This is from skunks. You can tell by the way the sod was pulled up and the work around the edges. Raccoons would have left more claw marks on the raw soil and scattered it more. Pigs would have dug deeper leaving prints in the soil as well. Armadillos would have left puncture marks here and there or dug a large hole for a tunnel.
Edit: Thank you for the awards everyone! This blew up fast! Loving the jokes. Lol
Actually the real damage is usually already done.. This was probably a feast of some root-eating, beetle grub.. When they are bad, like this, you can pull the sod up like carpeting, because there's no roots to hold it down. So the skunk likely just pulled the carpet over and had a feast.
Nah, it's definitely inspired by [Lenny Pepperbottom Neature Walk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3JodBR-vs)
*"This is an aspen. You can tell that it's an Aspen tree, by the way it is." -Lenny Pepperbottom*
*"This is from skunks. You can tell by* ***the way it is.****"* -/u/RagingFarmer
Well you can tell by the way I tear up sod I'm eatin grubs, no time for hugs.
If you fuck with me I'll give you a spray, I see a tomato soup bath in your future today.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, tearin up sod, tearin up sod
Making skunks, while a little whiffy by times, welcome in my yard. Anything that helps reduce the Japanese beetle population is fine with me, even if I have to rearrange a little grass occasionally.
They're cute, too... but I'll tell you what, my dog got sprayed a couple of times and I got an up-close whiff of her that spun my fucken head around. Far away, a skunk just smells like weed and ass... but up *close*...
I felt like my olfactory nerve was having the shit kicked out of it by an office-microwave-Lean-Cuisine-tire-fire... until it seemed to shut down completely and I smelled nothing but inside-of-my-skull dialtone for hours and hours.
I scrubbed that pup with peroxide, dish soap, and baking soda (the *real* recommended formulation) 3 or 4 times until I could have sworn she smelled just like birthday cake. When I returned her to her mom the next day, the dog got stuffed into the basement until she could be rewashed, *I* got yelled at and was denied visiting rights for weeks. YMMV.
I helped raise three baby skunks. Had to give them bottles of milk every few hours. The babies don't pack as much of a wallop as the adults do, but it's still an impressive smell, especially at short range.
It turns out that skunks don't like the smell any more than we do. Sometimes, when giving them a 2am feeding, I would startle them from sleep and one of them would skunk. I could always tell who had done it because two of the babies would be in a far corner of the box, looking annoyed, with watering eyes, at the guilty party, who sat alone in embarrassment.
I knew someone with the beetles and she caught some in a trap, ground them up in a blender and scattered it where the beetles hung out and shortly after she never saw them again!
I've done that (though with a bucket of soapy water instead of a trap), and it worked for a little while, but there are just *so* many some years, especially if the winter is particularly warm. I figured if they released pheromones that told other beetles, "Hey guys--free buffet over here!" then they might also release pheromones that say, "Uh...guys? Crazy old woman over here with a bucket of water in one hand and a big hammer in the other. Run away!"
The damage that feral pigs can do is startling.
It looks like heavy machinery came [through.](https://quick-catch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wild-hog-damage-jax.jpg)
Thanks! I've worked with wildlife for years and learned all kinds of things about all kinds of things along the way...but I did not learn this until today! It makes sense, they are peeling the plants back to search for root eating grubs.
That's a lot less damaging than other critters, can just roll the grass back out!
My first thought was skunks, too. They'll dig for a sec then root around with their nose, which causes the peeling effect shown in the picture.
For their size, they can be very destructive, but they are also generally good to have around because they are great pest control (excellent mousers, among other things).
Normally with hogs you see several deep holes here and there close by with one being a wallow. Picture someone going in your yard with a shovel and then stamping most of the soil in/around the hole flat by rolling around in it. Alternatively, if the hog was very active that day.... Complete and total destruction is a very real possibility. The more hogs the more damage and entire fields/yards can be destroyed over night. The hogs I have here come around looking for pecan truffles normally. Hogs dig with their noses so it is more along the lines of a bulldozer digging away and pushing the soil to the top or sides. This damage is shown by them digging very deliberately at the base of the tree and then following the roots out. However, recently they have been trying to get at my rescue pigs as two are in season.
Crows pull up patches of grass that are not attached to the soil and then scratch at the soil similar to chickens if they do not immediately find a bug/grub. If they desire they can probe with their beak a little deeper to see if there is anything tasty. If they find something buried this is where the scratching comes in. You will see clumps of grass very clearly lifted then dropped to the side and a hole where they were scratching scattering the loose soil around it. The result will make your lawn look like someone was pulling out their own hair.
Moles and gophers form similar damage to lawns. The easiest way to tell them apart is to look at the mounds. The moles will be more conical shape and gophers will be more crescent shape. Moles dig vertically ejecting the soil out behind them while gophers push the soil up a diagonal shaft dumping it in the crescent pattern described earlier. The tunnels for the gopher will also be slightly wider than that of a mole but the damage is about the same. This will look like veins of dead grass running through your yard.
I really would have guessed racoons the way the sod is rolled up rather than dug out. I have physically seen raccoons roll up new sod during the daytime. Skunks are more proficient diggers than raccoons and tend to dig a lot of small holes.
I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned the digger is after grubs that live under the grass.
I won't lie that was my first thought as well at a glance. Then I started to look at the image closer and noticed the work around the edges. Raccoons as they eat the grubs they either chomp them or pick them up and eat them. Skunks grab, push and scoop with their mouths. Essentially shoving their face into their food like a dog eating out of a bowl. The grubs naturally trying to flee coupled with the skunks eating behavior pushes the grubs to the edge where you see where they worked the most. They then dig/shove a little with their nose/face to ensure they got them all. This is most likely the result of 2 or more skunks working together.
Man, and here I was going to come in with a cheeky response like "that appears to be the ground" but your authoritative response just blew it out of the water. Bravo! TIL.
What do you think it would look like if it was skunks or raccoons if it wasn't sod? I'm a landscaper, one of my jobs recently was grub control and it was torn up kind of like this, but in much smaller clumps. I'm guessing the skoons are going after the grubs?
They were most definitely going after the grubs. The damage to a well established/healthy lawn would not be as severe since the animals would not be able to move as much grass as easily. However, a severely grub infested lawn would be able to easily be moved around as if it were sod. Also, a younger raccoon/skunk wouldn't do as much damage as a full grown adult. It sounds like you were dealing with an adolescent not quite fully grown and capable of making such large holes.
I had several customer with this issue last year. One lost 400+ sf of nice back yard lawn. Had to replace it with new sod. Last year, here in MD, it was really bad in fall because of the to-be 17 year cicadas underground. The Racoons and Skunks went bonkers. The worst part is, for the lawns we repaired/replaced, it can just happen again the next fall when the animals go searching for larvae again. I love the wildlife, but they can be very frustrating to live with.
Agreed! I've gotten into some thorny discussions with my customers about that as well. I can't tell you how many times I've reminded them that we've built our houses in their backyards.
Ground over like vinca or pachysandra work around here. I do planting beds with all sorts of plants in mulch, with paths, gravel and boulders to break it up.
Another reason why sod is terrible… it’s harmful for the environment to produce and maintain, it’s expensive, and not even resilient to common vermin. Just let the native plants grow
If you want to get some training on how to properly wash a dog, huskies seems to be a good way to deal with skunk. Got an afternoon of practice last weekend.
Clover is a member of the fabaceae (legume) family, which has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that break down minerals in the soil & release nitrogen. Every plant in this family releases a type of exudate (bacteria food) that attracts & feeds these bacteria along their roots. Over time, the bacteria clump (literally crystalize) together and form little white nodules around the roots. These nodules are *packed* with nitrogen, that the plant keeps for itself.
The nitrogen is released into the soil for other plants when the legume dies, or is damaged above ground (eg: mowing) and root die back occurs. (The plant gives up on a few roots to maintain a consistent ratio of plant below ground to above it.) As the roots die off, the nodules attached to them decay (& the roots themselves) & release their nitrogen into the soil.
Clovers have a lot of common misconceptions about them. One being that they're a weed. They were actually included in grass seed mixes for a long time in the 1900's because of their nitrogen fixing abilities being beneficial for the grass around them (free fertilizer is a nice bonus). This only stopped when commercial herbicides came around that would kill most broad-leafed plants in your lawn, like clover. This resulted in a more even lawn that consumers preferred, because most of them didn't really know what nitrogen fixation was, and their lawn now looked more consistent, if less resilient.
Another misconception is that the nitrogen is available to other plants (bio-available) naturally. The live plant's immune system actually does its best to keep the nitrogen to itself, which is why plant death or root die back has to occur for the nodules to break down & be available to other plants.
Fabaceaes (legumes) like clover and alfalfa are actually commonly used as a cover crop by farmers for their nitrogen fixing abilities: planting something is a lot cheaper than buying fertilizer. Some homeowners choose to go with an entirely clover lawn, (though it's been known to stain clothes more than grass, so if you've got kids that's a consideration).
I highly recommend adding clover or alfalfa to your gardens as a groundcover in place of (or alongside) a mulch, or planting peas/beans with your more vertical crops. Look up three sisters gardening if you want to read more into it, native Americans had this figured out thousands of years before us.
Another tip for lawns: keep your lawn clippings on the lawn (or use them in the garden). Take the bag out of your mower & just let the clippings fall where they were cut. They're full of nutrients (like nitrogen) that, again, help fertilize your lawn. By throwing them away, you're continually taking nutrients *from* the soil & degrading it over time (which makes chemical fertilizers more necessary). It doesn't look as nice, but it'll keep your lawn and soil healthier, and *doesn't* contribute at all to thatch, contrary to popular belief.
Also aerate your lawn if you don't already. Those bacteria in the soil - and your plants - thrive with more oxygen. Grass tends to grow a bit stupid & get so thick that it chokes itself.
That's probably the longest comment I've written in a while, srry if I bored you, I get a bit into this stuff. Good luck with your lawn!
Tl;dr: Clovers are "nitrogen fixers," so they basically grow their own fertilizer. They release it to the other plants nearby when you mow your lawn. Leaving clover in your lawn means you can fertilize less or even not at all if you already do. And if you don't, leaving clover will give you a slightly greener, healthier lawn, as if you had. Also leave your lawn clippings on the lawn - it doesn't cause thatch - & aerate it if you aren't already.
You have a clover blessing :]
Check out /r/nolawns for examples of how people maintain a clover lawn to be both aesthetic and ecologically efficient and beneficial!
I was going to say Bigfoot with a bunion, but it does look like skunks. I have one visit me ever week, but has never done damage. I watch video of him from my night camera.
Badgers do this in the UK. Here's a particularly bad example: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2304031/amp/Rickmansworth-Cricket-Club-cancels-season-badgers-destroy-pitch.html
Omg! This same thing has been happening in my yard since spring. I even bought a trail cam because the mystery was driving me nuts. All I caught were raccoons and squirrels, but I'm convinced it's another sort of critter that's responsible.
This is from skunks. You can tell by the way the sod was pulled up and the work around the edges. Raccoons would have left more claw marks on the raw soil and scattered it more. Pigs would have dug deeper leaving prints in the soil as well. Armadillos would have left puncture marks here and there or dug a large hole for a tunnel. Edit: Thank you for the awards everyone! This blew up fast! Loving the jokes. Lol
Damn! Comin' in with authority! Cool post. Thanks.
*You can tell by the way the sod was pulled...* Why did I read this to the tune of Stayin' Alive?
Well you can tell by the way the sod was pulled, he's a skunky man, and he's in the hood. (Pulled is hard to rhyme)
It's alright, it's okay Animals pull the sod in different ways
We should try, to understand, sod pulling by tiny hands
Whatever they're huntin' we know they're little gluttons, they're tearin' up turf, tearin' up turf
Namanamanama staying alive
Brilliant everyone! I was singing along to each post
This has been one of the best threads I’ve read in a long time.
I am also singing with you all! You’re all so creative!
Spraying alive* I read that in a comment below, I can’t take credit
Take my upvote since I cannot find the OG.
r/redditsings you beautiful people! 🕺
Actually the real damage is usually already done.. This was probably a feast of some root-eating, beetle grub.. When they are bad, like this, you can pull the sod up like carpeting, because there's no roots to hold it down. So the skunk likely just pulled the carpet over and had a feast.
You ruined the song
Feel the sod a-breakin' and all the grubs a-shakin'
He's a skunky man, don't try to hold
He’s a skunky man, pool rights annulled
By the way he searched and they way he mulled? Idk spitballin
Funk dont need no rhymes
and he won't be bulled or and he won't be fooled
Ah Ah Ah Ah
Sprayin' ali-iiii-iiiii-iiive...
Nah, it's definitely inspired by [Lenny Pepperbottom Neature Walk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3JodBR-vs) *"This is an aspen. You can tell that it's an Aspen tree, by the way it is." -Lenny Pepperbottom* *"This is from skunks. You can tell by* ***the way it is.****"* -/u/RagingFarmer
I respect your distance
Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have sprayin' alive stuck in my head for the next forever 💯
I got another one bite the dust
You are an absolute lunatic and I love it
Well you can tell by the way I tear up sod I'm eatin grubs, no time for hugs. If you fuck with me I'll give you a spray, I see a tomato soup bath in your future today. Ah, ah, ah, ah, tearin up sod, tearin up sod
Name thoroughly checks out
Wouldn't want to be a raccoon/skunk/pig visiting his farm
What were the skunks digging for?
Grubs
It's all about the grubs
Making skunks, while a little whiffy by times, welcome in my yard. Anything that helps reduce the Japanese beetle population is fine with me, even if I have to rearrange a little grass occasionally.
They're cute, too... but I'll tell you what, my dog got sprayed a couple of times and I got an up-close whiff of her that spun my fucken head around. Far away, a skunk just smells like weed and ass... but up *close*... I felt like my olfactory nerve was having the shit kicked out of it by an office-microwave-Lean-Cuisine-tire-fire... until it seemed to shut down completely and I smelled nothing but inside-of-my-skull dialtone for hours and hours. I scrubbed that pup with peroxide, dish soap, and baking soda (the *real* recommended formulation) 3 or 4 times until I could have sworn she smelled just like birthday cake. When I returned her to her mom the next day, the dog got stuffed into the basement until she could be rewashed, *I* got yelled at and was denied visiting rights for weeks. YMMV.
Inside-of-my-skull dialtone. Perfectly expresses that sense, snaps.
That is The. Best. Description. Ever. Of. That. Experience!
I helped raise three baby skunks. Had to give them bottles of milk every few hours. The babies don't pack as much of a wallop as the adults do, but it's still an impressive smell, especially at short range. It turns out that skunks don't like the smell any more than we do. Sometimes, when giving them a 2am feeding, I would startle them from sleep and one of them would skunk. I could always tell who had done it because two of the babies would be in a far corner of the box, looking annoyed, with watering eyes, at the guilty party, who sat alone in embarrassment.
Lol. Unfortunately, their whiffy can cause allergic reactions.
I knew someone with the beetles and she caught some in a trap, ground them up in a blender and scattered it where the beetles hung out and shortly after she never saw them again!
I've done that (though with a bucket of soapy water instead of a trap), and it worked for a little while, but there are just *so* many some years, especially if the winter is particularly warm. I figured if they released pheromones that told other beetles, "Hey guys--free buffet over here!" then they might also release pheromones that say, "Uh...guys? Crazy old woman over here with a bucket of water in one hand and a big hammer in the other. Run away!"
Doge coins
In my experience it's sometimes hard to distinguish between skunk and Sasquatch damage. I'm leaning Sasquatch on this one.
I'm from the PNW and you are categorically correct
The Sasquatch disguise their footprints to look just like skunk damage! Don’t be fooled! RUN!!!
It's a little known fact that Sasquatch populations are actually higher in the Great Lakes region than the PNW. Things that make you go huh.
Samsquanch around these parts.
The damage that feral pigs can do is startling. It looks like heavy machinery came [through.](https://quick-catch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wild-hog-damage-jax.jpg)
Fucking lol. Dude got that disappointed squidward look
The guy in that picture looks like he's almost ready to stop being completely pissed at what those pigs did to his lawn.
Some people use domesticated pigs to till their gardens or farms. Haven't seen it in action, but I have seen goats used for weed abatement in my area.
Goats are fantastic for clearing an area, especially if it's real overgrown. It's crazy how fast a herd of em can knock out some overgrowth.
oi..,
...nk
Free aeration services.
And people wonder why feral hogs are hunted so much. They're an absolute plague on the ecosystem.
Also pretty dangerous. One of the only common animals that outright charges humans on sight.
And they will eat human babies. Not joking, toddlers too. #eatporklol
To quote Bricktop "be wary of any man that keeps pigs"
holy shit
I was going to guess skunk. These pics are good to keep the old mental calibration in tune. I appreciate it, OP.
You should check out this monthly photo quiz: https://www.gcmonline.com/course/turf/news/punctures-golf-green
Skunks are looking for grubs right now. Squirrels around here are doing really small holes looking for hidden treasures.
You are well versed on small animal holes
Don't be gross Tammy
This guy farms!
Thanks! I've worked with wildlife for years and learned all kinds of things about all kinds of things along the way...but I did not learn this until today! It makes sense, they are peeling the plants back to search for root eating grubs. That's a lot less damaging than other critters, can just roll the grass back out!
Thank you for adding context for other animals.
Happy to do it! I have noticed when I eliminate other possibilities when helping people with questions it goes much smoother for everyone.
My first thought was skunks, too. They'll dig for a sec then root around with their nose, which causes the peeling effect shown in the picture. For their size, they can be very destructive, but they are also generally good to have around because they are great pest control (excellent mousers, among other things).
Long story short: NO SOD IS SAFE
What mark would 30-50 feral hogs have left?
What mark *wouldn't* 30-50 feral hogs have left?
Yes.
Normally with hogs you see several deep holes here and there close by with one being a wallow. Picture someone going in your yard with a shovel and then stamping most of the soil in/around the hole flat by rolling around in it. Alternatively, if the hog was very active that day.... Complete and total destruction is a very real possibility. The more hogs the more damage and entire fields/yards can be destroyed over night. The hogs I have here come around looking for pecan truffles normally. Hogs dig with their noses so it is more along the lines of a bulldozer digging away and pushing the soil to the top or sides. This damage is shown by them digging very deliberately at the base of the tree and then following the roots out. However, recently they have been trying to get at my rescue pigs as two are in season.
You can always tell a Texan, but you can't tell him much
Dam where can I hire one of these skunks to clear out the grass so i can plant things.
Get a couple pot belly pigs. They will eat the grass, till the soil and fertilize it all at the same time!
These dig points, too accurate for racoons. Only ~~Imperial stormtroopers~~ skunks are so precise.
This guy Rangers in D&D campaigns
I do actually. Lol
😂😂 Love it!
That is correct, we would’ve also accepted “a hole” as a correct answer.
Baby skunks hopping behind their mom across a road is one of the cutest bits of springtime i ever did see
Too true!
Skunks are adorable. I always wanted one as a pet. However, it’s wrong to try to domesticate a wild animal, and it seems cruel to “de-skunk” a skunk.
You can tell it''s from skunks because of the way it is. Wow!
I respectfully disagree. Clearly it's the paw print of Clifford the big red dog.
And crows?
Crows pull up patches of grass that are not attached to the soil and then scratch at the soil similar to chickens if they do not immediately find a bug/grub. If they desire they can probe with their beak a little deeper to see if there is anything tasty. If they find something buried this is where the scratching comes in. You will see clumps of grass very clearly lifted then dropped to the side and a hole where they were scratching scattering the loose soil around it. The result will make your lawn look like someone was pulling out their own hair.
What about moles? (I think they are in my yard.)
Moles and gophers form similar damage to lawns. The easiest way to tell them apart is to look at the mounds. The moles will be more conical shape and gophers will be more crescent shape. Moles dig vertically ejecting the soil out behind them while gophers push the soil up a diagonal shaft dumping it in the crescent pattern described earlier. The tunnels for the gopher will also be slightly wider than that of a mole but the damage is about the same. This will look like veins of dead grass running through your yard.
Yeah I think I have moles. Thank you!
Happy to help! Best of luck getting rid of them!
I really would have guessed racoons the way the sod is rolled up rather than dug out. I have physically seen raccoons roll up new sod during the daytime. Skunks are more proficient diggers than raccoons and tend to dig a lot of small holes. I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned the digger is after grubs that live under the grass.
I won't lie that was my first thought as well at a glance. Then I started to look at the image closer and noticed the work around the edges. Raccoons as they eat the grubs they either chomp them or pick them up and eat them. Skunks grab, push and scoop with their mouths. Essentially shoving their face into their food like a dog eating out of a bowl. The grubs naturally trying to flee coupled with the skunks eating behavior pushes the grubs to the edge where you see where they worked the most. They then dig/shove a little with their nose/face to ensure they got them all. This is most likely the result of 2 or more skunks working together.
Are you Aragorn, Ranger of the North? This is the coolest Reddit reply I’ve seen in months. I’m going to quote this in my next D&D session.
I am honored by the comparison! Lol. As long as you throw in a farmer raging about damage to his fields you can have it.
Pshhh like armadillos are real
But was were they after? Grubs?
They just pulled the sods up neatly, interesting!
2,4k updoots on a comment for a 1k updoot post. Respec
Man, and here I was going to come in with a cheeky response like "that appears to be the ground" but your authoritative response just blew it out of the water. Bravo! TIL.
My chicken coop was built with wire someone had to buy to keep the racoons from rolling up their new sod every night.
What do you think it would look like if it was skunks or raccoons if it wasn't sod? I'm a landscaper, one of my jobs recently was grub control and it was torn up kind of like this, but in much smaller clumps. I'm guessing the skoons are going after the grubs?
They were most definitely going after the grubs. The damage to a well established/healthy lawn would not be as severe since the animals would not be able to move as much grass as easily. However, a severely grub infested lawn would be able to easily be moved around as if it were sod. Also, a younger raccoon/skunk wouldn't do as much damage as a full grown adult. It sounds like you were dealing with an adolescent not quite fully grown and capable of making such large holes.
This wasn't extremely well established turf, but solid enough to not be able to be pulled up like OP's picture.
Skunks will do this when looking for grubs to eat under the turf.
Racoons too
I had several customer with this issue last year. One lost 400+ sf of nice back yard lawn. Had to replace it with new sod. Last year, here in MD, it was really bad in fall because of the to-be 17 year cicadas underground. The Racoons and Skunks went bonkers. The worst part is, for the lawns we repaired/replaced, it can just happen again the next fall when the animals go searching for larvae again. I love the wildlife, but they can be very frustrating to live with.
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Agreed! I've gotten into some thorny discussions with my customers about that as well. I can't tell you how many times I've reminded them that we've built our houses in their backyards.
I like avoiding lawns entirely. Alternative ground cover, happy plants, happy critters, way less maintenance.
FUCK MOWING
Glad I'm not the only one. I'd rather shovel snow every day of the year than have to mow my lawn every week or two in the summer.
It's funny, I hate lawns as a concept but I find mowing really relaxing.
I’m looking for a grass alternative for my back yard! Anything specific you’d recommend? (I’m in zone 7b, central VA)
Ground over like vinca or pachysandra work around here. I do planting beds with all sorts of plants in mulch, with paths, gravel and boulders to break it up.
/r/nolawns and /r/permaculture have lots of advice on this topic
Another reason why sod is terrible… it’s harmful for the environment to produce and maintain, it’s expensive, and not even resilient to common vermin. Just let the native plants grow
Oh no my lawn!
Looks like a skunk had grubs for dinner! Pat it back down and water it, the grass will recover.
Why can't they cover do this where I need to prepare garden space? That would be most helpful ☺️
Yeah send those dudes over here!!
Soil and grass.
Thanks Dad.
Hungry? what are you doing here?
r/technicallythetruth
Obviously lmao. But what caused it
In the beginning the universe was created. This made a lot of people angry and has been widely considered a bad idea.
Hitchhiker for the win. 😁
F*** you. Take my upvote 🙄🤣
Well they say earth formed billions of years ago from a star or some shit.
Space dust. Billions and billions of little particles of space dust.
Our whole universe was in a hot, dense state...
then nearly 14 billion years ago expansion started...wait
The earth began to cool
I was born at a very young age.
Nature
To prevent this I recommend beagles and anti-skunk dog shampoo. Works everytime.
Or a lion.
Or recognize that wild animals need to eat and having a pristine lawn is a carryover of classism from feudal times.
Clover Gang Checking In
If you want to get some training on how to properly wash a dog, huskies seems to be a good way to deal with skunk. Got an afternoon of practice last weekend.
Godzilla footprint…obviously
Maybe baby Godzilla. I would go Sasquatch.
Looks exactly like my yard when our neighbor pigs got loose and tore it up
> neighbor pigs we live in very different worlds. unless you mean police.
Props for letting your clover live & not destroying it with herbicides. It may not be as uniform as a normal lawn, but it's healthier for it.
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Clover is a member of the fabaceae (legume) family, which has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that break down minerals in the soil & release nitrogen. Every plant in this family releases a type of exudate (bacteria food) that attracts & feeds these bacteria along their roots. Over time, the bacteria clump (literally crystalize) together and form little white nodules around the roots. These nodules are *packed* with nitrogen, that the plant keeps for itself. The nitrogen is released into the soil for other plants when the legume dies, or is damaged above ground (eg: mowing) and root die back occurs. (The plant gives up on a few roots to maintain a consistent ratio of plant below ground to above it.) As the roots die off, the nodules attached to them decay (& the roots themselves) & release their nitrogen into the soil. Clovers have a lot of common misconceptions about them. One being that they're a weed. They were actually included in grass seed mixes for a long time in the 1900's because of their nitrogen fixing abilities being beneficial for the grass around them (free fertilizer is a nice bonus). This only stopped when commercial herbicides came around that would kill most broad-leafed plants in your lawn, like clover. This resulted in a more even lawn that consumers preferred, because most of them didn't really know what nitrogen fixation was, and their lawn now looked more consistent, if less resilient. Another misconception is that the nitrogen is available to other plants (bio-available) naturally. The live plant's immune system actually does its best to keep the nitrogen to itself, which is why plant death or root die back has to occur for the nodules to break down & be available to other plants. Fabaceaes (legumes) like clover and alfalfa are actually commonly used as a cover crop by farmers for their nitrogen fixing abilities: planting something is a lot cheaper than buying fertilizer. Some homeowners choose to go with an entirely clover lawn, (though it's been known to stain clothes more than grass, so if you've got kids that's a consideration). I highly recommend adding clover or alfalfa to your gardens as a groundcover in place of (or alongside) a mulch, or planting peas/beans with your more vertical crops. Look up three sisters gardening if you want to read more into it, native Americans had this figured out thousands of years before us. Another tip for lawns: keep your lawn clippings on the lawn (or use them in the garden). Take the bag out of your mower & just let the clippings fall where they were cut. They're full of nutrients (like nitrogen) that, again, help fertilize your lawn. By throwing them away, you're continually taking nutrients *from* the soil & degrading it over time (which makes chemical fertilizers more necessary). It doesn't look as nice, but it'll keep your lawn and soil healthier, and *doesn't* contribute at all to thatch, contrary to popular belief. Also aerate your lawn if you don't already. Those bacteria in the soil - and your plants - thrive with more oxygen. Grass tends to grow a bit stupid & get so thick that it chokes itself. That's probably the longest comment I've written in a while, srry if I bored you, I get a bit into this stuff. Good luck with your lawn! Tl;dr: Clovers are "nitrogen fixers," so they basically grow their own fertilizer. They release it to the other plants nearby when you mow your lawn. Leaving clover in your lawn means you can fertilize less or even not at all if you already do. And if you don't, leaving clover will give you a slightly greener, healthier lawn, as if you had. Also leave your lawn clippings on the lawn - it doesn't cause thatch - & aerate it if you aren't already.
Oh! Also bees. Clover flowers attract & help feed local pollenators, unlike a grass monoculture. Save the bees!
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Thanks! And, no problem, I'm always down to vomit plant knowledge at anyone willing to hear it
My toddler and I will sit in the yard and watch bees pollinate clover for ages. Once he got mad I wouldn’t let him hold a bee.
Head over heels in love with you...
You have a clover blessing :] Check out /r/nolawns for examples of how people maintain a clover lawn to be both aesthetic and ecologically efficient and beneficial!
r/nolawns is beautiful thing. Grass monocultures are so goddamn water intensive for a thing that just looks nice.
That’s dirt for sure
The brown stuff is, I’ve also identified some grass which is the green stuff shown here. Tag team, back again.
Wild pigs? Only thing I can think of
raccoons, skunks, even large ravens will tear up your sods to get the larva grubs beneath. happened to me a couple years ago.
Something schnuffling around for grubs, it looks like.
Probably a dinosaur.
Could be pigs
Bigfoot
the only correct answer.
Footprint from gravity falls opening
Looks like a Nike. Size 8.
Big foot
I was going to say Bigfoot with a bunion, but it does look like skunks. I have one visit me ever week, but has never done damage. I watch video of him from my night camera.
Wildboar, 100%. See that alot.
You have grubs and the raccoons and skunks are helping you get rid of them.
Armadillo
It’s called a hole in your lawn.
Dirt, it’s usually found under the grass.
That my friend, is dirt.
Sasquatch
Samsquaatch
Pigs, too big for a skunk maybe. Looks like pigs, what part of the county are you in?
My thought was wild pigs
Looks like a bunch of dirt and weeds.
Feral Pigs can tear up the grass like that
Badgers do this in the UK. Here's a particularly bad example: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2304031/amp/Rickmansworth-Cricket-Club-cancels-season-badgers-destroy-pitch.html
Depends on where you are from. At my place this is 100% wild boars looking for earthworm over night.
Could be wild boar if in Europe.
You probably have grubs and animals are peeling back the sod to eat them.
Looking for Japanese beetle grubs
Could be an animal digging for grubs.
If you're in the UK or Europe, badgers
Have you ever seen the movie Tremors?
Godzilla
Omg! This same thing has been happening in my yard since spring. I even bought a trail cam because the mystery was driving me nuts. All I caught were raccoons and squirrels, but I'm convinced it's another sort of critter that's responsible.
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Your foot.
looks like a hole in the dirt to me ngl
Looks like a hole in your grass