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Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage 1994

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Identifying the Animal that Dug a Ground Hole

This section deals with actual den holes not divots or depressions in the soil. If you are dealing with divots in the soil then clickGarden/Grass

Does the hole end or does it extend into a burrow?

Hole Ends Hole Extends into a burrow No hole just a groove then think Armadillo

What is the diameter of hole?

3 inches or less? Greater than 3 inches?

3 inches or less

Chipmunk holes tend to be silver dollar sized. Holes tend to be cleanly dug. Note the shiny quarter to the left of the hole. Photo by Stephen Vantassel. Chipmunks are easily seen during the day.
Crawfish Crawfish can burrow 2 inch wide holes into the lawn. Lawns must be near water.	Photo needed.
13 Lined Ground Squirrel Very clean outside of hole. There may be another hole of similar size within 20 feet. They are easily seen on warm, sunny days.
Kangaroo Rats-- Den entrance is 2-3 inches wide and 3-4 inches long. They prefer sandy, dry soil. Populations can get quite high, >30 per acre.
Rat, Norway. Holes tend to be 2-3 inches wide and smooth from repeated use. Rats are secretive and rarely seen during the day. If you see them during daylight hours, it means you have a lot of rats on the premises. Drawing of their burrow system can be seen below. Photo at right shows a Norwary rat hole. Note the 6" ruler above.
Skunk: Skunks will dig specific and individual holes in their quest for grubs and lawn insects. They will be systematic, moving from section to section each night.
Voles Pine vole--Dime sized holes, often around the roots of plants. Voles are primarily nocturnal.

Larger than 3 inches

	Badger These holes tend to be rather large (over 6 inches wide) and occur where pocket gophers and ground squirrels live. The photo on the left is a badger den. Note the volume of dirt excavated. The photo at the right is a badger left after hunting for food. Landowners will typically find a number of these holes in a field where badgers were searching for food. Badgers are nocturnal.
	Coyote Coyote dens tend to be difficult to find. Coyotes sometimes will live in a tree as the photo at the right shows.
	Fox: Foxes will often take over a den dug by another animal, such as a woodchuck. Bird and animal parts may be found around the entrance.
	Fox: They can also dig 4 inch wide holes in the grass. Photos courtesy of Rob Erickson of WCT Magazine.
	Mountain Beaver Found only in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. in coniferous forests. Holes average 6-8 inches across.	Need photo
	Prairie Dog Burrow: Usually found in colonies. Notice the soil around the hole is higher than the surrounding soil.
	River Otter Typically near or in water. See http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/Diversity/river_otter_in_south_dakota.htm for images.	Need Photo
	Skunk Often under sheds, porches and other covered and dark crawl spaces. Odor not always present.	Need photo
	Woodchuck/Groundhog Den: Doesn't always have two holes. But one hole will have dirt porch in front of it as shown in the photo at right. They avoid wet soils. Holes can average around 8" wide. Since woodchucks are active during daylight, their holes can often be distinguished from other creatures like badgers and skunks. Common to see flies around the entrance of an active woodchuck burrow.