What's causing these damage to my lawn? (2015, grass, trees)

[yiplong]

Snow has finally melted, showing the grass underneath. I am very distressed to see the extensive damage to my lawn, there are these "holes" all over (see the pictures below):


IMG_20150331_171147 by BH1982, on Flickr

IMG_20150331_171103 by BH1982, on Flickr

IMG_20141012_110845 by BH1982, on Flickr

I saw some of these in the fall but at the time it was only affecting a small corner of the lawn, now almost the whole yard is dug up! For those of you with more lawn care experience, can you answer the following questions:

(a) any idea what animal is causing this damage?
(b) why is the animal digging in my lawn?
(c) how do I repair this damage?
(c) how to prevent the animal from coming back and causing more damage?

[snowtired14]

Bigfoot.

[puginabug]

Moles?

[Bulldogdad]

Yup you had/have a mole, vol or pocket gopher overwintering in your yard. Looks like they made themselves quite at home under the snow.

[fisheye]

Have a riding tractor? Moles do not like riding tractors; especially heavy ones. You could just roll the area with a lawn roller or drive back and forth with your car. They do make special traps for moles if you want to go that route.

[yiplong]

Don't moles make mole hills? I don't see any mole hills on the lawn, or maybe I just don't know what to look for, however the ground is soft and mushy when walked on, I think something must have been digging underneath. I don't have a riding tractor but traps sound appealing. I will look into that.

[Thinking-man]

These are from a squirrel....Hungry, looking for a nut.

option 1: put out some nuts in the open for easy access; they will most likely stop digging.
option 2: get a BB gun and practice shooting.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Thinking-man

These are from a squirrel....Hungry, looking for a nut.

option 1: put out some nuts in the open for easy access; they will most likely stop digging.
option 2: get a BB gun and practice shooting.

I agree, if the holes are not deep and do not become tunnels, it's the $@##$!%! squirrels. We are lucky enough to have both squirrels and moles, and the riding mower doesn't seems to bother the moles. Some crazy neighbor must be putting out peanuts for the squirrels because we find them around the yard. They bury food and often forget where so they dig those holes all over the place looking for it. We are not allowed to kill them here, but I have used a live trap to catch and relocate the buggers.

[yiplong]

It would be really bad news if squirrels are causing this. There is a small wooded area to the back of my yard and yes there are squirrels living in those trees. I have seen them around countless times, there must be quite a few of them.

[fisheye]

Skunks and raccoons will also 'damage' a lawn. But I really don't consider it damage. They will eat the grubs under your lawn and save you from worrying about the chemical removal of grubs. I guess you could say the same thing about moles - but I would rather just roll over the little buggers! Mole tunnels you can follow by simply walking over them and crushing them into the ground.