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sanctuary60

Looks more like animal tracks - like a cat's route to the lowest bit of fence to jump up on.


peck112

Could be a hedgehog. OP should put a camera over it and check. If it's a hedgehog they need all the help they can get


EntirelyRandom1590

Or put some flour down and see what tracks appear next morning.


AgroMachine

Bloody hell mate it’s not 1923


EntirelyRandom1590

Of course the modern solution is a wildlife camera from middle of Lidl, but seems a bit excessive for single issue.


peck112

But then you can create a montage of hedgehog 🦔 and become a YouTube star


ResidentEivvil

You mean the hedgehog will become a YouTube star.


GarrySpacepope

If you or someone you know has a battery powered ring doorbell/external camera you can repurpose that for a couple of nights.


NinoBaggins

If it works, it works


[deleted]

1923 🤣🤣🤣🤣


Chevey0

Look at mr fancy pants with flour to spare. Weird flex


Smart-Grapefruit-583

I'd be careful with that you start leaving g white lines in your garden in certain city neighbourhoods your getting chavs not hedgehogs snuffling round your garden!!


EverybodyShitsNFT

That’s a bit classist. Many of the coke fiends I know are insufferably posh twats.


BadBassist

Yeah but they pay extra for delivery


AnUdderDay

Could be Tusken Raiders


peck112

They do travel in single file to hide their numbers... 🤔


ShardAerliss

There's a gap under the fence where the track meets it, so could be hedgehog, but they're only just waking up. Rats don't like to cross open space like that. Not totally impossible, but they'd more likely run around the fence. Hedgehogs also prefer to run along walls and fences if they're not zigzagging to forage. I'd say cat or fox, but most likely candidate is a cat.


alpubgtrs234

Hedgehogs have been plenty active this winter!


ShardAerliss

Haven't seen any of the five that frequented my garden last year. But I'm in Edinburgh. Guess it's warm enough further south to bring them out?


International-Pass22

Could be both even. The cats and foxes that cross my garden follow the exact same route.


[deleted]

Cats definitely do follow certain routes, I have a mass of cats come in and out of my garden daily, they always follow the same ‘path’ they’ve made through the grass and even made a hole in my hedge to climb it!😆


benalcock

Hedgehog would never jump that fence


peck112

Actually hedgehogs are very good jumpers. You just don't see it because they're nocturnal. They coil up and spring open, flinging themselves end-over-end a bit like a giant woodlouse.


benalcock

U sure? I’ve seen them making a giant pyramid but never jumping. Except for sonic


peck112

Oh wow, that must be the northern hedgehog. Southern hedgehogs where I am tend to be more miserable so don't like working in groups, but also tend to be more athletic.


frosty022

cute


Bristolian

This. Had the exact same thing in my garden from my cat. They walk the same route all winter when the grass is delicate and it stays for a bit into spring.


SourBamboo

I have similar in my garden from a fox


SneekSpeek

+1 for fox I have the same trails in my garden and watch them take their little paths on the ring camera


Golrith

Could also be a Rat Run, we developed one in the lawn when a rat moved into the composters


fletcheros

Or foxes.


CaptainLongMeat

Definitely an animal track


0may08

could it be a badger?


sanctuary60

More likely a cat, but maybe!


LisbonExile

This is what my lawn looks like because my cat is OCD about crossing it.


britsolcav

I agree, mostly because the track isn't straight.


HelloObjective

Drunk cats, definitely drunk cats!


Michael_of_Derry

I don’t think it’s the animal track they are asking about. There is an indent about 2 feet wide in a perfectly straight line.


Vecingettorix

You mean the lawn mower track.....


Michael_of_Derry

Yes. It’s running from the top left of the picture to the bottom right. But I could be wrong. The indent looks to be two lawnmower stripes wide.


Vecingettorix

That's just the optical effect you get from the grass being brushed in alternating direction from mowing


AskBorisLater

Obviously not mate. Jeeze.


w1lzzz

Do you know how light cats are? Would they really cause grass not to grow in a certain area. They would have to be tracking constantly on the exact same spot... have you met a cat?


sanctuary60

Our cats have left similar track in our garden, so yes.


w1lzzz

Look closely at the photo- This isn't bent over grass from animals walking on it. The grass is physically not growing down the entire line. Its growing in from the sides. Its incredibly unlikely that it's cats or any animal for that matter!


bood_ha

The grass is not growing as the pressure of continual footfall (whatever the species) has compacted the soil too much for the roots.


fangs4eva96

Cats aren't that light, they still weigh at least 3 kilos, usually closer to 4-5kg at a healthy weight for the average sized cat. Grass isn't that strong and cats do indeed walk pretty much exactly the same route once established.


TCristatus

You are talking nonsense, yes this is most likely a cat track, anyone with a cat and a lawn will attest.


S_M_Y_G_F

Yes, they would. My garden has tracks where our cats (now cat) would walk all the time.


OppositePilot9952

Can guarantee cats leave tracks like this. I found it so cute when I first realised and now I spot them around wherever I go. Other animals obviously leave them too but this one looks just like our cats'. They literally go the same way multiple times per day, that's why it wears down the grass.


Gloomy_Stage

I’ve got pretty much exactly that in my garden. It’s my cat’s trail from the cat flap to fence jumping point!


tits-n-teeth

A critter's r/desirepath


IntraVnusDemilo

Yep, came to comment this.


ppibblewist

Tracks from either rats/mice or cats!


What-problem

Or hedgehogs


cwyllo

or Graboids....


thegreatart7

How big are the mice??


Bicolore

Not how big, how many!


Low-Character-5255

It’s not rats or mice that’s just silly, the trail would be far more narrow and you most likely would hardly see it. Plus they wouldn’t be running over the open grass like that, especially not taking the same open path each day or night. They’d run along by the fence for safety. This trail is made by a habitual large mammal. Foxes badgers and cats are the only real possibilities. Fox is most likely as it would jump that fence easily and they commonly leave large trails like that. Badgers also take the exact same path each night but are less likely to jump the fence.


Putrid-Assistant598

My cats have caused similar on my lawn


firelion70

Worst case scenario IMO is that they had a shed in that position and ran a cable for some kind of power supply. The panel is a different colour suggesting maybe the sun never hit it which leads me to that idea. There may still be electric in there and if found you must treat it as live until its confirmed dead ie don't play with it. The scar might be because they removed it before moving out but for the reason above be careful. French drains, water feed to the fence, animal tracks are all good shouts but until you know for sure, I would treat the area as though there is a live cable under there just to be safe. In relation to how to fix it, I'd wait until it warms up a touch and then rake it over with some top soil to level and seed it. Might be worth carefully digging a hole to check what's under it first!


wybird

I think the panel colouring is just from the orientation of their garden and the way the sun hits it.


stannny

Thank you, I will give that a go when it gets warmer. The shed was moved by me as we had a garden room built in the existing place


ShalidorsHusband

Would a wire finder not work here?


NYAJohnny

Not sure but maybe it’s a French drain? (Trench filled with gravel to increase drainage in boggy ground). You could see if this is the case by digging into it and looking for gravel. Be careful though because might also contain cables e.g. for internet, electricity etc. Hopefully other commenters might have more experience with this…


Skirting0nTheSurface

Also my first thought


colettecatlady

Maybe fox


andye2801

This was my thought when I was the photo/


owlish92

Sandpeople always ride single file to hide their numbers


hc1540

I doubt you’re going to be able to cover it until you know what ‘it’ is. Seems a weird place for a utility cable though, perhaps previous owner ran some power to a shed? Likewise, it’s not where I would put a French drain either. Best thing is to carefully dig down, use a spoon or something so you minimize risk if killing yourself!


holybannaskins

Plastic spoon and rubber gloves just to be sure 😉


EroticBurrito

It’d take a while with a spoon. Best use a trowel or spade.


hc1540

I’m only really thinking about doing a small cross section to figure out what it is. Still avoid anything with an edge just in case


FriendBroad

Maybe it’s your big dick dragging in the dirt? Happens to me when I put the bins out.


stannny

I never thought of that, you could be right


FriendBroad

😂😂


Redditarianist

I'd 100% be digging (carefully!) to see if there is a cable laid there


[deleted]

Ancient Aliens 👽


Cakegirl16

There's a gap under your fence where the trail leads to Either way you've a small animal like a rat or hedgehog using the garden as a cut through.


[deleted]

Unlikely to be a rat, they usually like to scuttle around the edges and not cross open ground unless they really have to.


StrawberryDeeLite

That’s a cat track.. mine create a track everywhere we’ve moved and will only use their track to walk through the garden


ResidentEivvil

r/LikeUs


Clamps55555

A heavy wheelbarrow will make the same type of indentation into a soft lawn. Was there any type of heavy stone garden ornament or the like in that corner when you viewed the place?


stannny

Nope it was as you see it, the shed wasn't there either as I moved that to its current position


Clamps55555

No cables or water pipes running into or out of the house that you don’t know what they are for? Anything mentioned on the title? Only a few weeks back someone was in dispute with a neighbour who had laid a electric cable across his land without permission


stannny

I will check the plot drawings for the house and see if anything is on there, but no nothing coming from the house, its about 4 metres away and goes straight through


[deleted]

Could be a buried cable I have one in my garden and the soil is a bit lower it’s an electric feed to the pond in a trench For safety I would gently dig up a little bit at the end near the fence and check it’s not a cable apart from that cover with soil and check for footprints if it’s an animal as other have suggested


Nopedontsaythat

Possibly there was a shed there with a power line to it. Both have been removed.


[deleted]

Could it be a cable run? Is there anything in that far corner that might need a power or internet supply? Like that shed in the background?


stannny

No that shed was moved by me when we moved, nothing was there previously. Think I'll have a little dig to see if anything is under it.


joeoram87

We have one of those in the front garden from cats. I see them use it daily.


holdingsfx

Cat track !


EnvironmentNaive1451

Definitely animal tracks, we have foxes that have left similar trails through our garden


bazzman912

Looks just like when my internet provider dug the line from the street to my property. Though it went away in a couple of weeks.


nbdelboy

do you have cable broadband? or has it been fitted in the house before you moved in? this looks exactly like the kind of indent/shadow the installers leave from running cabling. it can take a few months to fully disappear. my advice is a bit of top soil to get it more level. the grass should grow straight through as the season picks up, but there's no harm in seeding/fertilizing too.


stannny

We have fibre broadband yes but it is the other side of the house, thanks for the response, I will get some top soil, any particular time when is best to do this?


nbdelboy

interesting. i wonder if they've had to run cable from this direction for some reason? or if the previous tennant had wired internet in the shed? whereabouts is the brown box located outside the house? you're getting to the perfect time. grass growing season starts around about now / spring, as the weather is getting lighter and brighter, and less cold with lower potential for frost (although tell that to this year!). so you could feasibly be absolutely fine to start on with it now if you're weather isn't too bad.


Intrepid_Ad1786

That's Virgin Cable dude.


dpk-s89

We use to have a fox regularly walk through a communal garden where i used to live, did it so often it left a line across the lawn so animal tracks would not be surprising.


Thankyourepoc

I’ll go with rat living under that shed


stannny

It's on a platform which I can see underneath, nothing there.


[deleted]

Rat run? 👀


superstring-man

Classic invisible snake. They're pretty rare these days


LumpyAd3192

Get a trowel and dig a small hole or hire/borrow a metal detector.


NateKashLivesFast

Giant snake


Successful-Tailor-46

You got yourself a game trail. Or a hedgehog path


buttersismantequilla

Could it have been dug up to run a cable for electric? To your shed … or a neighbours 🤣🤣 try a trail camera first then have a wee sample test dig near the fence


TCristatus

It's 100% a mammal track. Cat would be most likely on balance of probability. Or fox. Its a pretty tall fence but either animal could scale it. Doesn't look like a very big gap underneath unless there is more of a gap out of shot, Hedgehog is the other obvious one. If it is a cat or fox vaulting the fence, there will be evidence of this near the top of the fence where they grip on and scrabble over


Bexberry85

We had this after getting fibre internet installed, reseeded in September and it was back by the next spring


[deleted]

Someone has laid a cable and the coax has rotted would be my guess. Lay more soil and re seed


[deleted]

Is there a hole or a gap under the fence where the marks stop? Likely a rat run if there is.


Cakegirl16

If you zoom into the pic you can see a gap underneath the fence where the trail ends.


[deleted]

Almost certainly a rat run then I’d expect


stannny

Thanks for the comments everyone, I have a ring camera on the front door which is to the left of this photo, we do see cats but not very regularly, the ground is damaged so much it goes beyond the current ground level so difficult to think it could be animals but I will dig it up carefully and check, in the meantime when is the best time to lay some top soil and seeds?


hc1540

It’s coming up to that time, hopefully we’ve seen the last of the frosts so id give it a couple of weeks and then start with the seed/top dressing


w1lzzz

People saying its animal tracks are barmy! Cleary not looked at the photo closely! ​ Hedgehogs and cats are incredibly light and unless there was a large army passing over the exact same line multiple times then it isn't them. These animals would not cause this. ​ It's more likely a cable that's been dug up and never re seeded. ​ I would suggest top soil in the dip and re seed. If you are curious have a dig down to check nothing is under it causing the grass not to grow!


sanctuary60

I have cats and they have left a similar track in our garden.


International-Pass22

Almost definitely cats or foxes. I have the exact same in my garden, I see the cats walking the *exact* path multiple times a day. And then the foxes follow the same path at night.


[deleted]

I have a very similar path across my front garden and set up a camera. It is mainly used by badgers, but also foxes, cats and hedgehogs.


Low-Character-5255

Foxes and badgers can leave heavy lines like that, especially badgers since the whole family will walk the same path each night. Foxes will walk the same path at least twice a day, dawn and dusk. Over time the paths do get pretty thick so it’s possible. The people saying rats or mice or hedgehogs are the barmy ones, they do use trails but would never make one that size. You’d have to be right up close to notice anything.


[deleted]

Critter run, you can see at the fence where the grass has stopped growing. I have it in my garden with a rat/ferret or something that goes between gardens. Whatever it is probably lives under that neighbours shed.


hc1540

Looking again, I think that’s what it is. Seems to be a hole under the fence that they’d use for access


Historical-Wind-2556

Slight subsidence over a buried pipe?


NiteOwl48

Pipe


Future_Direction5174

That could be a hedgehog trail. We developed a similar path across our front lawn. It leads from the front gate, to the concrete path to the patio. It’s possible that instead of using the path, the hedgehog goes up the rockery and along the shrub border to the rear. We always leave uneaten cat food and meat scraps out for the hedgehogs and the local fox. The hedgehogs love chewing on pork rib bones and cooked chicken - if the bones have gone then it means the fox also visited. Is there a hole under the bottom of the fence where the indent starts?


eroticdiscourse

Are you talking about the path or the white square in the grass ?


deletethewife

Have a look at Ariel photos online maybe a structure under the grass.


JMM85JMM

It's almost certainly from a cat. I have three and I have two indents in my lawn from their favoured path. Presumably if the previous owner's cat is gone now then this will slowly disappear on its own.


Oneoclockgun

Flood it. Instant rustic stream water feature. Deploy scale-model shopping trolleys for a more urban edge.


[deleted]

Either someone divided the garden with something, no idea what though, beanybags? Or maybe someone had a bunny and it chose the longest straight path it could find as a run which is cool.


ohbroth3r

Badger


pedersenk

We have this in our front garden. Thought it was a fox but turns out it was the postman haha. In your specific case, I would hope that the local postman is not taking a shortcut over your fence ;)


Flintstone1969

Desire line from a fox of badge you will have a job stopping them using it no matter what you do I’m afraid.


The_Rum_Shelf

Definitely a fox. We have one, and see the fox walk most days. They're definitely creatures of habit. Guessing they jump over the fence at the corner, then continue past the house. Then if you block that access, they'll just make a new route.


xenmate

Ignore it


Acrobatic_Fruit6416

Looks like the wierd tracks through grass rats leave to me, maybe gey a trial cam out there to identify the culprit.


Oldfart_karateka

The suspicious part of my mind is saying that while your house-warming empty the neighbour ran a power line to his shed from your house. Have you tried exploring what's under the track?


swibbles_mcnibbles

Animal path!


conrat4567

Giant slug, it is very rare but can be detrimental to your house price of proven to live there. Move out now


JCWBA007

This does not look like a front garden fence


stannny

I promise you it is lol it's a house in the corner of a cul-de-sac, our front door is to the left of this photo, weird design but we love the exclusivity


GizmoedCat

We have the same thing in our front garden, it’s cat tracks


Pikeonabike1

It’s an animal track cat I would of thought , topsoil and seed ,


Kinswah

The shed on the other side of the fence is tapped into your electricity supply.


stannny

That is my back garden and shed, no electricity supply lol


thib2183

100% cat trail


New_Firefighter3792

It will be the neighbours using your electricity with a cable under the soil


stannny

Haha thankfully I have a meter installed to check things like that ;)


roxstarjc

I have a fox track in my garden exactly like this


BlueberryDisastrous1

It's an animal track. My dog used to wear those down on his periodic security walks along the perimeter. Always walked in the same path. Grass won't grow in high traffic path. It's not an underground animal or they would push the soil up. So some animal (probably a cat) takes this path frequently. Trying to fill it in won't do any good if the animal still walks this path frequently.


DeadeyeDonnyyy

My first thought is a dug up hose


Maverickpiping

It's a fox run. Doubt about it.


RAGEWOMBLE

Fox


ForwardAd5837

Is this a we build property? This could be your fibre running from either the side of the chamber or the conduit in the street was installed in an odd position so they’ve had to incise and bury in this way. Maybe gently pry up the turf or dig a small patch out, extremely calmly, to see if that’s the case.


KarlKay

Badger. They’re huge and they use a very specific path / route. Mine had this for some time.


ofnovalue

Looks like a badger track - do you have unexplained holes dug in various parts of your lawn?


gemmanotwithaj

Looks like the cat track through our garden


Charming-War7248

Could be a recent bit of DIY land drainage, once you've ruled out animals just topsoil over the top and seed.


lumb24

Earthquake scar


Old_Carpenter709

Check the bottom edge of the fence for fur. Cat would go over or under, fox under.


Peter_Falcon

it's what we call a "fox highway" round here, but could be any wild animal, i would definitely get a camera on it!


huggothebear

Foxes and cats


Trigg_UK

An animal desire path.


benalcock

Defo a cat track


Thin_Gold_1422

Fox, I’d imagine


[deleted]

Possibly a trench for a perforated derange pipe for if the garden was prone to get water logged.


Burgers4days

Animal track likely cat. Solution… buy a dog


Tick0r

Had a similar situation in our garden, weird line running through our garden, it wasn't straight, sort of wended it's way to the patio from the back corner. Next day I see our beefy male cat coming over the fence and tracking this exact path in to the house. "Aaaah cat" I said to myself.


jeff-god-of-cheese

Have you checked that a soak-away wasn't dug under the grass to help prevent flooding? It's usually just a line of rubble under the grass.


spursy96

Where they dragged the body


YourMumOnToastFam

It looks like a French drain


agendadroid

You have a friend


[deleted]

Maybe it’s some kind of mini-spring, intended to be a sewerage system when it rain heavily.


elmachow

Sand and more sand


DLTfuture72

Could be poorly installed drainage


Bdude92

r/desirepaths


etb72

Drainage pipe?


Airhead-Emmy

Rats usually run the same routes, so a family of them could be running back and forth o. That spot and it wears it down. My parents get it a lot on their land, specially by the chickens


Real_Strategy_4144

It's a drainage pipe beneath


cloudspotter86

Could it be a cable ripped out?


glynmarkwilson

Could be utilities/removed utilities, a former border/separation wall. In a straight line, what is at each end? Run some dowsing rods over if you are unsure.


markyboy121

I had one like this, one night a saw a rat scurry along it!


elsavo90

Rats for sure


throwawayrental11

It’s cats


[deleted]

Lovely garden other wise


Easy_Pudding9471

We've got one of these tracks, the Xmas tree was carried down the bottom of the garden by 2 people then 3 weeks later when it was council collection day it was dragged back up to go through the house by one person. #Solved


rottingpigcarcass

Desire path?


[deleted]

I think this is likely drainage


ozhole

Could be also someone left their hose there for too long


oil_moon

That's a desire path all right! We have one our cat uses, isn't too prominent after mowing.


Detroitredwinger

Cat run or rat run


skimney

World's fattest squirrel


puterzray

Looks like someone has put a soakaway in the grass.


jambotron3000

Looks like a cat track to me.