Help! Lawn damage
 

We have been at this location for 9 years with no previous problems. This year we re-seeded in late September and now have discovered overnight two large areas of extensive disturbance to the turf. I first suspected moles or voles, but on closer examination I see a large number of small pieces of turf that have been scuffed aside, but there are no tunnels beneath them. It looks like a large-ish animal, like a big dog or something, has torn up the lawn. But there are no footprints, and there is no sign of claw marks (the soil is soft and damp), and there is no history of dogs running loose in the area. I have no idea what is causing this, but the damage is extensive and I don't know how to control it. We have a new puppy, so poison is out of the question. If anybody has any ideas I'd appreciate hearing them.
Thanks
Dave

Help! Lawn damage
 

Dave wrote:
We have been at this location for 9 years with no previous problems.
This year we re-seeded in late September and now have discovered
overnight two large areas of extensive disturbance to the turf. I
first suspected moles or voles, but on closer examination I see a
large number of small pieces of turf that have been scuffed aside,
but there are no tunnels beneath them. It looks like a large-ish
animal, like a big dog or something, has torn up the lawn. But there
are no footprints, and there is no sign of claw marks (the soil is
soft and damp), and there is no history of dogs running loose in the
area. I have no idea what is causing this, but the damage is
extensive and I don't know how to control it. We have a new puppy, so
poison is out of the question. If anybody has any ideas I'd
appreciate hearing them.
Thanks
Dave

Racoons lifting the sod to get to the grubs infesting it?

Help! Lawn damage
 

On Sunday, October 7, 2012 3:51:33 PM UTC-4, Bob F wrote:
Dave wrote:

We have been at this location for 9 years with no previous problems.

This year we re-seeded in late September and now have discovered

overnight two large areas of extensive disturbance to the turf. I

first suspected moles or voles, but on closer examination I see a

large number of small pieces of turf that have been scuffed aside,

but there are no tunnels beneath them. It looks like a large-ish

animal, like a big dog or something, has torn up the lawn. But there

are no footprints, and there is no sign of claw marks (the soil is

soft and damp), and there is no history of dogs running loose in the

area. I have no idea what is causing this, but the damage is

extensive and I don't know how to control it. We have a new puppy, so

poison is out of the question. If anybody has any ideas I'd

appreciate hearing them.

Thanks

Dave



Racoons lifting the sod to get to the grubs infesting it?

I guess that might be possible - we live on the edge of a nature preserve and see lots of wildlife, including racoons. But as I said, I don't see any claw marks in the soil, but I guess that doesn't prove much. I'm not much of a woodsman in any case.
Thanks

Help! Lawn damage
 

On Sunday, October 7, 2012 3:20:52 PM UTC-4, Dave wrote:
We have been at this location for 9 years with no previous problems. This year we re-seeded in late September and now have discovered overnight two large areas of extensive disturbance to the turf. I first suspected moles or voles, but on closer examination I see a large number of small pieces of turf that have been scuffed aside, but there are no tunnels beneath them. It looks like a large-ish animal, like a big dog or something, has torn up the lawn. But there are no footprints, and there is no sign of claw marks (the soil is soft and damp), and there is no history of dogs running loose in the area. I have no idea what is causing this, but the damage is extensive and I don't know how to control it. We have a new puppy, so poison is out of the question. If anybody has any ideas I'd appreciate hearing them.

Thanks

Dave

Here are some pictures - I tried to post them earlier but a Comcast problem interfered.
http://home.comcast.net/~dg_moore/la...awndamage.html

Help! Lawn damage
 

Dave said:

Here are some pictures - I tried to post them earlier but a Comcast problem interfered.
http://home.comcast.net/~dg_moore/la...awndamage.html

Very typical of skunks digging for grubs and worms. (Racoons are another possible
culprit, but skunks would be my primary suspect.) This time of year they are working
hard to fatten up, doubly so as they probably had a tough time of it over the summer.
They tend to avoid thick, uniform stands of turf and concentrate on areas where the turf
is thinning, patchy or otherwise varied.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored

Help! Lawn damage
 

On Monday, October 8, 2012 7:55:05 AM UTC-4, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
Dave said:



Here are some pictures - I tried to post them earlier but a Comcast problem interfered.

http://home.comcast.net/~dg_moore/la...awndamage.html



Very typical of skunks digging for grubs and worms. (Racoons are another possible

culprit, but skunks would be my primary suspect.) This time of year they are working

hard to fatten up, doubly so as they probably had a tough time of it over the summer.

They tend to avoid thick, uniform stands of turf and concentrate on areas where the turf

is thinning, patchy or otherwise varied.



--

Pat in Plymouth MI



"Yes, swooping is bad."



email valid but not regularly monitored

Interesting - we do smell skunks around here regularly, but I haven't actually seen any. Wonder how to deal with them, if the culprit turns out to be skunks. Maybe if I catch them in the act I could run toward them, yelling and waving my arms? I don't see how that could go wrong...

Help! Lawn damage
 

Dave said:

Interesting - we do smell skunks around here regularly, but I haven't
actually seen any. Wonder how to deal with them, if the culprit turns out
to be skunks. Maybe if I catch them in the act I could run toward them,
yelling and waving my arms? I don't see how that could go wrong...

They generally come out at night, though I've occasionally run across baby
ones at dusk and the sometimes one that's found rich picking that will still
be out chowing down near dawn. (Be extremely wary of any skunk you see
in broad daylight. There is an very good chance they are rabid.)

Even the tiniest skunk will be unimpressed by yelling and waving. It will
calmly lift its tail and look back over its shoulder at you. Even stamp its
back feet a few times. Baby skunks are actually *extremely* cute when they
do this. Still capable of giving you a dousing you won't soon forget, but
damn cute.

The best prevention is to have a thick, uniform stand of turf. They really
prefer easier digging and know thin turf is the best place to look for bugs.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored

Help! Lawn damage
 

On 10/8/2012 5:09 PM, Dave wrote:
On Monday, October 8, 2012 7:55:05 AM UTC-4, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
Dave said:



Here are some pictures - I tried to post them earlier but a Comcast problem interfered.

http://home.comcast.net/~dg_moore/la...awndamage.html



Very typical of skunks digging for grubs and worms. (Racoons are another possible

culprit, but skunks would be my primary suspect.) This time of year they are working

hard to fatten up, doubly so as they probably had a tough time of it over the summer.

They tend to avoid thick, uniform stands of turf and concentrate on areas where the turf

is thinning, patchy or otherwise varied.



--

Pat in Plymouth MI



"Yes, swooping is bad."



email valid but not regularly monitored

Interesting - we do smell skunks around here regularly, but I haven't actually seen any. Wonder how to deal with them, if the culprit turns out to be skunks. Maybe if I catch them in the act I could run toward them, yelling and waving my arms? I don't see how that could go wrong...


As Pat points out, skunks are fearless. You back off, not them.
You can actually catch them in a Hav-a-hart trap and dispose of them if
you have the nerve. You throw a tarp over the trapped skunk and haul it
away and release it by opening the trap from a distance.

From discussion, I suspect dogs. I have not seen that much lawn damage
from skunks and other critters.

Help! Lawn damage
 

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012 8:15:11 AM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 10/8/2012 5:09 PM, Dave wrote:

On Monday, October 8, 2012 7:55:05 AM UTC-4, Pat Kiewicz wrote:

Dave said:







Here are some pictures - I tried to post them earlier but a Comcast problem interfered.



http://home.comcast.net/~dg_moore/la...awndamage.html







Very typical of skunks digging for grubs and worms. (Racoons are another possible



culprit, but skunks would be my primary suspect.) This time of year they are working



hard to fatten up, doubly so as they probably had a tough time of it over the summer.



They tend to avoid thick, uniform stands of turf and concentrate on areas where the turf



is thinning, patchy or otherwise varied.







--



Pat in Plymouth MI







"Yes, swooping is bad."







email valid but not regularly monitored



Interesting - we do smell skunks around here regularly, but I haven't actually seen any. Wonder how to deal with them, if the culprit turns out to be skunks. Maybe if I catch them in the act I could run toward them, yelling and waving my arms? I don't see how that could go wrong...





As Pat points out, skunks are fearless. You back off, not them.

You can actually catch them in a Hav-a-hart trap and dispose of them if

you have the nerve. You throw a tarp over the trapped skunk and haul it

away and release it by opening the trap from a distance.



From discussion, I suspect dogs. I have not seen that much lawn damage

from skunks and other critters.

Interesting discussion. I still don't know what, if anything, I can do about this. I think I'll set up a motion activated camera and see if I can catch anybody in the act.

Thanks to all!
Dave

Help! Lawn damage
 

On Oct 9, 8:22*am, Dave wrote:
On Tuesday, October 9, 2012 8:15:11 AM UTC-4, Frank wrote:
On 10/8/2012 5:09 PM, Dave wrote:

On Monday, October 8, 2012 7:55:05 AM UTC-4, Pat Kiewicz wrote:

Dave said:

Here are some pictures - I tried to post them earlier but a Comcast problem interfered.

http://home.comcast.net/~dg_moore/la...awndamage.html

Very typical of skunks digging for grubs and worms. (Racoons are another possible

culprit, but skunks would be my primary suspect.) *This time of year they are working

hard to fatten up, doubly so as they probably had a tough time of it over the summer.

They tend to avoid thick, uniform stands of turf and concentrate on areas where the turf

is thinning, patchy or otherwise varied.

--

Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored

Interesting - we do smell skunks around here regularly, but I haven't actually seen any. Wonder how to deal with them, if the culprit turns out to be skunks. Maybe if I catch them in the act I could run toward them, yelling and waving my arms? I don't see how that could go wrong...

As Pat points out, skunks are fearless. *You back off, not them.

You can actually catch them in a Hav-a-hart trap and dispose of them if

you have the nerve. *You throw a tarp over the trapped skunk and haul it

away and release it by opening the trap from a distance.

*From discussion, I suspect dogs. *I have not seen that much lawn damage

from skunks and other critters.

Interesting discussion. I still don't know what, if anything, I can do about this. I think I'll set up a motion activated camera and see if I can catch anybody in the act.

Thanks to all!
Dave- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Squirrels also dig holes to bury nuts in the Fall. But since
it's apparently happening at night, that would rule them out.
Skunks and raccoons dig for grubs. I'd suggest lifting a
square foot section of turf in a few places adjacent to where
the digging has occured. If you find grubs, that would suggest
treating for them could solve both the grub problem and
the digging. Depending on where you are, it's late to
treat for grubs now though.

Help! Lawn damage
 

Racoons lifting the sod to get to the grubs infesting it?

Bob, you nailed it. I set up a game camera and finally got a shot of a big raccoon at 0430 this morning. I also found a gray/white grub the size of my thumb crawling around in yesterday's debris. So now I have to see if I can treat for the grubs and maybe find a way to repel the raccoon.

Thanks!