Sinking Backyard???

[LaReservaPr]

So i just dicovered that there are lots of holes in my back yard, they look like big footprints but no one goes out there. Does anyone have any idea what might be the problem?

[Sannum]

1. Do you have a sprinkler system?

[LaReservaPr]

4. No

No sprinkler system.

[fishnfla]

2. santaria eom

[qnr]

3. Invasion of the Mole People intelligence gathering peepholes!

[LaReservaPr]

6. Its not that

Because its like someone stepped in the soil and created a giant footprint its not a hole that keeps going.

[Maddy McCall]

5. Do you have any city sanitary sewer pipes under your property?

Did the holes appear after a big rain? Perhaps there is a cracked pipe under your property, washing it away from underneath. Happened to a friend of mine.

[LaReservaPr]

8. It always rains here

I live in an island in the much greener area and it rains here at least once every day.

[yardwork]

7. It could be moles or voles

They dig little tunnels and when the tunnels collapse (often at entrance/exit holes) it looks like little muddy footprints in the grass.

Or it could be something a lot more serious. Like a sinkhole.

[radwriter0555]

9. Gophers.

Enjoy.

[IowaGuy]

10. In some areas of the country....

there was a significant amount of coal mining done through tunneling, particurlarly around the 1900's. Most of those mines were never mapped and have long since been abandoned. Here in Iowa. where urban sprawl is now going out into areas that once were farmland, the add'l weight of structures and roads can cause tunnel collapses, and or shifting of these tunnels. It sometimes is not so apparent right off above, but the shifting of underground water streams can cause undermining that could be similar to what you are experiencing. Have you noticed any unusual or unexplained cracking in your house foundation?

[steely]

11. Septic system?

Lowered water table?
Limestone deposits / sink holes?
Sandy soil?
Anyone else in the 'hood?
about where do you live?
In a line or randomly scattered?

[Wheaty]

12. I've got holes in mine

I've got holes in mine. Turns out part of my yard used to actually have a big drop off before my house was built. The drop off was filled in with the building materials from an old farmhouse that sat here before my place was built. Then covered over with topsoil. Mostly it was bricks, but any wood beams and such under there have since decayed and caused little sink holes here and there.

I've got to get a load of topsoil hauled in next spring, because the sink holes are killing my riding tractor.

[flvegan]

13. Bigfoot, dude.

Be cool. Stay inside.