Who is doing this and what are they doing?

how far is plano from stephenville? lol

18 is just the perfect age for pulling tricks on mom.

too funny!!!!!!!!!! the government claims it was the air force but there sure are a lot who do not believe it --------my divits are too small--how tiny are aliens???

kathy they did pull some on me when they were younger--live crawfish in my sink when i got up durring the night to use the restroom!! sign on back of my van "honk its my birthday" when of course it wasn't (here i thought i was popular for the day!!)

How about this theory: The air was charged with negative ions that connected in little charges to the ground, attracting positive charged dirt and tiny rocks into little piles. (I made this all up, I know nothing)

oh and i was sooooooo impressed for a short time cathy!! throwing around the negative ions theory always works for me!

Ohhhhhhh, for heavens sake, will someone set up a web camera, I cant take any more suspense, aliens, bee's, fairies, air-force, kids, grubs, I want to know and I want to know before I go on vacation, PALEEEEEEEEESE, WeeNel.

ROTFLOL Please stop! I can't stand it!!! LOL some more!!!

I can't seem to let this drop. It sounds like night crawlers, the piles are called middens.

Middens, huh? Sounded good, so I Googled to find out about the middens. I found lots of references to them, but unfortunately these nightcrawler middens don't appear to be anything like what we are looking at. All the references I found described the middens as being a mixture of plant debris and worm castings placed right on top of the worm's hole. I tried to find a photo of these middens but the only one I could find just looked like leaves lying on the forest floor, which wasn't much help.

This article from Purdue explains it pretty much like all the others, but is little more detailed:

http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/AY/AY-279.html

"The deep-burrowers ("nightcrawlers") build large, vertical, permanent burrows that may extend 5 to 6 feet deep or more. They pull plant residues down into the mouth of their burrow, where the residues soften and can be eaten at a later time. Nightcrawlers construct middens over the mouth of their burrows. Middens are a mixture of plant residues and castings (worm feces) and probably serve as protection as well as a food reserve. Because nightcrawlers require residues at the surface to pull down into their burrows, we do not expect to find any nightcrawlers in fields which routinely leave no surface residue cover (i.e. moldboard-plowed)."

It's possible that the piles of small sticks and pebbles were made by a bird or small animal and that the piles provided cover for worms to come up out of the ground, thus creating the small holes we see there. Another reason I vote for it being birds or a small animal is the button in one of the piles.

vicki,

Why don't you call the Portland Zoo and see if one of the curators there would take a look at the two photos if you sent them imbedded in an e-mail? They probably wouldn't take it as an attachment for fear of viruses.

I just know I've seen these stick/rock piles before -- but I can't remember where. Comes with old age, I think. Learn new things over the years, lose other things.

Karen

button Karen? I didn't see a button, but then i never was really any good at finding those hidden items in pictures. no, wait, i think i see the virgin mary! lol!
I guess i'm not that observant, if i saw that in my yard, i'd maybe notice that i really do need to sow some grass seed or plant something in those bare areas. I'd probably just presume that it's probably a compacted area that drained a little slow causing sticks and debris to be floated into the rocks. looks like some cypress or cedar mulch pieces floated or blew in from somewhere. it's like when you fill a hole with water and all the floating little sticks, straw,mulch and trash seems to all clump together while floating on the water until it drains down and is left altogether.
i see some moss growing, so i know that area stays damp.

This message was edited Jan 29, 2008 10:36 AM

I agree with Len... either it was my kids or the rain that washed everything into piles.

oh and by the way, weenel i think you really do need a vacation. lol!

I agree about WeeNel! Who has the camera set up?

Len, in an earlier post, she mentioned there was a button in one of the piles.

oh sorry about the button.lol. it's hard to keep up with the details.

I only remembered it because I re-read this whole thread 1st! ☺

Vicki, as a Master Gardener volunteer, I got photos similar to yours, only mostly aggregate soil particles. The client was worried they had strange insects due to a compost delivery. In answering, I found several websites describing turf maintenance for golf courses and apparently nightcrawlers/earthworms create divets all over messing up the turf. The sites chronicle the whole life and benefits of earthworms and it's quite fascinating. (Where I've had bee holes, I could stand nearby at night an watch as the bees returned to the nest every evening.)

That would explain the flocks of birds? Eating all those earthworms?

I think those little piles could be scrub jay caches, especially if you or a neighbor (within a block or so) put out food for the birds. Scrub jays will push a nut or seed a litle way under the soil then gather twigs, mulch, or watever is close by and cover up the stash. They think they are hiding it from other jays but I have seen jays watch and steal the stash as soon as the "stasher" leaves the scene. The fact that there was a flock of starlings in your yard could indicate that there is indeed something there to eat. I'm just 60 miles or so south of you and the scrub jays are my favorite birds to feed and watch their activities. I even have one trained to come into my kitchen to get a nut!

Here is a pic of "Heckle" (yes I give them names) coming in for a nut. Keep your eye out for birds that look like this.

sometimes if you get a light freeze, the ground kind of pushes up out of itself in places and will end up forming little mounds with whatever is closest to the surface. i know i'm not explaining it very well and i'm sure there is a name for it somewhere but i think that's what it is, cold and hot, cold and hot and it ends up like your picture.

trackinsand - are you thinking of the term "heaving"? I've seen that, but not in such a controlled formation as these are.

when i think of heaving i think of minnesota rather than a zone 8 wa.

Neither one of those is what comes to mind when I think of heaving. Sorry, I had to! LOL

rofl. ok i stand corrected, when i think of vomiting i think of minnesota...

Glad you have sense of humor! LOL I was worried for half minute. ☺

yes for sense of humor but some of the other forums they don't have much sense of humor, but they will usually d-mail you with a warning if it is too bad.lol.

Y'all guys are a riot!!! Glad I came across this for a good laugh! Thanks!

Back to the mound thing, though. Is that what it is, do you think? Worms? Yes? No? Or is it the heaving? I'm lost.

yes, maybe it's called heaving. i agree that this seems too controlled, but then i don't think worms are that controlled either!

I wondered what kind of reaction that would get when I posted it - LOL! But, that is indeed what it's called. I would be more inclined to think it's a living critter that's causing this, rather than the remote chance of the ground freezing and thawing (sorry, I just couldn't put the other word there - it was making me laugh too hard!). It just seems too organized a pattern, if that makes sense, for something as random as freezing.

Such an effect really requires some pretty serious and prolonged freeze/thaw cycles - unless I'm mistaken. I'll stand aside for opinions from our friends in the much colder northern regions on that one.

I agree with kidderpam, your best bet is to take (or send) those pics to your local Master Gardener place - they will either know right away (as they're locals) or they'll be able to find the answer for you.

Be sure to let us know what they say if you do discuss it with them - this is a good mystery!

or the start of a garden horror flic--heaving soils disrupt gardens across the world!

Aliens the Culprit? News at 11:00!

"do not-repeat- do not allow small pets outdoors until you check for heaving--several animals have been lost in the heaving process never to be found!"

lol! i think they have even lost cars in the pot holes that the heaving causes in mn

Stay in your homes! Do not venture out! We will keep you updated on this disaster!

well i gotta follow this thing through as well. can't you hire a kid to stay up all night? or some old geezer that can't sleep?

"gardeners from popular dave's garden web site tell of giant worms, followed by giant bird activity --some wonder if all of this has contributed to the heaving that has claimed small animals and now cars--gardening is at a standstill causing an overload of activity on the website as frustrated gardeners are at a loss as to what to do next"

Rolling on the floor laughing out loud!!!!! That deserved to be spelled out! Thanks!

buwahahahahahaha!!!!