Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations What critter would do this?

I'd put money on them bein' collapsed muskrat dens. The prints are dog. Dog prints have the 2 center nail prints straight, coyote are angled/curved inward.

Muskrats will tunnel horizontal to the water right at the edge at times to make feeding "huts". In swamps they'll take advantage of clumps of grass that are slumped over and leave a barren, but protected spot at the base as feeding huts. They like to eat somewhere out of the water where they are protected from aerial predators (owls). If the water is shallow, do you notice any trenches (about 8" wide) under water leading up to the collapsed areas? If so, that's a sure sign that they were made by 'rats. Beaver will leave cut and peeled sticks in the pond, and their runs are about twice the size of a 'rat run. A conibear 110 which is used to trap 'rats is roughly 6" square, while a conibear 330 which is used for beaver is roughly 12" square.

When canines dig, they throw the dirt behind them for a distance. From the pics, it looks like the area collapsed, then was dug into, probably from the dog.