Have you noticed mysterious holes in your yard but no mounds? If so, you’re not alone. Here are eight creatures that could be the culprit.

Holes that suddenly appear in your lawn can be unsightly and problematic, interrupting your manicured grass and posing a trip hazard. To remedy the situation, you need to know what’s causing the holes but in many cases, the insects or animals causing the situation do their work at night or out of sight.

It can be tough to figure out why there are holes in your yard, especially if they don’t have that telltale mound that’s associated with animals like moles and gophers. By taking a closer look at the size, shape, and location of the holes in your yard without mounds, you can narrow down the possibilities and come up with a plan to put an end to the digging.

Causes of Holes in Your Yard With No Mounds

Voles

Unlike moles, voles will make holes in your yard that don’t have any excavated dirt mounded at the entryway. Instead, a hole created by a vole will be about the size of a golf ball but fairly shallow and sometimes oval in shape.

Yellow Jackets

Yellow jackets will frequently utilize a hole left behind by rodents as a tunnel to an underground nest. Because of that, the holes in your yard that are connected to a yellow jacket nest might vary in size or shape but they are usually found in dry soil and grow over time (as the nest becomes bigger underground) and might have a bit of debris piled up around the entrance.

Visually observing yellow jackets entering and exiting the hole is the best way to know if it’s an entry point to a yellow jacket nest.

Ground-Nesting Bees

Some varieties of bees nest in the ground, using an access hole to reach an underground nest.1 Bumble bees live in social groups centered around a hive and might use an abandoned rodent hole as an entry point to the hive.

Other species of bees, like the sweat bee or cellophane bee, are solitary and dig small tunnels in the dirt to lay eggs under the ground.

To identify holes made by ground-nesting bees, look for small holes up to ½-inch wide in dry, sandy soil.

Rabbits

Female rabbits will often build a shallow nest in the ground to conceal their young. Look for what appears to be a dead patch of grass; in the case of a rabbit’s nest, you’ll find the hole lined with dead grass and fur and then covered with leaves or other vegetation to conceal the young rabbits.

Skunks

If a group of holes pops up in your yard overnight, it may be the aftermath of a skunk digging for grubs.

Holes in your yard from a skunk are usually a few inches or less in diameter and shallow enough that you can see the bottom of the hole (it doesn’t lead to a tunnel).

Chipmunks

A hole with no mound that leads to a tunnel might be caused by a chipmunk. These small rodents create clean, round holes about two inches in diameter to lead to an underground burrow system.

To make it harder for predators to see the hole, chipmunks pack the excavated dirt into their cheeks while digging and carry it away from the hole—leaving no mound around the entrance.

Groundhogs

Groundhogs create large holes up to 12 inches in diameter as part of an extensive burrow system.

While the main entrance to a groundhog burrow will usually be near a fence, tree, or other shelter-providing structure and be marked by a mound of dirt, auxiliary entrances are a clean hole in the ground, usually in an open grassy area.

Rats

Some species of rats prefer to nest in the ground, creating burrows with several entrances. Holes in your yard or garden may be access points for a rat nest, especially if the hole is 3 to 4 inches in diameter and smooth, with hard-packed walls leading into a tunnel.

How to Stop Holes in Your Yard

To stop holes in your yard, you need to either remove the insect or animal or eliminate its food source. Here are the best ways to put an end to digging activity in your lawn or garden:

• Since some animals, like rats, dig holes to create burrows in areas with a ready food supply, install physical barriers around your garden beds. Materials like chicken wire can be used as an above-ground deterrent to the pests while landscaping mesh buried below the soil surface can prevent digging.
• Reduce the prevalence of grubs, which are a key reason why skunks dig holes, by using beneficial nematodes. Choose nematodes to target common turf grubs and follow the package instructions for storage, application, and re-treatment.
• Tall grass offers natural protection and might encourage certain animals, like rabbits, to dig holes in your lawn. Mow your grass to a length of 3 to 4 inches; this shorter length also makes it easier to spot new holes that may appear in your yard so you can address the situation early on.
• Use natural deterrents to animal and insect activity; sprinkle things like cayenne pepper, coffee grounds, cinnamon, or mint in areas of your yard with holes. When deciding what to apply to your yard, consider what pest is most likely to be causing the holes and then determine which of these topical solutions will be most effective.

When to Call a Professional

It might be necessary to call a wildlife exterminator or pest control service if you can’t figure out what’s causing the holes in your yard. These experts can often pick up on subtle clues or utilize area knowledge to determine the cause of the holes popping up in your lawn or garden.

In addition, you might need the help of a professional if the holes in your yard are the result of a protected species.

Local wildlife control companies will have up-to-date information on federal or state protection laws and strategies to help remedy the problem.