Knowledgebase
critters tearing up yard #775686
Asked October 18, 2021, 11:51 AM EDT
Frederick County Maryland
Expert Response
We are not sure of your question. There are no easy answers when it comes to wildlife control. It is difficult to prevent squirrel damage, if there are a lot of mature trees in the neighborhood and the squirrels can move from tree to tree and into your landscape. If you feed the birds, squirrels can be attracted to the seed. You may want to stop feeding the birds for a while, or look for a squirrel proof bird feeder. Rake fallen acorns. Otherwise, digging in the lawn is normal squirrel activity and cannot be controlled. Squirrels do not typically dig deeper than several inches. You may need to do some reseeding or reposition some turf.
Voles - feed on the roots of trees and shrubs and holes are about the size of a silver dollar. Here is some information and photos on voles and management in the landscape and lawn areas.
Marian
If you think the lawn has a high population of grubs, you can find information here on how to check for this and how to manage them:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/identification-grubs-lawns
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/white-grub-management-lawns
And here's some basic raccoon info:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/raccoons
Miri