My new neighbor's house [Archive] - SoonerFans.com Message Boards

CrimsonKel

6/3/2011, 08:07 PM

It looks like my new neighbor started and perhaps finished construction of his or her home today. The question is what the hell kind of creature is this?

Any insight you could provide would be appreciated.

BTW I left the quarter there.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5106/5794726381_ddce5dd0e5_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/futon2011/5794726381/)
wth (http://www.flickr.com/photos/futon2011/5794726381/) by yadayada2011 (http://www.flickr.com/people/futon2011/), on Flickr

SoCaliSooner

6/3/2011, 08:08 PM

Gopher.

CrimsonKel

6/3/2011, 08:14 PM

Gopher.

Thank you SoCali. Gopher seems anticlimactic. I was hoping for something a little more exotic. It doesn't look like the gopher holes I'm used to.

GKeeper316

6/3/2011, 08:15 PM

gopher or mole.

SoCaliSooner

6/3/2011, 08:16 PM

Stick your duck in the hole for more climactic action.

salth2o

6/3/2011, 08:29 PM

Crawfish

Partial Qualifier

6/3/2011, 08:31 PM

That's a snipe den, for sure.

hawaii 5-0

6/3/2011, 08:35 PM

Ring-tailed Whooping Snake.

5-0

Trump/ Edwards 2012

Turd_Ferguson

6/3/2011, 08:36 PM

That's a snipe den, for sure.^^^^This.

CrimsonKel

6/3/2011, 08:49 PM

Cool a snipe den.

So I did a little research and found that gophers evidently like to eat hostas. I planted a couple of hostsa on the other side of the sidewalk this year so I may have found the critters objectives.

This aggression will not stand man.

Memtig14

6/3/2011, 08:57 PM

Not a mole or a gopher. They hate sunlight and would never leave an opening above ground. Think frog or something like that. Or could be a crawfish or the dreaded Ring-tailed Whooping Snake.

Memtig14

6/3/2011, 08:58 PM

jmo

CrimsonKel

6/3/2011, 09:06 PM

It looks like the perfect opportunity for a little hosta raiding to me. And the victim is still so young.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2304/5794847553_cedf543300_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/futon2011/5794847553/)
thevictim (http://www.flickr.com/photos/futon2011/5794847553/) by yadayada2011 (http://www.flickr.com/people/futon2011/), on Flickr

Fraggle145

6/3/2011, 09:14 PM

^^^^This.

Yep. I second this.

LISTEN TO ME I'M A BIOLOGIST!!![hairGel]

Chuck Bao

6/4/2011, 12:47 AM

That is quite a lot of burrowing and displaced dirt.

I would guess that you got crabs.

olevetonahill

6/4/2011, 08:25 AM

Judging from the Pic, Its obviously a 2 bit Ho

Sooner_Tuf

6/4/2011, 03:19 PM

Its nowhere near big enough to be a gopher hole and the tunnel isn't plugged. It is probably some kind of wasp like a cicada killer or something similar.

oumartin

6/4/2011, 03:24 PM

seen this before. smurf hole

pphilfran

6/4/2011, 03:26 PM

Its nowhere near big enough to be a gopher hole and the tunnel isn't plugged. It is probably some kind of wasp like a cicada killer or something similar.

I go with this...

pphilfran

6/4/2011, 03:36 PM

Trust me on this...

Get a quart mason jar, a long screwdriver, and a 6"x6" piece of cardboard...

Place the mason jar over the hole...jab the screwdriver into the ground, an inch or so from the hole...do it hard, you gotta shake the ground...if you don't get an immediate response move to the other side of the hole and give her hell one more time...

Now...if anything is in there they are going to get pizzed off...quickly...they jump out of the hole into the mason jar...slide the cardboard underneath the opening...

Now you got a new pet...like it or not...

As a kid we caught tarantulas with this method...every once in a while we would catch one of the cicada killers or a close relative...

Optional equipment would include a video camera and insect bite cream...

oumartin

6/4/2011, 03:40 PM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/CK_burrowing.jpg

SoonerofAlabama

6/4/2011, 03:46 PM

It isn't a cicada killer. Cicada killers make horseshoe-like nests.

oumartin

6/4/2011, 03:48 PM

It isn't a cicada killer. Cicada killers make horseshoe-like nests.

wikipedia says you are wrong

fadada1

6/4/2011, 04:34 PM

If that's a gopher hole, that's one GIGANTIC quarter.

Whet

6/4/2011, 05:03 PM

Are you trying to bribe it out of the hole with a quarter? Try a buck - can't buy much with two bits these days.

CrimsonKel

6/4/2011, 06:14 PM

Are you trying to bribe it out of the hole with a quarter? Try a buck - can't buy much with two bits these days.

Ahh. That explains it. Too darned cheap.

The hole in my hard looks an awful lot like the mole hole on this page so it think it may be a mole: http://www.r-lawns.com/custom2.html.

On the other hand, I got a newsletter from the HOA and it said that there have been a lot of snake sightings in the neighborhood. They were using the normal definition of snake. It wasn't a metaphor AFAIK.

Penguin

6/4/2011, 07:23 PM

Just shove a water hose in there and see what floats out.

soonerchk

6/4/2011, 08:02 PM

Fire ants. You should move now.

Flagstaffsooner

6/4/2011, 08:03 PM

Thats where Mack has been hiding.

oudavid1

6/4/2011, 08:11 PM

Gasoline down the hole. You know the rest.

"Dont Shoot! Let em Burn!" - Saving Private Ryan

Al Gore

6/4/2011, 09:15 PM

Its nowhere near big enough to be a gopher hole and the tunnel isn't plugged. It is probably some kind of wasp like a cicada killer or something similar.
This......

tcrb

6/4/2011, 11:19 PM

Looks like a cricket burrow to me. Pour water down it 'til he comes up for air and then take him fishing.

soonercruiser

6/5/2011, 01:04 PM

In OkieLand, those type of soft, fine granular, large-hole mounds are usually done by Cicada Killers.
They look very menacing, like a very large yellow jacket.
But, their prey is cicadas and other large insects.
Most of the mounds I see around here are usually at the junction of grass and concrete - for some reason.

http://members.cox.net/franklipsinic/Other/cicada%20killer.bmp

I don't kill them anymore, since I saw one kill a wasp!

THis link has a "mound" picture.
But, most I see look like your photo in the first post.
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef004.asp

http://sites.lafayette.edu/hollidac/research/biology-of-cicada-killer-wasps/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_cicada_killer
http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg331.html

You tube video...
KHOTx6ybKRQ

If similar mounds are spread around grassy areas, and the dirt more like little chunks (usually no hole visible), it might be mole crickets.

yankee

6/5/2011, 03:09 PM

Sooner_Tuf

6/5/2011, 05:40 PM

Cicada Killers like all the Hornets in Oklahoma are beneficial and you really shouldn't kill them unless they nest in a place you will disturb frequently enough to make them attack you.

If you have a garden they will single handed eradicate most of the pests in it. Both the leaf eaters and worms. None if the Hornets I have ever come across are naturally aggressive. If you make a fast move at them they will sting you. If you leave them alone, even if they land on you, they won't hurt you.

Their venom is not dangerous to most people but it has added irritant that other wasps don't. That added ingredient makes them less dangerous but much more painful.

The years I don't have hornets I have tons of yellow jackets and blue wasps. Those little SOBs sting me all summer long. When I have Hornets they take of the other ones and I have a better summer.

They can be a little intimidating but I like having them around.

KuppiKunta

6/5/2011, 06:31 PM

Not a mole or a gopher. They hate sunlight and would never leave an opening above ground. Think frog or something like that. Or could be a crawfish or the dreaded Ring-tailed Whooping Snake.

Please explain the engineering behind leaving an opening below ground.

Partial Qualifier

6/5/2011, 08:02 PM

Not a mole or a gopher. They hate sunlight and would never leave an opening above ground.

Actually, gophers do indeed make open holes. Their dens tend to have multiple open holes. They hate predators, but they're ok with sunlight

I know this because I had a gopher once and every now and then, I'd see his nappy head sticking up out of one of those holes, looking at me... taunting me..

soonercruiser

6/5/2011, 09:12 PM

Glad I found this thread. We've had those cicada killers in our yard every summer for years, and none of us knew what kind of bugs those were. Very menacing looking bugs, but glad to know they aren't much in the stinging department.

See my last link.
I believe that the females do sting!
(Pays to know the difference before you make them a pet!)
:D

GDC

6/6/2011, 07:59 AM

Looks like a chupacabra lair to me.

Dio

6/6/2011, 12:32 PM

Actually, gophers do indeed make open holes. Their dens tend to have multiple open holes. They hate predators, but they're ok with sunlight

I know this because I had a gopher once and every now and then, I'd see his nappy head sticking up out of one of those holes, looking at me... taunting me..

DO YOU KNOW WHAT GOPHERS CAN DO TO A GOLF COURSE?