The most common animals digging holes in yards at night are skunks, raccoons, and armadillos, all of which forage for beetle grubs and earthworms after dark. You can usually identify the culprit by the size, shape, and pattern of the holes they leave behind. Moles and voles also cause overnight damage, though their digging looks quite different from the cone-shaped foraging holes left by larger animals.
Why Animals Dig in Your Yard
Almost every case of overnight yard digging comes down to one thing: food living beneath your grass. Beetle larvae (grubs), earthworms, and other soil invertebrates are the primary targets. Skunks and raccoons are omnivores, but insect larvae are among their favorite foods. Moles feed almost exclusively on earthworms and insects. Armadillos root through soil for the same prey. If your lawn has a healthy grub population, it’s essentially an all-night buffet.
Voles are the exception. They dig for plant bulbs, roots, and stems rather than insects, and they also eat grass and gnaw on shrubs near their tunnels.
Skunks: Small Cone-Shaped Holes
Skunks are one of the most common nighttime diggers in North American yards. They dig small, individual cone-shaped holes as they hunt for grubs and lawn insects. The telltale sign of skunk damage is a systematic pattern: they work through one section of lawn per night, then move on to the next area the following evening. You might wake up to a dozen or more small holes scattered across a portion of your yard, then find fresh damage in an adjacent area the next morning.
Skunks also den under sheds, porches, and other dark crawl spaces. You won’t always smell them, so the absence of skunk odor doesn’t rule them out. If you see neat, shallow divots roughly 2 to 3 inches across with no connecting tunnels, skunks are the most likely suspect.
Raccoons: Rolled-Back Turf
Raccoon damage looks more destructive than skunk damage. Raccoons are stronger and less precise, so instead of individual holes they tend to peel back or roll up chunks of turf to get at grubs underneath. If you find patches of sod flipped over or torn loose rather than small neat holes, a raccoon is probably responsible. Like skunks, raccoons are nocturnal omnivores targeting the same grubs and earthworms. They also eat small rodents they find in the lawn.
Raccoon tracks are distinctive if you can spot them in soft soil: five toes on each foot, with prints that resemble tiny human handprints.
Armadillos: Shallow Wide Holes and Grooves
If you live in the southern or central United States, armadillos are a prime suspect. Their foraging holes are 1 to 3 inches deep and 3 to 5 inches wide, shallow and broad compared to what skunks leave behind. Sometimes armadillos don’t leave a defined hole at all, just a groove or furrow in the soil where they’ve rooted along the surface.
Armadillos also dig large burrows for shelter and raising young. These burrow entrances are 7 to 8 inches in diameter, and the tunnels can extend up to 15 feet underground. If you find a large opening like this near your yard’s edge, along a fence line, or under a structure, armadillos are almost certainly active on your property. Their tracks show three toe prints with sharp claw marks.
Moles: Raised Tunnels and Volcano Mounds
Moles create a very different type of damage than the animals above. Instead of individual holes, they build networks of shallow tunnels just below the surface, leaving raised ridges you can feel when you walk across the lawn. Where they push soil up to the surface, they leave rounded, volcano-shaped mounds of dirt. These mounds are the classic “molehill.”
Moles feed on earthworms and insects underground, so they rarely break the surface the way skunks or raccoons do. If your yard has ridged, spongy soil and cone-shaped dirt piles but no open holes, moles are the answer. One upside: a mole’s appetite for grubs and worms can actually reduce other pest populations in your soil.
Voles: Dime-Sized Holes With Runways
Voles are mouse-sized rodents that leave many small holes, roughly the diameter of a dime, often clustered around the roots of plants. The giveaway is the network of shallow, visible runways connecting the holes, worn paths through damaged grass where the voles travel back and forth. They spend time both underground and above the surface, eating grass and gnawing on shrubs and stems near their holes.
Because voles target plant material rather than insects, their damage often shows up around garden beds, ornamental plantings, and the base of shrubs rather than in the middle of an open lawn. If you’re finding small holes with chewed vegetation nearby, voles are the likely culprit.
How to Identify the Digger
- Small cone-shaped holes, systematic pattern: Skunk
- Rolled-back or torn turf: Raccoon
- Shallow, wide holes (3 to 5 inches) or grooves, southern states: Armadillo
- Raised tunnel ridges and volcano-shaped dirt mounds, no open holes: Mole
- Dime-sized holes with connecting runways, chewed plants: Vole
Checking your yard early in the morning gives you the freshest evidence. Look for tracks in soft or damp soil, and note whether the damage is in the open lawn (likely grub hunters) or near garden beds and plant roots (likely voles).
Reducing Grubs to Reduce Digging
Since grubs are the main draw for skunks, raccoons, armadillos, and moles, reducing the grub population in your soil is the most effective long-term strategy. Beneficial nematodes, microscopic organisms that kill grubs naturally, can be applied any time grubs are present in the top few inches of soil, roughly April through October. They’re most effective when applied in late summer, which coincides with when young grubs are most vulnerable. Water the lawn after application and keep the soil moist for several days to help the nematodes establish.
Avoid the temptation to apply broad insecticides to wipe out all soil invertebrates. This approach is inefficient and harmful to your lawn’s ecosystem without providing lasting results. Once the chemicals wear off, the grubs return, and so do the animals.
Deterrents That Actually Work
Motion-activated sprinklers are one of the more practical deterrents for nocturnal diggers. The sudden burst of water startles animals enough to drive them away. Because the sprinkler fires at anything that moves, it works best at night when pets and family members are inside. Move the sprinkler to different locations regularly so animals don’t learn to avoid just one spot.
For armadillos specifically, burying sheet metal or wire fencing 2 feet underground and extending it 3 feet above ground can block access to specific areas. A single wire fence set 8 inches above ground level can deter medium-sized mammals like raccoons and skunks from entering a section of yard.
The key with any deterrent is to start early, before the animal develops a nightly habit of visiting your lawn. Rotate your tactics so animals don’t get used to any single one, and combine approaches that target different senses (sight, sound, touch) to keep the animal uncertain and cautious. Vibration devices, ultrasonic noisemakers, mothballs, and tunnel flooding are not effective outdoors and are not worth the investment.