What is digging a hole in my planter?

[Maggiethecat]

I have a big planter outside my front door to brighten it up.

But I noticed a couple of times that the soil looked a bit dug up although the plants were fine.

This morning there's a massive hole - big enough to fit my unclenched hand and I'm wondering what could have caused this?

Squirrels? I've resorted to putting pebbles all around my plants in pots as the furry gits will try to dig anywhere...

Yep squirrels

but what are they digging for? the plants seem intact

just googled - burying their food it seems. suggestions are to mix soil with deterrents such as pepper. sounds a bit cruel. maybe garlic?

Cats, rats, mice, squirrels could be anything really, get some sharpish stones to cover the soil.

You can buy nice small stones from garden centres e.g alpine stones rhs ones and cover the compost in your pots. It looks nice too and stops weeds

It's blackbirds that dig significant holes in my garden. I was when I finally tracked down the culprits but since then much visual evidence has confirmed it.

Something last year excavated a bumble bee nest under our lawn. It was like a bulldozer had gone at it!

A fox has just this very minute jumped up into our large planter and buried a biscuit

I had a toad who dug a hole in one of my planters. Would sit there when it was dark

We once found an egg in our front planter. A few months later we set up a ring doorbell (not for the sole purpose of catching the digger). Turns out it was a fox. It’s been back many times just digging massive holes.

Blackbirds are shameless digging bastards that can make an almighty mess.

Squirrels!!

@DeepfriedPizza

We once found an egg in our front planter. A few months later we set up a ring doorbell (not for the sole purpose of catching the digger). Turns out it was a fox. It’s been back many times just digging massive holes.

I found two eggs buried in the front border. I suspected foxes but didn't have any evidence. Have seen the cubs playing in our front gardens in the middle of the night, and had an adult sit on my Kniphofia and flatten it, which was really annoying!

Both had been partially excavated and the yolk and white extracted. Goodness knows how long they'd been there (bleugh)

It’s squirrels here, they drive me nuts, they leave a proper mess when they do it. My husband topped up some pots at the weekend with some mulch, he may has well habe thrown it all over the patio based on the mess the squirrels made after. I’m constantly finding them arse up in the pots.

Some pebbles or gravel stops it, I need to do the rest of ours now sigh.

I regularly get oak saplings in my planters from squirrels 'planting' acorns.

My well meaning but misguided neighbour has a habit of leaving whole fat balls on her lawn 'for the birds', which apart from feeding rats are also popular with squirrels, who then sometimes bury them in my planters ... they're quite unpleasant to dig up.

I had this, it was a toad.

He was very sweet, I just left him to it in the end! Once he'd got the hole to his liking, he just sat in it and didn't make any more mess.

@Faranth

I had this, it was a toad.

He was very sweet, I just left him to it in the end! Once he'd got the hole to his liking, he just sat in it and didn't make any more mess.

🤣 I'm going to get one of those night cameras to catch the bugger!

Not the clearest photo - but Toad in the Hole

@ineedaholidaynow

Not the clearest photo - but Toad in the Hole

Love it!

Urgh - I once had a plant dislodged from a pot and stuck my hand in to move the soil back so I could reposition it. My fingers were scraping on what I though was a stone, but it turned out to be a toad 🤢

That photo has made my day, @ineedaholidaynow 😁

(that was meant to be a smiley face)

I put twigs/sticks in at different angles in my pots to deter nocturnal diggers and it seems to help!