Hi, I went into my garden shed this afternoon and was suprised to see that an amount of soil had appeared on the floor inside the shed. The soil has been rolled into rough balls a couple of cm in diameter each and had been carefully stacked against the door and a ventilation hole presumably to try and stop cold air from blowing in. I`m guessing that there must be a hundred or so of these balls in total. This must have happened in the last few days as I was in the shed about a week ago and there was no signs of this then.

My first instinct was to remove them but I thought I`d better try and get some information on what I`m dealing with before destroying all its hard work.

A quick search of the net didnt reveal much, has anybody seen this before?

Thanks

Hi Hairy, welcome to the forums! What an interesting question, I have never heard or seen anything like it before. Do you happen to have a picture?

I would leave them be unless you find out any reason to remove them, as you say it sounds like something has gone to a lot of trouble to make whatever it is.

Oooh, that sounds...different!

A photo would be much appreciated.

Welcome to Wildlife UK!

Kingfisher

Thanks for the replies

I had a quick look again this morning and my estimate of 100 was a little low, there must be a couple of hundred of these things.

Photos attached.

They have moved slightly due to me opening the door but it can be seen from the pics that they were stacked against the door (there are some still in the vent hole).

If it helps I`m on the east coast in Scotland and my house is completely surrounded by fields. There are some mouse droppings in the shed, not sure if its related or not?

Thanks

My first thought was cliff swallows. Then I remembered that you are in the UK! And, that's not a cliff, either...

Another possibility here where I live would be the 'mud daubers' , which are members of the wasp family.

I don't think it's related to mice, though. It IS fascinating.

Kingfisher

Dung beetles?

Kingfisher

I initial though dung beetles as the fields have been recently spread with manure its pretty chilly up here thou and I thought they liked warmer climates? The balls look a little jagged for them and theres also similar sized stones in the the pile.

I cant see any form of life around it, no insects to speak of or any other evidence. The nearest soil around is about 10 foot away so whatever it is has been busy.

Very interesting! Just a very wild thought, but is there any possibility that it is a mole hill?

Have you tried cutting one open to see if there's anything inside?

It's a most intriguing puzzle.

Kingfisher

Hi, I cleared some stuff out the shed today to take to the tip. Upon moving a few boxes I found another, smaller, pile of soil.



upon inspection the wooden support piller was missing something:



as can be seen the piller should be resting inside the concrete hole. Whatever it is has eaten through approx 6 inches of wood to get in (or out) before tunnelling down, which explains where the soil came from

What it doesnt explain is why the soil was stacked trying to block cold air coming into the shed?

Anyway, Dogwoods guess of molehill seems to be correct unless there are any other animals that would do this? rats? there are no other moleshills anywhere that I can find.

So i guess my next question is should I be concerned about a mole digging around? The shed is attached to my house and both have concrete floors. Is the little fella going to cause me any problems? After finding out what it was I removed the soil today and considering it must have happened over the last 3 or 4 days there was a suprising amount of soil.

Thanks for all the help do far

I'm pleased you have solved the mystery. I've seen mole-hills in some weird places, but inside a concrete floored shed is a first. I don't think you need worry about your house, its floor would usually be made up of a thick concrete slab, a waterproof membrane and a thick layer of stone, enough to deter even the most energetic of moles, from your latest photo it looks as though the mole found the one spot in your shed floor where there wasn't any concrete, probably that part of the post in the hole had already rotted away.

The vent could just be a coincidence, it just happened to be at the spot where the mole pushed up its hill.

I think Dogwood has solved the mystery! I have never seen a mole digging into a structure either, however...that's certainly what it would appear to be. I don't think it poses a threat to your house, but you probably want to replace the wooden support post, and perhaps put down some metal flashing or summat to deter the mole from returning.

Kingfisher

Thanks guys

Popped out before and he`s been busy again, more soil pilled up. I`ll probably put something over the hole to stop him returning.

Out of curiosity are they nocturnal or are they active during the day? I wouldnt mind getting a look at him as I`ve never seen a mole before, although I`m not sure how long I`d fancy waiting around in this freezing weather.

Moles can be active at any time of the day or night, so you could be out there a long time! I've never seen one come out of the burrow, though.

Kingfisher

You're unlikely to see the mole but if you sit quietly in your shed there is a good chance of seeing the hill being created by the mole pushing up the soil from below. You'll need to sit quietly though because the mole can feel the vibrations of your footsteps through the soil. Moles rarely move on the surface except when looking for new territories or when forced out of their burrows by flooding. There were reports in Lincolnshire of moles being seen swimming through the flood-water during last summer's floods.