My newly fenced (almost done) pasture has at least 5 large groundhog (I believe that’s the culprit?!) holes in it. I do not think they are currently in use as many have debris (leaves/sticks) around the opening. I did pour used kitty litter down them anyway to kick anyone out should they still be using the holes. My question is, what is the best way to fill the holes for my horses’ safety? How deep do those holes go? Any other safety tips to make them safe, non-leg breaking holes?
We have a number of holes that need attending. I tried putting dirt to fill the hole, then found it dug out. It was either the original occupant or a new occupant…holes are attractive to small culprits. I then went to gravel…still got dug out, finally I went defcon 5, poured a bag of sackrete in both sides, waited a while, watered with a watering can…it set up quickly, then put earth over the top. Problem solved…until the little devils learn how to use a jack hammer
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If you don’t have something currently living in the holes. You should be able to fill them with dirt and seed over the top. You may have some settling over time, but it shouldn’t be significant if you tamp the dirt as you fill the hole.
If you have current resident, which is possible as the spring is the time of year for having and rearing young, you will have trouble keeping it filled.
I had some groundhog holes in the upper field. I used a small backhoe, dug the holes up then put the dirt back in the holes and ran the machine over it to compact it. Once the grass grew back you can’t even tell where it was. I think that discouraged the critter from coming back as well.
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Dig them out with a backhoe and then fill them in. That is what I did and they never came back.
I fill mine with rocks. I usually can find enough rocks to do the job, then kick some dirt over the top of the filled hole. But you do need to be RID of the rodents before doing this, and it’s hard to tell in advance if they are under there or not. So try filling them, and see if they stay filled. If they get dug out again, the rodent is still in residence. In that case, you need some coyotes or other rodent extracting roving visitor to do the job for you (badgers are really good too). OR, a gun and do it yourself. Then fill the holes again.
