If you go out to your yard one morning and observe something has leave hole , mounds of shit and torn - up greensward , you ’ve been host to wildlife looking for food or a place to live . Most lawn harm go on in the fall when animals are packing on fat to help them survive winter and in the spring when they are trying to regain lost weight and develop for breeding . You often can identify your visitant by the equipment casualty it leaves .
Skunks
A bunch of small shallow holes about the size of it of a half - dollar sign coin in the lawn , surrounded by loosened ground , indicate you ’ve been visit by a skunk . Skunks are nocturnal omnivores about the size of a sign of the zodiac true cat that occur throughout the United States . At least four different mintage of crumb inhabit the United States , with the striped dope ( Mephitis malodour ) being the most widespread . Using their snouts and feet , they make the holes as they search for crawler , chuck and adult ground insects just below the turf .
Raccoons
If you wake to get large slice of turf rip up and flip over , the culprit is in all likelihood a racoon . Raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) have front mitt like hands , which they use to pull up the sod as they search in your lawn for the same case of dirt ball , bug and grub that skunks eat . But dark - feeding raccoons prefer dining in fresh laid turf and shallow - rootle Gunter Wilhelm Grass because it is easier to tear up . racoon can matter up to 20 pounds and can be found throughout the United States , except in the desert Southwest .
Moles
modest volcano - shaped hill of dirt spread out around the lawn , and shallow meandering ridges execute through your greensward , indicate you are host to moles . bulwark make the ridges as they burrow to find earthworms and grubs that live just beneath the aerofoil . The unsightly mounds are made of grease the moles advertize up to the control surface when making deep runway and log Z’s chambers . Seven mole coinage inhabit North America ; the most far-flung is the easterly mole ( Scalopus aquaticus ) , which occurs throughout the eastern one-half of the United States Moles average about 7 inch farseeing and weigh 3 to 4 ounces .
Pocket Gophers
If your lawn has pocket-sized crescent - shaped or fan - shaped dirt knoll scattered over the turf , it is home to pocket gopher . These rodents occur throughout the westerly two - thirds of the United States in 13 different metal money . They average 8 to 10 inches long , with large incisor teeth and farsighted front claws . Gophers dig long secret burrow as they cut back off and eat the ancestor of grass , flower and other plants , kill them . The most far-flung species are the plains scoop gopher tortoise ( Geomys Bursarius ) , which occurs throughout the Great Plains states , and Botta ’s air pocket gopher tortoise ( Thomomys bottae ) , which occurs in California and the desert Southwest .
Armadillos
If you exist in the southeastern United States and find shallow hole scattered across your lawn , your culprit could be a nine - band armadillo ( Dasypus novemcinctus ) . These nocturnal , opossum - sized hoar animals are distinguished by a backbreaking , hairless taboo shell that pass over their bodies . They can not tolerate protracted freeze temperature or arid conditions , so they do n’t pose a trouble in northern or southwestern states . The fauna digs holes in sward up to 3 column inch deep and 5 column inch in diam as it look for insects , worms and chow . They also dig burrows 10 inches across and 3 to 4 ft mysterious in piano grime across their feeding territorial dominion . Each animal may have five to 10 burrows .
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