Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations animal dug a hole in dam

i have a small pond of 1 1/2 acres in NE texas that is 5 years old. this week i noticed that an animal had dug a burrow that goes out of site at the top of the dam. it is not flat botton and arched top like a turtle or armadillo looks. the hole/burrow is round and about 10 inches in diameter. to fix it do i just fill with sand or fill with clay or do i need to dig down to make sure i compress the dirt? do i first need to make sure the animal is not still in it so he does not just burrow further? do i first need to buy somekind of trap and put in hole to make sure it is gone, if so what kind of trap. i have seen 1 otter and 1 beaver swimming in the pond last year. i do not know if that is what made the burrow/hole. thank.

darrell stringer

I think you should dig out the entire hole in your dam, so you know its extent and are sure you've filled it all. This will also let you pack the replaced soil in as tightly as possible, to seal and discourage more burrows. I would be afraid to use sand, as it would not do much to stop a leak and would permit easy re-excavation by another burrowing animal.

I year ago I had to repair an animal hole in my dam. I believe it was put in by a large turtle; it seemed like the original entrance had been just under water, but the dirt on top of it had collapsed making the final entrance just above the water line.

I wanted to inspect the location/possible danger of the entire burrow and ensure I got the whole thing filled, so I dug through the surface to inspect the burrow, backfilling sections exposed earlier as I went. I tamped everything as solid as I could with a spudbar.

Although it twisted and turned a lot, the burrow fortunately went steadily uphill from the entrance, keeping the digging I did fairly shallow and alleviating my fears about below the waterline dam penetration. The turtle (or whatever) had not disturbed the packed core of the dam, he only dug above it in the topsoil fill. I guess turtles are too smart to dig any harder than they have too. The tunnel totalled about 8 feet in length and showed no evidence of vegetation used for bedding like I have seen in mammal dens, another reason I suspect it was made by a turtle.

I ended up having to add only a wheelbarrow or so of new fill dirt (I used clay) and have a nice, tight repair which has not collapsed any or been re-tunneled in the past year.

Darrell,

Another option for the hole is to pour some redimix concrete into it to seal it up good.

If its nutria, they will just dig another hole...not sure about otters as they seem to be more shy than nutria. Either way, get rid of the problem animal before it gets rid of your pond.

Darrell,

If you dig out the hole, I suggest you have someone standing by to shoot the critter when it attacks you or tries to escape. Shotguns work well on 10 in. diameter anacondas. It goes without saying, your spouse is not a candidate for holding a gun when a "shooting accident" is believable. Dig slowly and use the shovel to trap the critter if possible. It could be anything, including a skunk. If you fill it in without digging it out, the critter may just dig out or dig aroung the cement plug or rocks...

Get a couple of sulfur flares from the auto parts store and toss them in the hole. They will either suffocate the critter or will chase it out the hole. I have used them to kill gophers and also to get rid or ground squirrels that used to tear up the yard in California.

Bob

Dang, now thats a great idea. I wonder if it would work on Armadillo dens as well. Thanks Bob.

Not sure but sure worth a try. Only seen one "Possum on the Halfshell" around my place in 9 years, actually took off and swam across the pond to head for the woods! I have seen more and more along the road side though. We did chase out a ground hog that had made a burrow under the neighbors work shed He came out moving faster than I have ever seen one move.

Bob

Bob, that is great!!!