by Carol B
Member since:
August 10, 2008

Does anyone know what could have caused this?

July 26, 2009 07:43 PM EDT
views: 106 | comments: 40

Last night around 11pm our dog started barking. When my husband went to investigate he passed by something unusual on our patio blocks. He yelled for me to come out and see where the sand under our blocks was bubbling up and a sand pile was forming on top of the blocks. There is cement under them and then sand on top of the cement and then the blocks with sand in between them. This is what it looked like last night. This was taken with a flash.

 

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d578/d851/d745/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

 

The way it was bubbling up out of the ground I was thinking an alien,lol. We went into the house and this morning we checked it and this is what we saw.

 

http://media-files.gather.com/images/d579/d851/d745/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg

 

Does anyone know what could do this? It is a real mystery to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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Comments: 40

Kat W. Jul 26, 2009, 7:46pm EDT
Hmmm. It looks sorta like an ant hill.
Nellie (The Bad Santa of Gather) Jul 26, 2009, 7:47pm EDT
ants....might be fire ants or piss ants....keep an eye, piss ants have a smell to them that dogs dont like...(like pee)...and yes, they are really piss ants.
Carol B Jul 26, 2009, 7:57pm EDT
Never heard of piss ants, I will have to look that up, thanks. If it wasn't bubbling up we would have thought it was an ant hill but we didn't see anything. It came up really fast. We had company and it wasn't there an hour before that.
Janet Somewhere Up On The Mount Jul 26, 2009, 7:47pm EDT
Never saw anything like that. Ant hill sounds good.
Infinity M. Jul 26, 2009, 7:49pm EDT
???
Lynda F. Jul 26, 2009, 7:49pm EDT
wow I don't know but that is weird looking. wonder if you title it "aliens" and send it to the National Inquirer you'd be rich lol just joking
Karen M. Jul 26, 2009, 7:50pm EDT
Definitely ANTS...Get rid of them ASAP!! :)
Maybe some water got in there and bubbled up? I'm not sure. It's neat looking.
RJ H. Jul 26, 2009, 7:51pm EDT
Was water coming up with the sand?
Carol B Jul 26, 2009, 7:56pm EDT
No but the sand that came up looked wet. We had very hot weather yesterday and rain the day before that. So the sand could have still been wet under there.
RJ H. Jul 26, 2009, 8:05pm EDT
It looks like water formed the hole on the top in the second picture.
Renita P. Jul 26, 2009, 8:00pm EDT
I was thinking ant hill as well
Marsha S. Jul 26, 2009, 8:04pm EDT
my first thought was ants too
Cecilia Lyne Jul 26, 2009, 8:21pm EDT
no clue
Nana to Seven Cutiepies Jul 26, 2009, 8:32pm EDT
There's a wasp that does this too, it lives underground and eats locust and katydids. I did an article about them two summers ago.
Sandra H. Jul 26, 2009, 8:35pm EDT
My guess would be ants also but I really don't know.....definitely interesting!
Linda B. Jul 26, 2009, 8:49pm EDT
That hole looks a little large for ants....looks sorta like a crawdad hole but....how big is it? Have you noticed any shifting of the blocks that might indicate a leaky pipe or that the ground is saturated and you are getting water flowing out from under the weight of the blocks?
Carol B Jul 28, 2009, 1:54pm EDT
No and it has been days now and there are no signs of ants or anything. We had more rain and it didn't even wash it away. It is really weird. The original hole was about a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch.
Dorothy H. Jul 26, 2009, 9:04pm EDT
Looks like a tarantulla is making home.
Carol B Jul 28, 2009, 1:54pm EDT
OOOO, no tarantulla's here thank goodness.
anne ( way 2 crazy of a life ) c. Jul 26, 2009, 9:10pm EDT
not a clue
Marianne R. Jul 26, 2009, 9:14pm EDT
Ants make sense, but I really don't have a clue.
Lisa C. Jul 26, 2009, 9:35pm EDT
It looks like ants to me too.
Stephanie S. Jul 26, 2009, 9:46pm EDT
sounds like ants are the culprit.. cool shot!
Monica H. Jul 26, 2009, 10:32pm EDT
I have no idea, could it be a mole. Maybe not, with the cement under there.
Janet H. Jul 26, 2009, 10:37pm EDT
Someone from the department at a university that covers bugs might be able to tell you, or the government agency that has to do with insects, bugs, and pests--forgot what the agency is called.
Janet H. Jul 26, 2009, 10:38pm EDT
Please let us know when you find out what did it!
April H. Jul 26, 2009, 10:44pm EDT
I'm not following the ants theory since you actually saw the sand bubbling up! Let us know if you figure it out!
Kim B. Jul 26, 2009, 10:46pm EDT
I agree, piss ants.
Priscilla (wishing I was in Costa Rica) ~. Jul 26, 2009, 11:12pm EDT
Interesting...whatever made it!
Janet "Jax" B. Jul 26, 2009, 11:53pm EDT
Probably either some sort of insect...or a snake....I'd keep an eye on at and see what happens. If it's ants, I'd get rid of them asap.
Steph-in-NE ..... Jul 27, 2009, 12:19am EDT
ant hill or borring wasp,, what ever pour gas and light a match on top of it,,
Carol B Jul 28, 2009, 1:56pm EDT
That would ruin my patio blocks. Could be a wasp we have seen lots of them around here lately. But no sign of insects there yet and it has been 4 days.
timi A. Jul 27, 2009, 1:40am EDT
Dont have a clue
Sophie S. Jul 27, 2009, 2:29am EDT
I would try to flush them out.....maybe let my bro do it because I would be afraid of whatever came out of there.
Lori A Jul 27, 2009, 4:32pm EDT
Im not sure but that would really give me the creeps in a big way I would stay away from that but you know maybe it was a mole concidering the size of the whole or maybe bees -I know I would be charging to walmart and buying a bunch of bug stuff and blast it - Gosh just sitting here looking at that makes me itchy lol
Carol B Jul 28, 2009, 1:59pm EDT
LOL Lori, the pile is still there but the whole is bigger cause I think my dog stepped on it. My husband left it there because he wanted to see if anything developed and it didn't. The sand is dry now even though we had some rain last night. When it first came up it was very wet. We will push the sand back into the blocks and see if it happens again.
lynn a. Aug 1, 2009, 5:18pm EDT
While I have no idea what it is, and thought it could be ants or a Japanese Beetle, since that is the kind of holes they make in our back yard, I just honestly don't know. But if you find out, I sure would like to know the cause of this.
lynn a. Aug 1, 2009, 5:19pm EDT
I think the Japanese Beetles come out as grubs first, but not certain.
Carol B Aug 3, 2009, 4:35pm EDT
That is interesting that you think Japanese Beetles as we have had a problem with them this year on our plants. Never did see anything come out of that hole or any more piles like that.

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