whats digging up my potatoes but not eating them??

[trickomal]

Is this the work of a mole?? Dozens of spots like pictured all over my around 5 acre potato field, just dug up the potatoes but didn’t bite into any… thanks in advance…

 

[Alasgun]

I’m sorry to say I have no idea as to your dilemma but I will give you the trophy for “most unusual first post!
Welcome to the forum; from Alaska.

*on edit;
That last picture looks a lot like where foxes have dug up a small critter, voles mice etc. not knowing much about your set up or location i just toss that out. They will dig to eat some bugs as well;
In the next post @flowerbug ask if you can see any tracks? That would go a long way’s to “tracking down” your culprit.

 

[flowerbug]

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Is this the work of a mole?? Dozens of spots like pictured all over my around 5 acre potato field, just dug up the potatoes but didn’t bite into any… thanks in advance…

sorry, i won't do it again! ok, that was a joke, i didn't really do it...

i doubt moles would dig like that, raccoons, skunks, possums, etc. will dig for worms and grubs and perhaps that is what is going on here, but it could be some other creature. since you've not included a general location we can't really narrow it down much.

can you see any tracks at all?

p.s. welcome to TEG from mid-Michigan.

 

[Dahlia]

Welcome to the forum from the Pacific Northwest!
I once experienced a vole invasion in my garden where the voles broke each of my pea plants at the stem at about 3 inches up and just left all of the pea pods untouched laying on the ground.

 

[trickomal]

sorry, i won't do it again! ok, that was a joke, i didn't really do it...

i doubt moles would dig like that, raccoons, skunks, possums, etc. will dig for worms and grubs and perhaps that is what is going on here, but it could be some other creature. since you've not included a general location we can't really narrow it down much.

can you see any tracks at all?

p.s. welcome to TEG from mid-Michigan.

nope no tracks at all... cant be anything much bigger then in the line of a gopher... some of the dig sites have a bit of tunneling, an i cant say they are any bigger then a quarter...

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

@trickomal Let’s add one more critter looks a lot like my ground squirrel holes when they finish they can dig thru and open up a whole acre with no problem.
Doesn’t look like mole or gopher since our property was over run by them. Moles eat worms and leave dirt mounds so do the gophers eat plant roots even drag plants under ground and voles eat roots and leave mounds. I don’t see mounds.

Or rabbits? Leave 2 large openings in the ground , one entry and one exit, zero openings in between. Opening holes pictured don’t look big enough for rabbits.

It’s a conundrum . Traps to get the ground surirrels, gophers and moles. Posion if possible for voles. Remove food if possible and spray with peppermint, vinegar , hot pepper oil and dish soap mixed in spray bottle to discourage them. Also tapped the gophers and moles .

I had to eliminate the food they dig for in the pastures sprayed with a pasture spray recommended by the University of Oregon for pasture management 2x’s a year. Haven’t had any gophers , moles voles for months since, even deer had not seen deer scat for months. Just a few days ago eliminated the ground squirrels literally dug up areas round the entire foundations of the house, barn and out buildings. Also they killed a couple of trees..Used squirrel traps.
Good Luck.