Why Armadillos Are Digging Up Your Lawn

Armadillos, skunks and birds dig up a lawn because there are grubs or other larvae in the root zone worth eating. The digging is a symptom. Treating the grub population is what stops it, because removing the food removes the reason they visit.

Reading the damage

Armadillo damage looks like small conical holes and flipped-up patches of turf, usually appearing overnight. Skunks make neater cone-shaped divots. Either way, the animal is following its nose to larvae in the top few inches of soil.

Confirm before you treat

Do the tug test at the edge of the dug area. If the turf lifts easily and you count more than five grubs per square foot, you have your explanation. If the roots are firm and you find nothing, the digging is about something else, possibly earthworms after rain, and insecticide will not help.

Why trapping alone disappoints

Remove the animal and the food is still there, so the next one along the fence line finds it. Treating the grubs removes the incentive, which is a more durable fix than dealing with each visitor.

Repairing the lawn

Tread the flipped turf back down and water it in promptly. If the roots were still attached it usually knits back. Areas where the roots were fully consumed need plugging or resodding, which is a turf job rather than a pest one.

See our lawn insect control program