What the fresh hell is this? Gross pic attached

[PoptartPoptart]

Went out into the garden this morning and the bloody foxes have yet again dug up a load of dirt trying to burrow under the shed. On top of the pile of dirt we’re about 5 of these things, swarming with flies 🤮
What the hell is it?

It looks like shellfish...how big is it?

About 10cm ish

We get those. It's some sort of larva. Let me see if I can find out

Chafer grubs
www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/advice/pests_and_diseases/identifier.shtml?chafer_grubs

Looks like a dead larva of some kind.

@Mustbetimeforachange thanks... I think

I knew mumsnet would know the answer!
Now I’m off to burn my garden down

The horrid things in the link only grow to 3cm and the OP say the things she found were 10cm.

Gahhh 😑😑

I might have over exaggerated the size.. this is definitely what it is boak boak boak 🤮

Ew

Phew, I was at 10cm!!! That would be horrifying 😄

Looks like a stag beetle larvae OP!

If they are 10cm, they are likely stag beetle grubs, which are increasingly endangered. Put them back in the soil and let them get on with life.

It drives me bloody mad when people say kill it - it's not doing you any harm, and even the much-maligned chafer grub turns into the [also] increasingly rare may bug.

A bit of tolerance goes a long way - god knows insects are having a hard enough time as it is without humans deliberately killing them just because they don't like how they look.

@Kernowgal
Well said!

Just leave them they’re not harming you, they won’t harm you. Put them back in the ground.

The thing is though, they are causing a problem. At least twice a week we have huge deep holes dug up all over the lawn by the foxes. I had no idea why until now, but apparently animals such as foxes feed on them.
Not only do these huge holes look unsightly but it’s also dangerous for the DC running around in the garden. We have to keep filling in the holes so they don’t trip or fall and twist their ankle.
I might pop down to the garden centre to see what they advise.

@Kernowgal totally agree, well said

Can you get on the spider threads and tell all those who kill them to stop that as well pls and thank you?!

So it’s the foxes that are the issue, not the grubs. Can you do anything to keep the foxes out of your garden?

@shirleyphallus I have almost done that a few times!

I appreciate that people are scared of them, especially the big hairy buggers that appear out of nowhere, but we need these creatures. They are all part of the ecosystem and nature abhors a vacuum - get rid of one thing and something else (often worse) will fill the gap.

Keeping the foxes out of the garden would be preferable but I have no idea how as they come over the wall at the back and also the fences between the gardens.
We already have those high pitched ultrasonic sensors (useless) and we even tried a water spray sensor. It’s impossible to cover all ground tho as the garden is quite big. I’ve also spent a fortune on cayenne pepper, curry powder etc as I read that they don’t like the smell. It didn’t work.
At a loss really.