Holes*

“Look,” Mum says, pointing to the grass at my feet.  We’re standing in the  parental garden.  Looking down, I see a small hole, about four centimetres in diameter.  You can see it in the attached photo.

“What is it?” I say.

“No one knows,” Mum says.  “The garden is covered in them, look.”

Walking around the garden, I see that the grass is punctured all over with these holes.

“So, I spoke to the local wildlife trust, and they said to photograph them and to email their mammal expert,” Mum says.  “So I did that on Friday but she hasn’t got back to me and…”

“Maybe she’s been eaten by a large mammal,” I say.  “What does the fluffy monster think?”

“Well I brought him out with me to see if he was interested in anything that might be living in them, but he just wanted to chase the ruler,” Mum says.

“Could it be mice?” I say.  

“Well, the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about,” Mum says.

“Rats?” I say, remembering when we had rats in the house and our elderly cat, Furry, was so traumatised that he had to go to the cattery for two weeks.  “But aren’t the holes too small and…”  I break off, thinking it must be a large colony of whatever-it-is.  “Did you look on the Internet?”

“I put holes-in-my-garden into the Internet but the website was American and suggested armadillos.”  Mum says.

“Ahhhh that would be nice,” I say.

So, it’s a mystery.  Any ideas what could be making these holes?

Happy Wednesday everyone!
*1998.  By Louis Sachar.  Young adult mystery comedy novel.