Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What's wrong with my plant? > Turf > Holes in lawn
Turf > Holes in lawn
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Cornfield Ant
- Small, about 1/8 inch wide, hole generally surrounded by a conical mound of dirt
- Found in areas where grass in thinning or bare
- Found anytime during spring or summer
- Ant 1/10 inch long and brown
- More information on Cornfield Ant
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Field Ant
- Large mounds with numeroud 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide holes
- Found in healthy lawns as well as thinning turf
- Found anytime during spring or summer
- Ant 1/8 to 1/4 inch long and black or black and red
- More information on Field Ant
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Yellowjackets
- Moderate sized holes, about 2 inches wide
- Lack of dirt surrounding holes
- Yellowjackets generally not noticed until mid to late summer
- Yellowjackets are slender, 3/8 inch long, black and yellow wasps
- More information on Yellowjackets
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Cicada Killers
- Moderated sized holes, about 2 inches wide, found in well-drained sunny sites
- Typically with large mound of dirt on one side of hole
- Cicada killers active mid to late summer
- Cicada killers large, 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, black and yellow solitary wasps
- More information on Cicada Killers
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Raccoons, Skunks or Gray Squirrels
- Shallow, dead-end, small holes in the ground appearing like golf divots
- Randomly scattered over lawn
- Number of holes greater in spring (squirrels) and fall (skunks or raccoons)
- Raccoons will also roll back recently installed sod looking for food
- More information on Skunks
