[Daatje]

...about 5 inches in diameter and likes to eat honey combs?

I have such a burrow on the side yard with honey combs strewn about the opening...

I'm thinking maybe a Badger?

[Jynx]

A skunk digging after some kind of bumble or ground bee nest?

[Daatje]

Skunks would do that? If they are going after ground bees, I have a new found love for them!

[MistyBlue]

Skunks *love* bees. Badgers do too.

5" wide? Could be a juvenile badger...but if it's a badger there'll be an obvious pile of loose dirt near the hole. Badgers are digging machines and can sometimes dig so fast that they catch rabbits underground before the rabbit thinks to get away. (and badgers don't give a shite )

Skunks are also really good at digging. As are rabbits, hares, most of the weasel family, groundhogs, etc.

Maybe it was Pooh Bear?

[RacetrackReject]

Would that make it a honey badger???

[leaf]

Skunks love the nests of underground yellow jackets. They get a great protein meal of larvae. You can sprinkle sweet feed around the bees' entrance hole, and a skunk is drawn to the feed, and will rid your yard of the yellow jackets by digging them up. You'll see the "honey- comb" looking nest material that's left.
Are there badgers in the northeast?

[Appsolute]

Skunks love the nests of underground yellow jackets. They get a great protein meal of larvae. You can sprinkle sweet feed around the bees' entrance hole, and a skunk is drawn to the feed, and will rid your yard of the yellow jackets by digging them up. You'll see the "honey- comb" looking nest material that's left.
Are there badgers in the northeast?

Oooooh!

I have skunks - I also have an underground yellow jacket hive which I would be happy to be rid of. Especially after hubby was stung last week.

Thanks for the tip!

[cssutton]

...about 5 inches in diameter and likes to eat honey combs?

I have such a burrow on the side yard with honey combs strewn about the opening...

I'm thinking maybe a Badger?

Fox love yellow jackets and dig them out every time they can.

Get a game camera and aim it at the hole.

You might think it expensive just for that, but after you have one you will find that there are lots of other uses for it.

We have a burrow in the edge of our pasture and I decided to put a game camera at it to see what was using it.

I got pictures of both red fox and ground hogs coming out of it.

I suspect that the fox took it away from the ground hog.

Interesting thing is that both used it for a couple of days and then neither used it for over a week.

Then we had the rainy spell and I see something used it the night it rained hard most of the night.

So I will put the camera back there tomorrow to see who won.

[Daatje]

That is so cool, thanks for all the info guys! I had no idea that skunks liked bees....or that the other critters did too for that matter!

I've been wanting to get a wi-fi camera to see just who/what roams the yard at night. Perhaps it's time.

Thrilled that what ever it was erradicated the ground nest before we next mowed the lawn!

[Belg]

Would that make it a honey badger???

I dont know, throw a cobra in there and find out :=)

[Phaxxton]

Would that make it a honey badger???

Nah, honey badger don't care.

[oliverreed]

I dont know, throw a cobra in there and find out :=)

EEEEEW! He's eating the cobra!

[Guin]

I don't think we have badgers in New England. I vote for a skunk.

[pds]

This.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg

[Frank B]

Check the hunting/fishing stores like Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas. They often have low-end scouting cameras that are probably what you're looking for.

It's amazing what wanders through your yard during the wee small hours.

[Bacardi1]

You don't have Badgers in New England.

In addition neither Skunk nor Fox are small enough to "live" in a burrow with an entrance only 5" in diameter. That's about the size of a rat hole.

However, skunks are NOTORIOUSLY in love with ground-nesting wasps like Yellow Jackets, Ground Bees, etc., etc. Also low-nesting wild Honeybees & commercial Honeybee hives (skunks don't climb well). They're not at all interested in honey - what they're after are the grubs/larvae. With their tiny eyes & nose, & everything else covered with an extremely thick coat of hair, they're quite impervious to stings.

We used to have tons of Yellow Jacket nests in the ground when we lived in the VA/WV borderline mountains. After a resident skunk moved in? No more. You could see how those wonderful claws completely dug out & devastated the nest, leaving just a few stragglers. It was great!

Here at our new place, our resident skunk(s) snuffle through the soft ground around the barn digging up June & Japanese Beetle grubs. I love having them around.

[trubandloki]

That's about the size of a rat hole.

Rats do not make huge 5" holes. That is really big for the average rat.

[Bacardi1]

Rats do not make huge 5" holes. That is really big for the average rat.

Not for the rats that live (or used to live, I should say) around my barn here. 5"-diameter burrow holes were nothing.

[Daatje]

Well, I'm certainly glad we don't have badgers in NE. Those are nasty little suckers!

I love the fact that something destroyed a yellowjackets nest. More power to 'em!

And yes, I think 5" is a little big for the typical rats we have around here, but skunk makes perfect sense.