You may have moles or voles digging up your lawn. Voles primarily damage lawns in the early spring right after the snow melts. They are really a field mouse, and you may need to trap them. For management options see http://www.extension.umn.edu/Garden/yard-garden/wildlife/voles-in-the-landscape/

Moles are another possibility and can be a serious nuisance in a lawn. There are two types of moles, the eastern mole which crates tunnels that raise the grass. The star-nosed mole makes deeper tunnels that aren’t usually seen, but they leave dirt mounds in the lawn. You can step on the tunnels of the easter mole to press the grass back into place. If you want to trap these critters, notice which collapsed tunnels return. You may then place traps, repellants or toxic baits in them. See the following links for more information - bhttps://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/ADM-10.pdf

https://blog-yard-garden-news.extension.umn.edu/2020/06/tunnels-and-holes-from-moles-and-voles.html

Thanks for your research. 

If moles and voles aren’t the culprits, there are lots of other options. You mentioned that this happened at night, which is when racoons and skunks tend to forage for grubs. Gophers, opossums, and squirrels might also be at fault. The following link is helpful in that it discusses the types of holes different animals leave in the yard and may help you identify which creature is visiting. Once you identify the animal, you can determine how to repel them. Possible options include repellents, traps, and nematodes.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/whos_that_digging_in_my_yard_skunks_raccoons_or_moles

My neighbor's yard has some areas with narrow runs at the surface, and then there are other torn up places that look like they were hoed or plowed, they are so torn up. My suspicion was that raccoons or something were rooting around for the voles, if that's possible. No animals have ever been spotted during the daytime. I'm thinking of putting out a trail camera in hopes of catching something digging up the ground. Any idea what would be doing the really major sod removal? Raccoons? Possums? That amount of damage doesn't seem possibly just by the voles, I wouldn't think.

. It may be racoons who are digging up your lawn. They have been known to “roll up” sod when searching for grubs and other larvae. Your trail camera should be a big help.

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