# What the heck is this???? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 7, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254 "2009-07-07T21:27:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/1 "2009-07-07T21:27:47Z")
[mysterious mound!](http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q45/scubaqueen56/Mysterious%20Mound/?action=tageditmany) EEK! i discovered this in my back yard today. or should i say right off the edge of my concrete patio. the ground this thing sits on actually is owned by the condo association. i don’t dare have friends over to sit outside until i know what i’m dealing with, here. i \*suspect \*a cicada killer wasp, but i’m not sure at all. can’t find any pix online that look anything like this. help, fellow dopers. ID this thing for my peace of mind - or at least until i can call the association to come deal with whatever this is. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/2 "2009-07-07T21:33:52Z")
The link doesn’t seem to work. Let’s see if this works better: > **[Photo Storage | Photobucket](https://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q45/scubaqueen56/Mysterious%20Mound/)** > > Store your photos and videos online with secure storage from Photobucket. Available on iOS, Android and desktop. Securely backup your memories and sign up today! ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/3 "2009-07-07T21:37:21Z")
Looks like a weird kind of mole heap to me. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/4 "2009-07-07T21:38:40Z")
how did you do that? it’s been ages since i was on the dope. obviously i did the link incorrectly. ---
**Author:** ![Moonshiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@Moonshiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshiner)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/5 "2009-07-07T21:45:18Z")
Are you anywhere near a body of water? If so, I’d guess it’s a [crayfish mound](http://images.google.com/images?q=crayfish%20mound&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/6 "2009-07-07T21:47:27Z")
Anthill with mange. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/7 "2009-07-07T22:01:05Z")
nope and nope. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/8 "2009-07-07T22:08:14Z")
> [@Moonshiner](#): > > Are you anywhere near a body of water? If so, I’d guess it’s a [crayfish mound](http://images.google.com/images?q=crayfish%20mound&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi). It seems too good a match _not_ to be this. My money would be on this, even if it’s far outside the normal geographic range and ecological niche for crayfish - they’re tenacious and invasive little buggers. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/9 "2009-07-07T22:10:01Z")
i thought i caught a glimpse of something scuttling back inside. i got an impression of wings, but it moved too fast to get a decent look at it. do crayfish have wings? and now that i think of it, there a retention pond in my complex, but it’s a good 400 or 500 feet away from this mound. would they burrow that far away? ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/10 "2009-07-07T22:10:11Z")
Look’s like a crayfish mound to me too. Is there a ditch nearby? Crayfish leave the water to make a nest like this. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/11 "2009-07-07T22:15:13Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > i thought i caught a glimpse of something scuttling back inside. i got an impression of wings, but it moved too fast to get a decent look at it. do crayfish have wings? Not wings, but the fan-like tail parts might give you that impression. > [@](#): > > and now that i think of it, there a retention pond in my complex, but it’s a good 400 or 500 feet away from this mound. would they burrow that far away? Could be. Only one way to find out - dig it up. Have a pan of boiling water ready, and some melted butter. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/12 "2009-07-07T22:16:19Z")
300 or 400 feet from standing water is plenty close enough, especially if there has been rain recently. ---
**Author:** ![Melkor28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Melkor28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melkor28)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/13 "2009-07-07T22:21:41Z")
Looks like an ant hill, or termite hill. ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/14 "2009-07-08T00:30:51Z")
Don’t know where you are, but I’ve never seen crayfish that far from water, and I’ve never seen them build in grass - always in muddy flats, usually within 10 feet of the water. Mind you, I’m in the midwest. Can you give a size estimate? A ruler next to it, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/15 "2009-07-08T00:45:33Z")
About half of **Moonshiner** ’s linked pictures show the mounds appearing in grass. ---
**Author:** ![Postariti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Postariti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Postariti)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/16 "2009-07-08T01:37:30Z")
We used to get mounds exactly like this after a big rain. It was crawfish. We didn’t live anywhere near water. They did build mounds in the grass. I know they were crawfish because we saw them. My poor cat tried to catch one and got pinched. We were mean, we laughed at him about it. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/17 "2009-07-08T05:03:13Z")
Yup, it’s a crawdad hole. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/18 "2009-07-08T05:33:52Z")
Crawdad. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/19 "2009-07-08T12:01:43Z")
Another vote for Crawdad. My BIL had those in his yard when he lived in Southern Illinois, and no water in sight. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254/20 "2009-07-08T14:41:20Z")
Being from southern Louisiana, as soon as I saw the picture I thought: Crawfish hole. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-this/502254.md?page=2)