Coins, relics and a problem...

[OutdoorAdv]

My buddy and I got out Sat. for an all day hunt at an old house dating to the 1700's. My buddy found a 3 ringer. I found two Liberty Nickel's, 1907 and 1898. Also found two Indian head cents, 1874 and 1889. The Indian Heads were showing consistent VDI #'s of 43-48 on my v3i. Those were the first Indian Heads I had dug with this Spectra and they were showing lower numbers. The lack of high VDI signals at this site made me think that someone had already been there in the past.

And the "problem". We detected on Sat, got a nice hard rain Sat night which was good for the plugs. My buddy calls on Monday and let me know that sometime Sunday night an animal had removed 20 some plugs and did some additional excavating. These plugs were dug clean and firmly replaced. There was no trace. In all the years I've done this, I've never had any problems like this. We fixed them yesterday, and I get a call this morning... more were removed last night. I googled in some other forums and saw people saying that squirrels and raccoon's have been known to do this. Anyone else ever have this problem? Know of any solutions? Even though it was not directly our fault, this has most likely ruined our chance of returning to this property.

I've dug a lot of buckles, but not any like this one with two prongs. Anyone know what its from and how old it might be?

 

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[Erik in NJ]

Some with flaps, but most without. I'll cut more with flaps in the future now. All were about 8" in diameter and deep, solid plugs. Its odd I've never come across this animal thing before. We had a break in the dryness here and we were getting rained on while detecting... then a huge storm that night and another this morning. I try to head to the woods or fields when its dry and stay out of yards. This rain was perfect for the plugs if they hadn't sat outside the holes in the sun! Ha

The flaps are also much better from what I understand in terms of not turning the grass brown. If it's a nice lawn the brown plugs are going to be unsightly. You may want to consider seeding the brown plugs and watering them to regain the homeowner's trust. Always try and leave a good sized flap on the plug--like I said the animals will have a harder time pulling them out. They're smart--much easier to pull your plugs than for them to dig down 8" inches to find food down there. I was horrified once or twice to come back and find virtually all of my plugs removed and tossed aside!

 

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[Helix]

The animals digging up plugs happens to me a lot. One time after a hunt I stopped back a few days later and 75% if not more were dug up. WHAT THE !!!!!!!!! It looked very bad!!!!!!! So bad it was all most laughable. I can easily see this happening a lot more then one thinks.. Animals digging up holes is a big problem for mders around me. John Q public sees nicely cut holes all over the park,, with the plug laying 2' all torn apart.. I can see this screwing it up for us more then one might think.

 

[WHADIFIND]

The animals digging up plugs happens to me a lot. I can see this screwing it up for us more then one might think.

I understand. There would be good reason and a convenient scapegoat, us. Even though the animals would continue to dig for food after we've been booted. But, then you wouldn't see anyone doing ANYTHING about that scenario.

It just means that we MUST educate newbies and continue to do the absolute best we can on our own holes. Anything and I mean ANY-thing can be targeted and eliminated in this world today. If we want to continue it's up to us to continue doing what is necessary.

 

[megnpat]

its more likely skunks i work on a golf course and they sometimes pull the plugs out on greens looking for grubs put mothballs in the edges of your plugs and they will stop and i would buy a cheap trail cam to make sure what it is

 

[OutdoorAdv]

I understand. There would be good reason and a convenient scapegoat, us. Even though the animals would continue to dig for food after we've been booted. But, then you wouldn't see anyone doing ANYTHING about that scenario.

It just means that we MUST educate newbies and continue to do the absolute best we can on our own holes. Anything and I mean ANY-thing can be targeted and eliminated in this world today. If we want to continue it's up to us to continue doing what is necessary.

Very true! I've been doing this on and off for nearly 20 years and this was the first time I came across animals digging up my plugs. Its a good thing we stopped by and saw it so we could fix the situation... who know how many times this happens, the detectorist is not made aware and the landowner is pissed. It can hurt us all very bad.

 

[Ifoundit69]

Nice scores !

 

[silversurfer1111]

Nice old coins! You got there

 

[Fatty]

You also might try carrying a spray bottle of water with miracle grow when hunting peoples yards.Hinge the plug,then when you reset it , give the grass a few squirts.

 

[wainzoid]

I've had trouble with skunks. Besides removing my plugs, I see where they have dug for grubs. Coons and squirrels could also do it, but my problems been with skunks.

 

[WHADIFIND]

I've had trouble with skunks. Besides removing my plugs, I see where they have dug for grubs. Coons and squirrels could also do it, but my problems been with skunks.

On the other side of the coin, it might be indicating that one might want to be cautious about where they probe in the bushes there.

HH!

 

[srcdco]

I've run into this before. One time a buddy and I were detecting at a school and this happened to my holes, but not his. The difference? He wears vinyl gloves and I don't. The animals smell "you" in the dirt and hope for food, that's why they dig the plugs up. The next time, we both wore gloves and there wasn't a problem.

Scott

 

[huntsman53]

Carry a spray bottle filled with Pinesol to spray on the plugs once they are put back in place! Pinesol will keep away most critters as they cannot tolerate the smell.


Frank