This morning something happened in our garden that at first seemed very dangerous. Together with my family, we noticed a strange hollow in the soil near the vegetable beds. 

It was quite wide, with uneven edges, and the ground around it looked loose, as if something or someone had been digging there recently. The first thought that came to mind was: a snake’s den. 

We immediately grew cautious. Snakes are rare in our area, but they do exist. The hollow looked suspicious: a dark entrance leading into the depths, with markings around it that resembled slithering lines. 

Soon I discovered what it really was, and I was in shock . I told the rest of the story in the first comment 

The children were terrified and refused to move away, while my husband and I tried to figure out what to do next. Thoughts of poisonous vipers or even a whole nest of snakes hiding underground raced through our minds.

When I carefully examined the edges of the hole, I noticed strange lumps in the damp soil, as if the earth had been pushed out from the inside.

Doubt crept in — this looked far too unusual for snake tracks. We decided to do some research and learned something unexpected — what we were looking at was actually the burrow of a crayfish, living in the nearby river.

It turns out that such burrows appear where the soil is moist and water is close by. Crayfish dig tunnels to hide in during the day and come out at night to search for food. They push the soil outward, which is why little characteristic “mounds” form around the entrance.

We sighed with relief: there was no threat to us at all. On the contrary, the presence of a crayfish is a sign of clean water and a healthy ecosystem. Instead of fear, we felt wonder and even joy that such an unusual neighbor had settled in our garden.