What caused this?

ezriderga

I walked out my back door onto the patio and noticed this line in the grass. I have never seen anything like this.

Have you ever seen anything like this or know what could have caused it?

creeper

Looks like a mole who didn't manage to excavate his tunnel quite deep enough

sdsester

I had a similar first thought but it seems to be just the turf. I guess the mole could have moved just under the turfgrass. And moles are even more blind than most rodents and usually could not cut a line that straight unless up against a sidewalk edge or something.

You didn't have a leaking hose end herbicide sprayer leaking back on to a garden hose by chance? Or even a sprayer with a concentrated dose of Miracle Gro or some other fertilizer dripping down the hose?

You didn't leave a hose out on the turf by accident?

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chrisn

Got my vote

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bob22

Could be a vole?

sdsester

A possibility and they can cut turf pathways but the network is usually in multiple directions. In this case, why just one and a rather straight line from point a to point b? And seems like with a nice clean edge between the walk and turf they would just use that?

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sdsester

OMG! I realized it is an infant one of these! Run fast! Run now!

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chrisn

Even they did not break the surface until they were going to eat you

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sdsester

Yeah well. I still say if it is not a garden hose "foo paw" it has to be some sort of space alien thing!I fear the OP has abandoned us and we may never get more info.

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jbfan

I'm thinking very dry soil.
I have the same thing when it is dry like this.
The ground cracks like glass.

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sdsester

I've seen that happen too but as I look at the photo, the soil seems intact and there is no fissure or crack that I can see? This is what is leading me to think somebody left something like a hose laying on the turf and/or concentrated fertilizer from a hose end sprayer or some other lawn chemical traveled along the hose. It is about the right dimension to match a hose.

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KevinPh

If it wasn't a garden hose, maybe something was accidentally sprayed on it, such as spray paint or other poisonous substance?

Maintenance 6

I vote for VOLE. I have them too and their paths are often point to point in a fairly straight line. Put a pice of PVC pipe about 6" long in the path with some decon inside it. Voles like to eat in closed in places. I know a person who sets mouse traps baited with chewing gum to get rid of them. They can raise havoc with bulbed flowers and destoy other plants by gnawing the roots.

Pagevee

I second this. I had to research the difference when I had a Mole show up this summer right before we had a bbq in the backyard. Not cool.

allthumbsdiy

vole? at first I thought someone incorrectly spelled mole, lol.

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