What Is Making Holes In My Yard? | Mowbot

Animals can be a pesky nuisance, especially creatures with a penchant for digging. If you’re finding holes in your yard, you’re probably wondering what animal is doing it and how to get them to stop. Numerous animals can get up to no good in your backyard, everything from squirrels to raccoons. But no matter what is making holes in your yard, there is a solution.

First, you need to determine what is making holes in your yard. Typically, animals dig to find food, but squirrels are unique in that they dig to hide food and only during the day. If the holes appear during the night, you can cross squirrels off your list.

Raccoons and skunks work at night digging holes in your yard for grubs. To pinpoint whether it’s a raccoon or skunk making holes in your yard, diagnose a grub situation. One sign of grubs is brown spots or dead grass. While brown areas don’t always indicate a grub problem, if the spots grow larger or start joining, it’s likely there are grubs, and they are enlarging their feeding area. To verify your suspicion, use a homemade dish soap solution to draw them out. Mix four tablespoons of liquid dish soap with two gallons of water and gently sprinkle the mixture over the dead grass. If there are grubs in the soil, they will safely come to the surface within five minutes; this does not kill them. If no grubs come to the surface, your dead grass is probably from nitrates in dog urine.

To stop the raccoons and skunks, you need to get rid of your grubs. Beneficial Nematodes are live microscopic organisms that naturally occur in soils throughout the world. A type of roundworm, Beneficial Nematodes are parasitic to grubs, eliminating them from the soil. You can buy Beneficial Nematodes online at an online retailer like ARBICO Organics. Beneficial Nematodes are an all-natural option for grub control, making them safe for your pets and family. Do not use chemical insecticides afterward, as they will kill the nematodes.

Bayer Grub Control ($19.97 at Lowe’s) is a chemical insecticide that kills white grubs before they grow into beetles.

If it’s squirrels making holes in your yard, you’re in for a little more work. Squirrels are harder to get rid of then their nighttime counterparts. One trick is spreading bone meal ($7.82 at Walmart) in your flower beds and on your lawn where they usually dig. Squirrels are highly sensitive to smells and don’t like the smell of bone meal, keeping them away. You can also try spreading a deterrent like Tomcat Repellants Animal Repellent Granules.

Once you have the critter situation resolved, you need to return your yard to new. Mowbot is a full-service lawn company that can handle your brown spots. We provide customized packages including fertilization options to meet your lawn’s needs. Our service and our robotic lawnmower will turn your brown, sparse lawn into a lush, green oasis.