Who is doing this and what are they doing?

That HAS to be it! ☺

I had something like that happen here and it turned out to be crickets...........needless to say when they finally emerged they about drove us nuts!

Personally I like the web-cam idea too, be interesting to find out what they are!

yes! set up a web spy-cam!

I HAVE AQUILEGIA BLUE COLUMBINE SEEDS SENT TO BE BY A FRIEND, IT SAYS NEEDS COLD STRATIFICATION FOR GERMINATION, DOES THIS MEAN TO PLANT THEM IS SOIL, PUT IN THE REFRIGERATOR, OR STORE SEEDS IN REFRIG OR FREEZER FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME? I AM READY TO PLANT THE SEEDS NOW.

It means you need to put them in the fridge for a specific period of time prior to planting to aid their germination... :o)

Or you can winter-sow them in containers outdoors now. :)
Deb

I wintersow mine about now. I believe they prefer light for germination so I just press them into the soil (in pots), water well, and then set out on my porch.

deb - what have you W/S thus far? I am always worried about this wacky weather lately...I mean I had to make the mad dash today to throw my pine straw back on everything again (yes you can blame the cold snap on me..I had to remove the straw last week and now see what I did LOL) I guess I worry that things will start to germ and then get zapped by the cold snaps

Not your fault. I cleared off a bit of pine straw too. It was a team effort! :)

I've W/S alot less this year than last. Only have done holyhocks, nicotinia and lisianthus this time.
Deb

Deb - have you ever thought about going up to Charlotte to see Elizabeth Lawrences home? I am trying to see if folks in our general area and NC would be interested in a private tour...I talked to Dia at Wind Haven (the group purchasing the home from it's current owner) they have an open house in conjunction with Wind Haven (a bird sanctuary) in Charlotte...

Vicki,

Are you sure these are not caused by squirrels?

Linda

Oh man... STILL no answers??? I like the alien explaination best. And Cathy4, if you EVER see those little aliens, and they are looking for someone to "take care of", send them MY WAY! I could use some pampering.

sorry, i know you heard this before, that's the same messes my cats make in the dirt part of my back yard

ROTFLOL

That's pretty good. My cats do that, too. Only not so neat.

how do you keep cats out of your garden beds? Ive tried spraying with the hose... (just a misting) and putting poinker balls (those spiky things that drop from the liquid amber trees) all over as mulch -they just move those aside- and keeping the beds moist at all times, none of these tactics have kept them from using my newly planted beds as their litter box!

I let them have at it. In the front they don't bother them but in the back? I still have some bare areas and they like to use that. DH and I just resort to using gloves more often.

i get over it, too. it's better than cleaning litter boxes. moth balls do work, but can hurt some plants and ponds. the dogs, i clean up after in the back yard with a water hose, the cats.....well, they rule the front yards and regular watering and just rain take care of most of the problems

We have a stray that likes to use the side bed as a toilette. I only see evidence of it in the winter, though. Go figure.

Well the problem is that I am planting seeds, they kick up all the soil and bury the seedling under a foot of soil.... then nothing grows! or, I;ll have a tiny seedling that I plant and they dig those up, or trample on them. I thought of buying the scarecrow water squirting thing, but it is really expensive...

You could follow them around with the water bottle a couple of days. Or are they outside by themselves? I have a new bed I'll be starting and WILL be concerned if they go in there because I'll have seedlings, too. Hmmm.. They're pretty fat. Maybe a low fence they can't jump over?

naw, my kitties are very agile, and the neighbors are even worse, they are less than a yr old. I tried the water hose, but that only discourages them when I have it in my hand. kinda hard to get anything done while holding a hose all day :o) someone else told me to sprinkle hot peppers, but my lil teacup poodle might protest to that.... someone else said orange or lemon peel?does that work?

Boy, I wish I had regular cats. Mine are huge. One is 26lbs. and the other is 19lbs. The one is just a very big cat and the other is just fat. lol ☺

not a garden response, but if you really like cats and have a funny bone, check out www.mycathatesyou.com. it's crazy cat people talking about everything

I use the pinecones my trees drop and put them in my beds...I know it sounds mean but the first time they jump/walk on one will be the last - with 9 cats I have to disway them from certain areas ( I live on two acres -you would think they would have tons of room to use...but noooooo....they like the red mulch LOL)

As I am from Maine, and the frost heaves are what keeps the DPW busy from April to November, I can state UNEQUIVOCALLY that it is not frost heaves.
So, have we all agreed that it is alien bird bug worms? lol!

hmmm, alien bird bug worms? YES! It must be!

I'm going to take a leap here and suggest writing to the people of What's That Bug. Maybe they know of an insect or something that does that? Worth a shot. Curious minds want to know what the HECK is doing that!!!

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/

Isn't there a 'identify this alien?' thread? LOL!

There should be! LOL

I'd have to post all my relatives pitures on it ! LOL!

We'd love to see them! Maybe we could ID them for you? LOL ☺

Hi all,
Love all the answers, all the possibilities. I keep looking, no new little mounds but it was January last year. I will be paying close attention. I have planted some things there, and they always stayed away from weeds and grass and plants. They preferred the dirt and I still have plenty of that so I will be watching. I have never heard of ant lions. Amazing the things we don't know.
Vicki

Again, I'm still betting on the scrub jays. Description on line about their activities checks with your mystery, and they are native to your area.

Karen

Well I've missed all you guys, I have been on my vacation, sorted out my garden only to have it flattened by heavy storms/rain, wind etc, had trees down due to this, been unwell for a spell, now recovered, been inundated with family visitors (humans) baby sat the grand-kids for a week, had the outside of the house painted, reversed the pickup truck into the side corner of the house and smashed the rear lights, (who in their right mind builds houses where I want to reverse) been searching my garden for tiny piles of small stones set out in any form of pattern or order with little piles of earth, but found none, had a set to with an estate agent (realtor) who is selling a house about 2 miles away from me, BUT keeps giving viewers directions to my door for the past month, NOT FUNNY any more, was given a plant as a gift and now have a severe infestation of Red Spider Mite and they have spread throughout my greenhouse, so have had constant work trying to get on top of that, now have to send away for a parasitic mite that will kill the Red Spider Mites. Now returned to this thread for the mystery to be solved, Nope, just still at the Jays, Aliens, Worms, now Lion Ants, gee's where does it end eh, So Vickijackson, your next on my list, I'm comming for you, ha, ha, ha, are we any closer to solving this mystery, have we managed to kidnap a kid to stay up all night, have we clubbed together to buy a spy camcorder, or do I need to return to my doctor for some stronger medication to get me through the winter months while we await the return of the creatures of the night, answers please. Kwanjin, Mamajack, and Len123, I have missed all your humour and fun, hope all is well with you guys and everyone else. glad to be back among friends again. Stay with it and all may be revealed by next winter. happy gardening to you all. WeeNel.

Hi WeeNel- I have missed your advise. Sorry that your house got into the trucks way!!! LOL

Thanks tcinmb, you would think a house being there for all those years would know better eh, but hey, not to much damage done to the truck, a new rear light fitting is on it's way. Never a dull moment at my place you can tell. Hope you have had a good gardening season and enjoyed it all. best wishes. Weenel.

I did pretty good with all of great advise I got while trying to figure out what needed to go where.

Now you know why so many folks just love this site, no matter how much experience we gardeners have, we always learn some new things as we go along, let it continue always. best wishes. WeeNel.

I'm very sorry to give you the bad news. The Blair Witch has moved into your neighborhood. Drop the videocamera and run! :)

Make sure you go screaming! LOL