My neighbour has lawn damage - holes in turf up to 5" diameter (average more like 3") and 4" deep. These are blind holes i.e. no tunnels attached. They generally appear in groups of three, either a straight line or a triangle. Reported to occur overnight. Location is westside Vancouver. Have seen a good sized skunk in the neighbourhood; racoons also are occasional visitors. This lawn is professionally maintained (at least somebody comes and mows it). My unkempt lawn shows no evidence of the problem; the neighbour on the other side also has no evident damage. Another neighbour suggested chafer beetle but from the Burnaby city brochure the stage of their life cycle in July isn't when animals and birds dig for grubs. Also I hope they haven't reached this neighbourhood yet. Any suggestions on cause of this and solutions? Bob
Please don't laugh at me, but do ya'll have crawdads up there? That is what I would think it was if those pics where taken here in Arkansas since you said there are no connecting tunnels and there are little piles of soil next to hole.
Yes!! ... I would like to report the same mysterious holes appearing on our front lawn in the west side of Vancouver (Dunbar-McKenzie Heights). We've had two occurences: the first in late July and again earlier this week. Both times, the lawn had very recently been mowed. It would be great to get an answer on this. Skunk? Raccoon? It must be a small animal, as the turf appears to have been scratched back to form the holes. They range in width from one inch to five inches and may be up to an two inches deep. I don't think they are crawdads, Dixie, as there are no creeks or ponds in the vicinity. In any case, crayfish, as we call 'em up here, are not very common in these parts. Does anyone have suggestions about how to keep this critter away from our lawn?
I wonder how RBGinvan is doing with his Lawn damage now, one year later? We are in west point grey and are under serious skunk attack. They have torn up the lawn big time. We cut a peice of turf (one foot square and turned it over) found no grubs, at least that we could see. We did turn up one June Beatle ( i think), much larger than the chafer beatles on display at Mandiville Garden Centre. Also we have found several June beatles around the lawn. Its very frustrating as we airated, overseeded and really made an attempt to improve the health of our lawn. We are considering beneficial nematodes. Wondering if anyone else was under attack last year and has had any success in convincing the skunks to move on. The damage is "feirce". We walked around last night for three blocks and for some reason no on else in the neighborhood is having the same problem. I wonder if the den is close by and we're the visitor's! J.
Just saw this message asking for an update. The damage was in our neighbour's lawn. Not repeated this year. Skunks and raccoons are definitely active in the neighbourhood. Fortunately moles and shrews have not been evident for several years now. Bob
The Lawn Damage is caused by Skunks, we now know this as we have caught them in the act. The buffet that excites them is June beattles, which are a nice fat little crunchy feast for them. We had a sample verified by a bug expert at the botanical garden's. The activity is restricted from mid June to the end of July when the June beattles emerge from "pupea" or whatever you call them immediatley prior to their emergence as a beatle. After July the activity eventually stops and their are no new holes. Their are chemical solutions which are not allowed in Vancouver. So we are continuing to persue the only non-chemical solution that we are aware of by minimizing the "Thatch" in the lawn and improving the root sytem; semiannual power raking and aeration, then overseeding. The local Garden shops and bug experts believe that the skunks are doing us a favour through their "natural pest management" of the June Beattle. We are still mistified why our lawn is the only lawn in a three block radius which is open for dinner from 10:00pm to 7:00am. Our current hypothesis is two fold. One: this was our first year of lawn maintenance after some 40 years of total neglect. Two: for some reason our property seems to be a highway for racoon and skunk traffic, from the back lane through our property back to front and then down the street heading east. My wife say's the neighbour two doors down has a history of skunks making a den in her yard and considering them as welcome visitor's. We have a new neighbor to the west with a Dog, so perhaps this will help for next year. I hope so. Finally, we have undertaken the first year of lawn maintenance on our own because their was such a back log of moss build-up and thatch. I am considering turning the maintenance over to the professionals next year, to find out if there is something they are using, legally or otherwise, that is not available to the "do-it-yourself" people like us. J.
I too would learn to live with them. What are a few holes that can be so eaily filled in and reseeded. We live with all manner of wild life. Two of the biggest garden wreckers are possums (marsupials) and cockatoos and parrots. Have just lost most of my very large magnolia's flowers to a raiding cockatoo gang while I was out. I am a little sad I did'nt get the expected show but living has been hard for the animals during the drought. I guess if we take over their world we need to give a little so they can survive. Liz
You will find that they will become more of a problem as time goes along. Many times they will get under a shed, house or underneath some structure. If you come close or spoke them they will spray and as many people know you just about can not get the smell off of you. It will begin to stink up your whole house, garden or shed. It is sad to say but the best way to get rid of them is to either hire a professional to come out and remove them or use a kill trap (Last Resort). You DONT want to catch them in a cage or leg trap because anyone that gets near them will be sprayed. You must use a #220 Body Trap or #330 Body Trap The other alternative is spray or granule animal repellent. We have both traps and animal repellents you can click here to see some solutions to your problem http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/animal-traps.html
I would suggest that it is the result of the chafer bugs. The adults mate and lay eggs in June and it is usually early fall when we start noticing lawns getting dug up in our area - in fact I saw the first one of the season just today a few houses down from ours. The garden shops carry nematodes to control the grubs but they are usually put down in July/August so I'm not sure if (1) you could still get them and (2) if they would have time to take affect at this time of the year. The damage (turf dug up etc) is done by a combination of the skunks and raccoons (night critters) we have in the city and the crows coming by to further mess up the lawn by tossing the clumps of sod around and enlarging any existing patches in their search for the grubs. A lot of people around our area have taken to putting screening over the affected areas of the lawn to keep the skunks and raccoons from destroying the lawn. This doesn't solve the problem and you will have to do it year after year but it will keep you lawn from being rototilled! Anne
I wouldn't do anything other then what Durgan said. Likely it is just a one time problem. It may be many years before a June Bug lays eggs on your lawn again. Adults can fly many blocks and it is a 1 in a 100 crapshoot that they lay in your lawn again. To my experience Junes bugs are not having any serious out breaks. As a matter of fact I find them pretty rare in BC, compared to where I grew up in Ontario. Now just wait, the Chaffer Beetle is coming to your neighborhood too! There already in East Van. Now lets just hope some one will stand up to these environmental bullies in Vancouver before you have to pave and paint your front yard green!
I think I'm suffering from the same problem. I live in south surrey. I noticed it for the first time this morning (Tuesday, Feb. 19th). From the window, I could see that some animal has dug up the grass from along the side of the sidewalk in our back, south facing lawn for about 4 or 5 feet. The big tufts of grass, with 3 or 4 inches of soil attached are sitting upside down on the lawn and some on the sidewalk. On closer inspection, I see holes dug all over tehe lawn, some appear to be scratching the surface, others are as deep as 5 inches. Some are four or five inches around. This appears to have happened in just one night. Could it be that skunks or other animals are seeking grubs? It's massive destruction and in all my years here I have never seen anything like it. Anyone have any ideas?
Well looks like jef3268 was right...the problem has gotten worse. Our lawn has been attacked again this summer, first in mid august, and again this week (mid september) a skunk(s) or a raccoon(s) I dont know which, shredded our lawn into a pile of rubble. About 10 feet by 20 feet, holes dug, Sod pulled up, and sod ripped apart. It really looks like more than a search for grubs, it looks so violent. They came back again a the night after and poked around a little bit. Not nearly as bad as the previous night. The June bugs were here again this year, no chafers beetles (yet). I wish there was a retreat somewhere for these criters so they can go on vacation for a while and become more at peace with my Lawn!
jeffd, Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I believe the June Bug and Chafer Beetle pretty much look alike and have the same life cycle anyway. A warm sunny dry lawn is usually most appeasing to the adult during June to lay her eggs in. It is also unfortunate that the city of Vancouver turns a blind eye to people like yourself who have there lawns shredded every summer. Some ideas I have heard in the past include sprinkling your lawn with water in the evening all of June,(I believe you can get a city permit to do so if you just seeded or turfed an area) stake down some meshing over the sunniest areas soon as you notice June bugs, bait some live Skunk traps, and of course squish all the beetles you see. I didn't get a chance to read the above posts, maybe there are some other ideas as well. Once the Skunks are done I would bet all the grubs are gone and you could start fixing areas again. All the best,, Jim.
Thank you for the precise info and picture. This is exactly the same problem I have. Have you determined what the cause is and also the remedy? Thanks, Nick
