes, she's a pretty smart horse. Best cure of course is to get rid of the groundhogs. If they are tunneling under your barn, rest assured they can ruin a building pretty quick.

 

[GARBLUES]

I was driving my Dodge truck through my field one day, hit a chuck hole and it broke my leaf spring I had to leave my truck for a week to get it repaired and rent a car to get home. The best thing to do is grab a rifle, sit in a beach chair away from the hole, wait from them to come out and pop them. If it's a female and gives birth you'll have some more chucks that will leave after a few months and have more holes.

 

[shvl73]

I used to work with a farmer that used the poison/smoke bombs. Light them, drop 'em in the hole and cover it up. I've used them around our chicken coop to reduce the rat population with some success

 

[MrJimi]

Living in Florida, we have a similar problem with gopher turtles, they will dig a large hole under a fence and make it bigger. I filled one this past weekend the size of a very large cooler like 2 feet by 3 feet and one and a half foot deep? .
they are a protected species in Florida and a pain in the rear.
Jim