Posted by Julie Walker on July 28, 2007

Q: We live quite far out in the country, in north eastern Indiana, and we have a pond. My children and I where feeding the fish in our pond and I noticed there are a lot of holes, about 1"-2" in diamater, we do have a lot of frogs and toads, a LOT! I have no idea what kind, I just know there are a lot of them. I was wondering if they live in these holes or are these holes snake holes, gosh I hope not! I counted about 30 holes, any iformation would be such a great help, thank you so much!

Habitat: pond/lake

State: Indiana

Habitat: pond/lake

A: Frogs and toads do not live in holes as you described, but neither do snakes. Sounds to me that you have crayfish living around your pond. Many species of crayfish live on land but excavate holes down to the water table where they remain during the day. At night, when it's cool and moist, the crayfish come out on the surface and forage for plant material. You might want to check to see if these holes have any soil piled around the entrance (called chimneys) - this is a typical way they remove the soil but not always with each and every entrance. Check out this website on burrowing crayfish at chicagowildernessmag.org

Hope this solves your mystery. Thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( July 29, 2007)