What Animal Is Digging Up My Yard?

If something is digging up your yard, the culprit is usually after food — most often grubs in the soil — and the most common diggers are skunks, raccoons, squirrels, moles, and voles. Identifying which animal it is from the digging pattern tells you how to stop it, and in many cases controlling the grubs they’re hunting solves the problem at its root.

Identify the digger by the damage

The pattern of digging is the best clue to what’s responsible:

• Skunks: small, cone-shaped holes and shallow, individual divots in the lawn, usually overnight, as they nose out grubs. You may notice an odor.
• Raccoons: they roll back chunks of sod like a carpet, especially on newly laid or grub-rich turf, leaving flipped patches at night.
• Squirrels and chipmunks: lots of small, shallow holes from burying or digging up nuts and seeds, often near feeders or trees.
• Moles: raised ridges and volcano-shaped soil mounds — they tunnel for earthworms and grubs and rarely surface.
• Voles: narrow surface runways in the grass and small burrow openings; they damage roots and bark.
• Pocket gophers: fan-shaped soil mounds with a plugged hole off to the side.

The common root cause: grubs

Skunks, raccoons, moles, and birds all dig for the same prize — white grubs (beetle larvae) living in the soil. If your digging damage appears in patches that also have spongy, dying turf, grubs are the likely draw. In that case, the most effective long-term fix isn’t chasing the animals; it’s reducing the grubs (University of Minnesota Extension: White grubs). Treating the lawn for grubs at the right time of year removes the food source, and the diggers move on.

How to stop animals digging your yard

Match the method to the animal and the cause:

• Reduce the food source. Control grubs if they’re the draw, and remove fallen birdseed, fruit, and accessible pet food and trash that attract raccoons and skunks.
• Make the yard less inviting. Motion-activated sprinklers and lights deter nocturnal diggers like raccoons and skunks.
• Protect specific areas. Hardware-cloth barriers over newly seeded beds or under sod discourage rolling and digging.
• For moles and voles, focus on their runways and burrows with appropriate traps, and reduce the dense cover voles need.
• Exclude where possible. Fencing (including buried barriers) keeps burrowing animals out of gardens.

When to call a professional

If the digging is extensive, you can’t identify the animal, or you suspect a burrowing animal has denned under a shed or deck, a wildlife control professional can identify and handle it — and advise on humane, legal removal, since wildlife rules vary by area. For specific diggers, our guides on getting rid of squirrels and trapping ground squirrels cover those species in depth.

Frequently Asked Questions

What animal is digging holes in my yard at night?

Most likely skunks or raccoons hunting grubs — skunks leave small cone-shaped holes, while raccoons roll back patches of sod. Both are nocturnal. If you see raised tunnels instead of open holes, it’s moles or voles.

Why is something digging up my lawn?

Almost always for food — grubs (beetle larvae) in the soil are the top reason skunks, raccoons, and moles dig. Squirrels dig to bury or retrieve nuts. If the turf is also spongy and dying, grubs are the likely cause, and controlling them removes the incentive.

How do I stop animals from digging in my yard?

Remove the food source (treat for grubs, secure trash and pet food, clean up fallen seed), use motion-activated sprinklers or lights to deter nocturnal diggers, and protect key areas with hardware-cloth barriers. Addressing the grubs is often the most lasting fix.

How do I know if I have grubs?

Look for patches of spongy turf that lift easily (the roots have been eaten), dying grass that doesn’t green up, and increased digging by skunks, raccoons, and birds. You can confirm by peeling back a section of sod and checking for C-shaped white larvae in the soil.