Vandals or Rodents? Recommend your surveillance system (West, Buffalo: landscaping, agricultural)

[msbiz]

A couple of days ago our neighbors (in our culdesac) landscaping drains (that run from the gutters, under the flower bed mulch, to the yard) were pulled up.

This morning ours were pulled up, a long track on both sides of the drains.
They were torn up extensively with holes, tear outs, bent, etc. the flowers in the flower bed were fine.

The neighbors down the street have the same thing happened last night (the same time ours occured). One neighbor said her dog was barking ferociously at something and also her light bulb was broken and she heard a big thud. She contacted the sheriff this morning. He thinks its rodents, but that doesn't explain the bulb being broken,

Does this sound like Rodents? If so, what kind?

We are planning to a surveillance system today. Please recommend yours?

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by msbiz

A couple of days ago our neighbors (in our culdesac) landscaping drains (that run from the gutters, under the flower bed mulch, to the yard) were pulled up.

This morning ours were pulled up, a long track on both sides of the drains.
They were torn up extensively with holes, tear outs, bent, etc. the flowers in the flower bed were fine.

The neighbors down the street have the same thing happened last night (the same time ours occured). One neighbor said her dog was barking ferociously at something and also her light bulb was broken and she heard a big thud. She contacted the sheriff this morning. He thinks its rodents, but that doesn't explain the bulb being broken,

Does this sound like Rodents? If so, what kind?

We are planning to a surveillance system today. Please recommend yours?

Feral hogs maybe? I don't know of any animal that would pull up drains without causing damage to flowers on top of the drains. I guess I cannot picture what you are describing.

[msbiz]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

Feral hogs maybe? I don't know of any animal that would pull up drains without causing damage to flowers on top of the drains. I guess I cannot picture what you are describing.

There are flowers planted on each side of two of the drains in one flower bed(but no flowers planted on top of the drains). No damage to nearby flowers. No damage to grass in the yard. Just to the mulch and the drains.

The 3rd drain is in the second flower bed, but there are no flowers planted in that bed, just hedges. No damage to the hedges.

[jimboburnsy]

Memorial Park and the Arboretum have been swimming in feral hogs recently and the more agricultural areas West of town have had hogs for decades, steadily getting worse in any place where the pigs are not vigilantly prosecuted. They use Buffalo Bayou and the big electrical easements as travel corridors into the relatively low-pressure municipal parks. If you are near the bayou, I'll bet my paycheck that you're seeing damage from feral pigs.

Do you have any oak or pecan trees on your lot?

[msbiz]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

Memorial Park and the Arboretum have been swimming in feral hogs recently and the more agricultural areas West of town have had hogs for decades, steadily getting worse in any place where the pigs are not vigilantly prosecuted. They use Buffalo Bayou and the big electrical easements as travel corridors into the relatively low-pressure municipal parks. If you are near the bayou, I'll bet my paycheck that you're seeing damage from feral pigs.

Do you have any oak or pecan trees on your lot?

An small oak tree and a small pine tree. No pecan trees.
I wonder why just the drains and not the lawn? Same with my neighbor's incident on Monday....just his drains.

[LostInHouston]

Originally Posted by msbiz

I wonder why just the drains and not the lawn?

Maybe a hog has figured out that the moist environment surrounding the drain provides a smorgasbord of good eats?

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by msbiz

An small oak tree and a small pine tree. No pecan trees.
I wonder why just the drains and not the lawn? Same with my neighbor's incident on Monday....just his drains.

Pigs love rotten acorns. If you have an accumulation of old acorns in a wet environment like a landscape drain they can smell it and will start rooting around for access. I'm venturing a wild guess without seeing your property of course, but what you're describing sounds very, very much like a hog rooting.

Maybe you and your neighbor want to go halfsies on a trap and stick it in the backyard somewhere and bait it with corn? I'll bet the sheriff would do something if you told him you had trapped his rodents and they are actually wild pigs.

[msbiz]

Originally Posted by jimboburnsy

Pigs love rotten acorns. If you have an accumulation of old acorns in a wet environment like a landscape drain they can smell it and will start rooting around for access. I'm venturing a wild guess without seeing your property of course, but what you're describing sounds very, very much like a hog rooting.

Maybe you and your neighbor want to go halfsies on a trap and stick it in the backyard somewhere and bait it with corn? I'll bet the sheriff would do something if you told him you had trapped his rodents and they are actually wild pigs.

I think you have something. My husband had just watered the the flower bed yesterday evening.
Yet, I'm still a little shocked

[msbiz]

It happened again to our neighbor last night. He checked his surveillance this morning that he recently installed and it two dogs or wolves that are tearing the drains up.

Each time this has occurred it has been the night before trash pickup the next day.

[HoustonRonnie]

could be armadillos.

Just sayin'...

Ronnie