How to Find What Animal Is Digging Holes in Your Garden? Wildlife Expert Reveals

Sprawling garden lawns brim with life and can be difficult to maintain. Keeping track of all the animal visitors who tend to chomp on your freshly planted sapling or furrow into your rich garden soil is quite the challenge. Two wildlife experts have stepped in to enlighten with their wisdom on the type of animals that dig holes in garden beds and how to identify which one of them might be doing it. This is the first step in saving your garden from the sneaky troublemakers.

Robert Pierce, PhD, an associate professor and wildlife specialist at the University of Missouri said, “You’ll need to gather information to figure out what might be causing the damage.” He suggested that some “sleuthing” is necessary for gardeners to make sure that they are not targeting the wrong animal to be eradicated. The tactics are highly dependent on the type of damage, time of year, hole appearance, when holes usually occur, and droppings, per Southern Living. 

Groundhogs

Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, are rodents that resemble common squirrels. They usually live near pastures, under sheds, or along the edges of forests. To identify them, their burrow entrance can be measured, which ranges from 10 to 12 inches in diameter and 30 feet in length. One can spot them frolicking around the garden during the day. 

Armadillos

One of the fascinating garden animals, armadillos is distantly related to anteaters and sloths, per Brittanica. These garden culprits burrow in forested regions and dig up multiple holes, about a dozen, only a few inches deep on garden beds. People often presume them to be rodents or marsupials but they are nocturnal and barely appear during the daylight hours. Three-toed tracks with claw marks on the garden are a good identification trait for armadillos. 

Moles

Moles are brilliant architects and build a complex network of tunnels with slightly raised ridges of soil above their burrows– a good characteristic for identifying them. These raised ridges appear in a volcano-like mound of soil about 2 to 12 inches in height covering long travel tunnels underground. Mole tunnels are over 5 inches deep with distinct nesting chambers and feeding tunnels. Speaking of their feeding patterns, these insectivores love to eat all day and night. 

Raccoons

Raccoons are opportunistic feeders and are highly adaptable to any nutrition available. They forage for both plants and animals in addition to garbage, pet food, bird seed, vegetables, and eggs from chicken coops. These clever animals forage at dawn and dusk but are most active during the night. They dig into existing holes expanding them into a new home. 

Rodents 

Rodents are a common sight in gardens and may range from chipmunks to squirrels and rats. Rodents and digging go synonymously as they claw into the soil searching for food. Squirrels dig up nuts and mulch beds while chipmunks build holes near buildings, brush piles, and stumps. Rats dig hole entrances less than 3 inches in diameter in hidden spots. 

Voles

Voles are herbivores and can be spotted in gardens during the day. They feed and work all day and night. Vole activities are confused with that of moles’ but the former builds surface or shallow underground tunnels that are about 1 to 2 inches wide with multiple flat entrance holes in a small area. 

Wild Turkeys 

Turkeys will not disturb a garden causing minimal damage until late summer, fall, and winter when they flock in groups of 20 to 30 turkeys. Research suggests that these flightless birds are often blamed for damage done by other animals like raccoons, deer, voles, crows, or jays. However, turkeys do destroy newly seeded lawns and gardens. 

Skunks 

Skunks are nocturnal, hence, they are an uncommon sight during the day. They dig for food, mostly dinner, and are primarily insectivores. Their holes are about 1 to 3 inches and shaped like cones brimming with worms and grubs. Skunks, often known for their stinking smell, also forage in daylight when feeding their babies. 

Some other animals that may be responsible for damage caused in the gardens are opossums, snakes, and coyotes. However, they mostly use existing holes to inhabit dens. Professor emeritus and wildlife specialist at the University of Georgia, Mike Mengak, PhD, noted, “You may have 20 possible culprits that can be narrowed down to the two or three of the most likely suspects.” So, one must be wary of the culprit attacking their precious lawns and plants to take necessary preventive measures.