Wild animals, if left unchecked, can create a huge mess in your yard. These animals could also prove to be dangerous, especially if you have pets around.
Some of the common culprits that are known to dig holes in yards include raccoons, skunks, foxes, and armadillos. Their visits tend to proliferate during the fall, as this is when they feed more to fatten up for the winter.
Knowing what attracts these digging pests in your yard is an excellent first step in solving the problem.
Why Are Animals Digging up Your Yard?
Food and shelter are the necessities that drive these animals to venture out of their natural habitat. Animals such as the skunks or the armadillos will visit your garden to grab insects, grubs, or worms populating there.
You can have up to 25,000 grubs in 5000 square feet of garden.
These animals will also move to your property to seek shelter by digging to build a nest for their young ones. Safety is a priority for rodents when they are about to give birth.
What is digging up your lawn?
If you have these visitors around, you want to know what animal is digging up your property for an appropriate response.
For example, the skunks dig precise holes, creating artificial aeration around your garden. Moles dig up tunnels and make mounds. The raccoons can be pretty messy; they will flip over sections of your garden, leaving behind a massive mess.
Armadillos dig holes 3-5 inches wide and 1-3 inches deep throughout your lawn. They cause enormous losses, such as damaging underground pipes and uprooting plants.
How to stop these animals?
So, how do you go about putting a stop to these garden invaders? We have simple prevention and control practices you could adopt to restore normalcy in your garden.
Get Rid of Food Sources
The grub population in your yard will attract burrowing rodents in droves. Burrowing rodents will go the full length in search of them, leaving behind a trail of destruction in your garden.
Control the grubs immediately. June is the best time to get rid of them since this is when they begin to multiply in your garden.
Lifeless brown grass strewn across your lawn is a clear indicator of grubs around since they destroy plant roots. You could use beneficial nematodes to get rid of them.
These insects feast on grubs for food, eliminating them in the process. You should start seeing results after a couple of weeks.
Other food sources that you need to take care of are fallen fruits, woodpiles, shrubs, and anything else rotting with a potent scent.
Seed your Lawn Regularly
Seed your lawn often with grass that develops deep roots. The hostile animals won’t find them easy to uproot when searching for food.
Physical Barriers
Once you are sure no burrowing animal is living in your yard, you can erect an underground fence about six inches deep to prevent them from returning.
Use a chicken wire or chain link for this matter. Be aware that this method is labor-intensive but worth it.
Use Animal Repellents
Repellents also prove handy in getting rid of unwanted animals in your yard. They come in powdered and liquid form that you can sprinkle or spray on your lawn, respectively.
Ideally, you may want to go for an all-animal type repellent.
Live Traps
You can easily remove rodents such as mice using traps. Set a couple of them in your yard if you feel you have a large population of these rodents.
Use a trap size corresponding to the size of the animal.
How to stop skunks?
You can take care of skunks in your garden with proven solutions below.
Scare them with Sensor Lights
Motion sensor lights in your garden can scare off skunks. Have multiple of them flood your garden and scare the skunks away. These lights are budget-friendly and easy to install.
However, you want to mix sensor lights with other solutions, as the skunks could determine that the lights are harmless.
Household Scent
Strong scents like paprika, soap, and citrus can keep skunks off your garden. You want to place them close to the perimeter to drive them away throughout the year.
Please be aware that pets and children may have an allergic reaction to some substances. Take care while using them.
For example, mothballs are pretty potent but toxic if ingested by pets.
Install a Scarecrow in your Garden
Skunks are afraid of humans. Having a scarecrow in your garden is enough to send the night intruders running.
You could also use predator scarecrows, such as a mechanical owl with flapping wings.
You could also go for Owl-Eye, a type of scarecrow with glowing eyes like those of a live bird. The Owl-Eye combines light, fear, and movement, scaring the skunks and making them run for safety.
Spray Dog Urine in your Yard
Dog urine is an excellent repellent for skunks. Spray it on your lawn, and you may have some peace around.
If you can’t get dog urine, you can opt for coyote urine that you can purchase online or from a nearby hardware store.
How to stop armadillos?
Another animal you want to get rid of in your garden is the Armadillo. You can stop Armadillos from digging up your yard by repelling them with a castor-oil-based repellent.
Eye-stinging scents like ammonia or vinegar are also effective in driving them away.
How do I stop squirrels?
Squirrels do the digging for two primary reasons: to seek food and to store food.
Taking the lives of squirrels invading your garden is not the best solution for you, as you may end up messing with an endangered species that could get you fined.
Squirrels are best controlled through preventive measures, and here are some ways that could prove handy.
Keep pet food inside your house
Pet food in your yard attracts any pesky rodents such as squirrels. You want to keep the leftovers inside the house after feeding your pets.
Seal the bins
Squirrels are scavengers, and leaving your rubbish bin open is a sure invitation to your garden. Tightly close the rubbish bins outside your house.
Keep a Guard Dog in your Yard
Guard dogs can also help in keeping squirrels out of your yard. You must train them properly to chase them away.
Avoiding Feeding Them
You may fall in love with squirrels and start feeding them when they come around, brewing trouble in the long run. Eventually, they will get used to your feeding routine and make your garden their feeding place.
Squirrels are wild animals that you should leave to fend on their own.
Conclusion
We hope that the methods mentioned above will help you keep your garden or backyard free from unwanted guests.
Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to this; you must keep experimenting to see what works.
