What's burrowing under my borders?

[Etceteraaah]

Something is pushing earth up under my plants. Every day for the past week when I've looked at my borders I can see the earth is raised in patches along two sides of my garden. They are not mole hills- the earth is merely raised into a small hump that you can only see when really looking for them- and they're not where a cat has been digging. When I step onto the earth to press it down again it feels spongy and soft as if it's been pushed up from below.

I don't really care what creature is causing this, it's more curiosity at what may be living below my garden. For reference, I live in the middle of a 1960s housing estate. Any ideas?

They do sound like small mole hills.

Can you take a picture ?

Mice. We have a mouse problem in the garden, and my flower beds are riddled with holes. Fortunately, next door's cat is a good mouser and has caught quite a few. That's how I know they are mice.

Ok more humps have appeared in the last hour or so plus I can see some holes so I'm presuming mice. Some of the humps are long as if it were something moving along not far below the surface. Interesting 🧐

Mole.

I once saw a mole pop out of its hole on a verge, when I was riding my horse one day. The horse and mole seemed unbothered but I was very surprised!

I'd expect mole but if not, then bank voles don't live far below the surface.

Voles and mice use the holes for shelter, so wouldn't need to burrow long distances pushing up soil at intervals. Moles use the holes for hunting earthworms,

We had a wasp nest in the lawn that looked a bit like that. I think you'd know if you had a sufeit of wasps though?

Id actually guess rat from that (sorry!).
They tend to make borrows/runs along fences, or buildings. They use them for shelter, so for them to be making them in this hot weather would make sense to me.

It might be moles, they don't always leave obvious hills if the exit isn't in grass. But I'm afraid it might be rats, it looks too large for mice or voles to me.

Looks exactly like the vole or field mice holes we had all over our lawn and burrowing under the sleepers which make our raised bed.

Can you set a humane trap and see what you catch? Then you will know what you are dealing with at least. Voles destroy the young roots of plants by eating them, they wrecked our lawn with track marks all over it going back and forth to their burrows.

Mole. Don’t trap it. If you can get a wildlife camera you might catch a glimpse, moles are so beautiful.

Thanks everyone! I really don't want to trap anything and I'm quite happy for whatever it is to co-exist in the garden with us, although I am a bit pissed off that they have appeared to kill off a few of my seedlings. And I've also noticed this morning that my courgettes' leaves have been nibbled. But c'est le vie. We have a cat that is returning home today and there are loads of red kites circling over our garden so if they can survive these threats then they are welcome to stay 😆