What Animal Is Digging Holes in My Iowa Yard? (Identification Guide)

Identifying Yard-Digging Wildlife in Iowa

Iowa is America's Midwest corn-and-soybean heartland, and its deep, fertile Mollisols make excellent digging ground for burrowing rodents. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Iowa DNR) and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (ISU Extension) both rank small-burrower complaints among the most common nuisance wildlife calls across the state, from the farmstead edges of the Des Moines lobe to riverbottom yards along the Mississippi.

Key Identification Tip: Before you identify the species, check whether your holes have mounds. Volcano-shaped soil mounds with raised ridged surface tunnels = eastern mole. Low, fan-shaped mounds with an off-center plug = Plains pocket gopher. Clean 4-6 inch holes with a loose dirt apron and no mound = thirteen-lined ground squirrel or chipmunk. Shallow scattered pits without mounds = skunks or raccoons grub-hunting. Wide runways pressed through the grass = meadow voles. This one distinction eliminates half the possibilities immediately.

Iowa Yard-Digging Animal Identification Table

Animal	Hole Size & Shape	Depth	Damage Pattern	Iowa Range
Eastern Mole	Volcano-shaped mounds, 8-12 inches wide	Surface tunnels, 2-5 inches below grade	Raised ridged tunnels across lawns and dead grass strips	Statewide, most common in moist loamy turf
Plains Pocket Gopher	Low, fan-shaped mounds with off-center plug	6-18 inches deep, tunnel systems	Mounds in rough arcs; plants pulled into tunnels	Sandy soils, east-central and riverbottom areas
Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel	Clean 4-6 inch holes with loose dirt apron	Burrows 1-3 feet deep, sloping entrance	Holes and surrounding bare dirt patches in lawns and pastures	Statewide, abundant in grass and cropland borders
Eastern Chipmunk	Small 2-inch holes, usually hidden	Burrows near foundations, 1-2 feet deep	Holes along walls, rockeries, and wood piles	Statewide near structures and woodland edges
Striped Skunk	3-4 inch conical holes	Shallow, 1-2 inches	Small scattered holes and flipped sod patches (grub hunting)	Statewide
Meadow Vole	1-2 inch holes with surface runways	Shallow, 1-4 inches	Runways through grass; girdled trees and shrubs	Statewide, surges on two-year population cycles

Eastern Mole

The eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus) is the most common mole in Iowa and the leading cause of lawn damage across the state's homes, farmsteads, and town parks—especially where loamy, moisture-retentive soil holds the earthworms and grubs moles prefer. It sits low in the soil and its star-shaped nose, large spade-like forepaws, and tiny eyes make it perfectly adapted to tunneling through Iowa's soft Midwestern loess and glacial till.

Eastern moles throw up volcano-shaped mounds and raised ridged runs that crisscross lawns, most often clustering near fence lines, sidewalks, gardens, and other hard edges. Moles do not eat plant roots—they hunt worms and insects—but the raised tunnels dry out and kill the grass above them, leaving turf bumpy and patchy. On dry Iowa lawns moles move deeper and build fewer ridged runs, so damage often jumps suddenly after rains.

Trapping is the most reliable control. ISU Extension recommends scissor-jaw or harpoon traps set in actively used straight-run tunnels. Locate a fresh run connecting two mounds, open it, reset the top, and set the trap across the tunnel. Repellents and sonic devices give inconsistent results on eastern moles. Because the eastern mole is not protected in Iowa, trapping can be done by landowners whenever pressure warrants it.

Plains Pocket Gopher

Across Iowa's sandy, well-drained soils—common in the east-central river country and along riverbottom terraces—the Plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) is the standout underground digger. It works entirely below ground, pushing up low, fan-shaped mounds capped with an off-center plug of soil, unlike the volcano mounds of moles. Gopher mounds often appear in a rough arc because the animal seals each tunnel mouth behind it.

Plains pocket gophers feed on roots, tubers, and whole plants, pulling young garden plants down into their tunnel systems and leaving sudden disappearance holes. They are a particular pest around alfalfa, sweet clover, and irrigated gardens, and they rarely stray far from the loose, sandy or loamy soil they need to dig. On heavy Iowa clay they are far less common, since the eastern mole dominates there instead.

Where legal and effective, tunnel trapping with pincher or box traps placed in the main lateral tunnel is the primary control. Registered gopher baits can be used on larger fields but must follow Iowa DNR and label guidance to avoid harming non-target wildlife. Exclusion with buried hardware cloth or gravel protects specific garden beds and orchards near gopher-prone ground.

Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel

The thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) is arguably the most Iowan of the state's diggers—a slender, brownish rodent marked with thirteen alternating light and dark stripes that thrives along the grass edges of lawns, pastures, road ditches, and agricultural borders. It is active by day, unlike most burrowing pests, and is most often mistaken for a chipmunk, though it lacks chipmunks' facial stripes.

It digs a clean, open burrow entrance 4-6 inches wide with a loose dirt apron and no mound, and the burrows slope to nests 1-3 feet deep. Colonies can excavate dozens of holes across a single yard, and the surrounding leaves and turf are often clipped or stripped. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels hibernate through Iowa's cold winters and emerge in spring, so most visible digging is concentrated from spring through late summer.

Control is straightforward because the species is classified as unprotected in Iowa and can be taken without a permit. Lethal traps (snap or Conibear style) placed at active burrow mouths, or flooding and digging out shallow burrows, are commonly used. Because it is diurnal, it is the easiest digger to identify in person—and the easiest to confirm before you commit to control measures.

Eastern Chipmunk

Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) are common across Iowa wherever woodland, rock piles, and structures meet lawn. They dig small, tidy 2-inch burrow openings that are often half-hidden beneath rocks, roots, foundation edges, or stacked firewood, with a dark side passage and little or no excavated apron because they carry the dirt away.

Chipmunk damage is more about burrowing under concrete, patios, decks, and retaining walls than about ruining turf. Their tunnels can undermine steps and cause slab settlement, and they commonly raid bird feeders and newly planted bulbs. Chipmunks are active by day, forage in a quick scurry-and-pause pattern, and store food in cheek pouches.

Chipmunks are unprotected in Iowa and may be controlled without a permit. The most effective long-term fix is exclusion and habitat cleanup: remove rock and wood piles that offer cover, seal foundation gaps, and screen off under-deck and porch openings with hardware cloth. For persistent infestations, snap traps or live traps remove them, but note that chipmunks readily recolonize empty habitat from adjacent areas.

Striped Skunk

The striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) forages for grubs in Iowa lawns at night, leaving small conical holes 3-4 inches wide scattered across the sod. Skunks probe into the turf for beetle grubs, and their holes often appear in clusters or in lines where they worked a grub patch. The damage is shallow—a telltale sign it is grub-foraging rather than true burrowing.

Skunks also dig under porches, decks, sheds, and garages to den, especially in late winter and early spring when females prepare nursery dens. The odor risk is the main concern: a startled skunk sprays a musk that is exceptionally hard to remove. Skunks do not hibernate; they stay hold up in their dens during the coldest weeks and resume foraging as soon as temperatures soften.

The best prevention is removing food and shelter: secure garbage, eliminate outdoor pet food, and seal under-deck openings with hardware cloth buried a few inches into the soil. Because skunks can carry rabies, never approach one—especially one active in broad daylight—and keep pets vaccinated. The Iowa DNR manages the striped skunk as a furbearer, so trapping season and permit rules apply to commercial-scale take.

Raccoon

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are abundant across Iowa, including its largest cities. In yards they roll back sod and peel up patches while hunting grubs, overturn planters and trash cans, and dig up freshly planted bulbs. Their damage tends to be patchy and appears overnight—torn sod, tipped garbage, and mud-scratched patches are strong signs of raccoon activity.

Raccoons are also the most common animal found living in Iowa attics, chimneys, and crawl spaces, particularly in older homes in river cities like Davenport and along neighborhoods with mature trees. They are intelligent and nocturnal, which makes them frustrating to deter; they quickly learn to defeat simple latches and repellents.

Reduce attractants with locking garbage lids, bring pet food indoors at night, and harvest fruit promptly. For an animal living in an attic or crawl space, professional removal is recommended—raccoons are a rabies vector species in Iowa, and eviction should happen only after any kits are old enough to leave on their own. The Iowa DNR manages raccoons as a furbearer species.

Meadow Vole

Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus)—and the closely related prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster)—are present across Iowa and cause some of the most underrated yard damage in the state. They dig small 1-2 inch entrance holes connected by shallow surface runways pressed through the grass, and they girdle the bark of young trees, shrubs, and perennials—damage that often only shows up when plants die back in spring.

Vole populations in the Midwestern corn belt follow dramatic cycles that peak roughly every two years, and in those boom years damage can appear suddenly and statewide. In winter they tunnel under snow and heavy mulch, which hides the damage until the snow melts in a bad spring. Voles are commonly mistaken for moles, but voles leave runways and chew plants at ground level rather than raising soil ridges.

Control is habitat-focused: keep grass mowed, clear mulch and ground cover away from plant bases, and protect young trees with hardware cloth cylinders. Mowing and reducing thatch are the single most effective non-chemical measures. Rodenticide baiting should follow ISU IPM guidance to avoid risks to hawks, owls, and pets that prey on voles, and because vole cycles fluctuate every two years, non-lethal habitat management is often enough between peak years.

Raccoon

Raccoons are covered in more detail above—they are both heavy grub-foraging diggers and den visitors in Iowa homes, and their damage is among the most misdiagnosed in the state. In rolled-back sod around compost and trash areas, raccoons are the most likely culprit, and their activity peaks in late spring and summer when grub densities are highest.

Seasonal Digging Patterns in Iowa

Season	Most Active Diggers	Why
Spring	Eastern moles, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, chipmunks	Ground squirrels and chipmunks emerge from hibernation; wet soil is ideal for tunneling
Summer	Skunks, raccoons, pocket gophers, ground squirrels	Warm nights drive grub-foraging; gophers peak in irrigated gardens and cropland borders
Fall	Moles, voles, chipmunks, pocket gophers	Animals build winter food caches and fat stores before cold
Winter	Voles (under snow), fewer moles	Voles tunnel beneath snow and mulch; ground squirrels hibernate; moles slow in frozen soil

How to Get Rid of Animals Digging in Your Iowa Yard

1. Identify Before You Treat

Because Iowa's digging animals range from protected furbearers (skunk, raccoon) to unprotected rodents (chipmunk, ground squirrel, gopher, mole), correct identification is the first step. Use the identification table above, or contact your county Iowa State University Extension office for help confirming a mole versus a gopher, or a ground squirrel versus a chipmunk, before you invest in traps or baits.

2. Trapping (Moles & Gophers)

Trapping remains the most reliable method for eastern moles and Plains pocket gophers. For moles, set scissor-jaw or harpoon traps in fresh, straight-run tunnels. For gophers, locate the main tunnel and set pincher or box traps facing both directions. Check traps regularly and reset in fresh tunnels as activity shifts.

3. Exclusion Fencing

For voles, chipmunks, gophers, and ground squirrels, bury 1/4-inch hardware cloth at least 18 inches deep along garden and foundation borders, with an outward flange at the bottom. Protect young trees and shrubs with wire cylinders. This is the most durable protection against persistent diggers, and screening under-deck openings blocks skunk and raccoon denning.

4. Habitat Modification & Grub Control

Reduce skunk and raccoon foraging by controlling lawn grubs with beneficial nematodes and following ISU IPM guidance. Clear brush piles, tall grass, and dense ground cover that shelter diggers. Keep lawns mowed and eliminate food sources such as fallen fruit, birdseed spills, and outdoor pet food. Manage vole habitat so that two-year population peaks cause less damage.

5. Professional Wildlife Removal

If DIY methods fail or you have a protected or persistent species, contact a licensed wildlife removal service. Licensed operators have the equipment, permits, and experience to handle stubborn moles, skunk and raccoon den evictions, and animals in attics. Search for Iowa wildlife removal to find qualified operators. The average cost for professional wildlife removal in Iowa ranges from $250 to $1,000, depending on species, severity, and site access.

Iowa-Specific Regulations

• Eastern mole: Not protected in Iowa. May be trapped on private property by landowners or their agents.
• Plains pocket gopher: Not protected. May be trapped or baited by landowners using registered methods.
• Thirteen-lined ground squirrel: Not protected. May be controlled without a permit by landowners.
• Eastern chipmunk: Not protected. May be controlled without a permit by landowners.
• Meadow vole: Not protected. May be trapped, excluded, or controlled by landowners.
• Striped skunk: Managed by the Iowa DNR as a furbearer; commercial-trapping rules and season apply, though nuisance animals on private property may be addressed through the DNR.
• Raccoon: Managed by the Iowa DNR as a furbearer. Nuisance raccoons may be trapped by licensed wildlife control operators; check local ordinances before any action.

FAQ: Iowa Yard Digging

What is making small holes in my lawn at night in Iowa?

Small holes appearing overnight are typically from striped skunks probing for grubs. They leave conical holes 3-4 inches across, often in clusters. Raccoons leave larger peeled-back patches of sod, and their activity is also mostly nocturnal.

How do I tell a mole from a pocket gopher in Iowa?

Eastern moles make volcano-shaped mounds with raised ridged surface tunnels and eat insects. Plains pocket gophers make low, fan-shaped mounds with an off-center plug and eat plants, pulling them down into their tunnels. The mound shape—volcano versus flat fan—is the easiest distinguishing feature, and moles favor moist loamy turf while gophers favor sandy soil.

Does Iowa have ground squirrels digging in yards?

Yes—the thirteen-lined ground squirrel is common across Iowa lawns, pastures, and cropland borders. It digs clean 4-6 inch burrow openings with a loose dirt apron, is active by day, and hibernate through winter. Unlike the chipmunk, it lacks facial stripes and is more associated with open grassy ground.

Are eastern moles the biggest turf pest in Iowa?

For most homeowners, yes—the eastern mole is the most common and most damaging digger in moist, loamy Iowa lawns statewide. Only on sandy, well-drained ground does the Plains pocket gopher rival it, and heavy grass-edge infestations of thirteen-lined ground squirrels create their own cluster of nuisance holes.

Why did all these voles suddenly appear in my Iowa yard?

Meadow and prairie vole populations in Iowa's corn belt follow dramatic two-year cycles, rising to a peak before predators and disease knock them back. These population booms can cause sudden, widespread lawn, tree, and shrub damage practically overnight—which is why habitat management (mowing, clearing mulch) is the smartest long-term defense.

What is digging holes in my yard at night in Iowa?

Nocturnal diggers in Iowa are most commonly striped skunks and raccoons hunting grubs, which leave small conical holes and peeled-back sod. If fresh holes appear overnight with flipped grass, it is almost certainly one of these two species. By contrast, mole ridges, gopher mounds, and ground squirrel holes largely appear during the day.

Professional Wildlife Removal in Iowa

If you need professional wildlife removal or pest control services in Iowa, our local guides cover the following cities:

• Des Moines, IOWA — Wildlife & Pest Identification Guide
• Cedar Rapids, IOWA — Wildlife & Pest Identification Guide
• Davenport, IOWA — Wildlife & Pest Identification Guide
• Sioux City, IOWA — Wildlife & Pest Identification Guide

Professional Wildlife Removal in Iowa

If you need professional help, see our Wildlife Removal Cost: $200-$1,500 (2026 Complete Price Guide) for pricing information. Costs vary by animal type and infestation severity.

Sources: Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Iowa DNR), Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services. This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional wildlife management advice.