Is your lawn being ravaged by a nighttime marauder? Might be skunks or raccoons, or maybe even both! In late summer and fall, these two varmints damage lawns as they search for earthworms, soil-dwelling insects, and insect larvae, such as white grubs. They dig up the lawn leaving behind large patches of loose turf, eat the grubs, worms, or other insects and leave behind a torn-up mess. A few things to look for to determine who’s doing the damage:
- Skunks create holes by pushing their noses into the lawn and then using their front paws to dig out the area. There can be so many holes rutted out that they coalesce together into a large disturbed patch of grass.
- Raccoons use their front paws more like hands and will lift and flip sod pieces over. Sometimes the sod appears as if someone has neatly rolled it back with the intent of transplanting it elsewhere.
Managing either one of these critters can be difficult as extensive digging can happen in a short period of time (often overnight) and both of these animals have few reliable control measures.
Often, it’s grubs that the predators are after. White grubs tend to be localized in the lawn and it is typical to have grub populations occur in irregular and isolated spots. Healthy turf can tolerate relatively high grub populations (as many as 20 or more grubs per square foot) before showing signs of injury. While damage to turfgrass caused by the grubs feeding requires a relatively high population density, grub populations only typically have to be at five or more grubs per square foot to attract skunks and raccoons for feeding. Determine the size of the grub population by inspecting nearby undamaged areas or those areas that have shown grub damage in the past. If numbers are low, no treatment is necessary. Click here to learn more about grub control.