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I went to mow the yard today and found 1-2 inch plugs of grass pulled out of the ground all over the place. It looks more like the result of digging than a deliberate pulling out.

What could be doing this, and what can I do about it?

Lorem Ipsum
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Chuck
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    I have a similar problem with my lawn - the culprits are squirrels digging up the nuts and seeds that settle in the thatch when they are blown down from surrounding trees. Do you have any trees nearby? – Mancuniensis Jul 01 '11 at 23:44
  • @Mancuniensis I practically live under a forest :) – Chuck Jul 02 '11 at 00:23
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    This time of year, at least up north, squirrels are more likely to be burying than digging up - but the effect will be the same. If it's near oak tree(s) or other nut trees, that's probably it. – Ed Staub Sep 13 '11 at 18:27
  • i have the same thing in my garden, I picked one up cause it looked like a face on it and as I was checking it out, I noticed it looked like it had a mesh covering on it, more like a burlap bag was the texture and feel I should say. I grow my garden in this soil, but this is the first year I seen this and believe it or not my garden grew fast, but it didn't have a good taste to it...corn, tomatoes, lettuce none of it tasted good. The soil didn't look right looked like little people of some kind of unnatural decent and when I took to tearing up some of the clumps, they would fall out in little – christy eck Dec 25 '19 at 05:50

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I've had this happen many times over the years. In my case, it was flocks of crows tearing up the lawn looking for grubs. It's almost comical how they rip out a piece of sod and toss it over their shoulder.

Almost.

On the other hand, the grubs can't be good either. You might want to try some grub killer.

Bill Lee
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  • I've seen this kind of damage from robins (at least I think it was robins, I didn't catch them in the act). – bstpierre Jul 04 '11 at 18:13
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    Skunks will do it here (New Hampshire). Armadillos will do it down your way, too.. anything that likes those tasty grubs. – Ed Staub Sep 13 '11 at 18:25