What's making these big sandpiles?

14 years ago

We have lived in Florida for 3 years and have never had this problem before. We live in the sandhills with pine forests in North Central Florida. In just one day something has made at least 15 sand piles about 1 foot high and 2-3 feet wide all around the property. There are no holes in the piles, it's as if they have been pushed up from below. We have gopher tortoises, so I know what their burrows look like but that's not what did these.

Could it be armadillos? As I said, no holes, even when I push the piles down. I also posted on the Florida gardening forum. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

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Comments (7)

kentuck_8b
14 years ago
Gophers.
BambooGranny
14 years ago
ROFL! Nope, not gophers. Not in FL. It is the illusive Nine-Banded Armadillo. They make big ol' sand piles where they root for worms and grubs. The sand piles often look like ant beds. They come out at night and do their dirty work, and sometimes on overcast days they will sneak out around fence lines or woods lines and root, especially if they have little ones following them around.

Armadillos are extremely unique. When they breed, they let down one ovum. Once fertilized, this 'blastocyst' sort of hibernates until the timing is right for it to divide and implant (when environmental variables are good). It will divide into four separate blastocysts and then they will implant and grow. Thus, the Nine-Banded Armadillo babies are always born in sets of four, always the same sex (because they are from the same egg) and have their eyes open and are ready to go as soon as they are born, like baby chickens.
Nine-Banded Armadillos are not native to the US, but they migrated here on their own many years ago, via Texas, from Mexico. They are hardy and can thrive in moist as well as arid climates. Their ability to 'hold' their fetus implantation (up to two years from the actual time of breeding) is how they have succeeded so well.
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Thank you for posting your question. I learned a lot by researching for the link below. The link has photos and information you might enjoy. From UF: The southeastern pocket gopher, Geomys pinetis, is also known as the sandy-mounder in Florida. Unfortunately, there are no chemical repellents known to be effective against gophers. Vibrating devices have not been proven to repel gophers. Reports that Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum kills gophers by blocking their digestive tracts have been proven to be false. Finally, tunnel flooding has been used successfully in other parts of the country. However, this method usually does not work here since the southeastern pocket gopher is restricted to deep, well-drained sandy soils in Florida. Here is a link that might be useful: Southeastern Pocket Gopher
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Richard (Vero Beach, Florida)
14 years ago
Why not gopher? They do appear to inhabit North Central Florida. Pocket Gopher I'm certainly no expert but reading that article doesn't rule out "Gopher" in my mind? What am I missing?

Damage and Control

The most common problem associated with pocket gophers is the numerous large, sandy mounds they deposit on the surface.
PresidentMan
12 years ago
The world's largest ant.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
12 years ago
If you read the original description carefully, Granny, I'd think that you'd eliminate armadillo damage. It absolutely sounds like the southern pocket gopher to me.
User
12 years ago
Definitely Pocket Gophers.
FYI - if you are doing research into these, make sure you search for "Pocket Gophers". People in the northern and western states sometimes mistakenly call ground squirrels and even marmots "gophers".
You have the real Gophers, the Pocket Gophers.

They push up the sand piles from the sand they are removing from their burrows.
flatwoods_farm
12 years ago
Pocket Gopher.

What's making these big sandpiles?

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kentuck_8b

BambooGranny

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