I spotted a fresh shallow excavation in one of our drainage ditches this morning and I wondered what had caused it. There was a scrape of about a cubic foot of earth removed amongst tree roots with the spoil scattered backwards about five feet.
In the hole were some clawed and bitten roots. Some of the marks were deep and suggested something powerful. I then spotted bees going in and out the hole frequently. There were sticky or wet-looking roots with small flies on them but no odour (that I was aware of). I wondered if the "sticky" was sap, honey or just urine.
Initially I was thinking rabbits but once I saw the clawed roots, I began thinking fox or badger. We are in a rural wooded/arable area in South Ayrshire so are well within Scottish badger territory.
There were no visible dead bees or nest fragments however.
Thoughts?