Holes in lawn

Question

We live in Nebraska and have an area in our lawn approximately 100 square feet with about 40 holes in the lawn. We would like to figure out what has made the holes so we can use appropriate methods to get rid of whatever is causing the problem. We had a tornado two years ago so the surrounding environment (trees/home foundations/etc.) had some drastic changes in our neighborhood and we established a new lawn and started over with all of our trees. The holes are around 2 inches in diameter and lead below ground in tunnels. Each hole entrance has dead grass or leaves pulled over it to hide it. The area around the holes also has at least a 4 inch diameter up to 8 inch diameter that the grass has been worn down or eaten off… its hard to tell for sure which. There are not any tunnels at all. We have had a mole tunneling each of the past two years that we were able to get rid of, this looks completely different. We tried to use Vole and other small animal repellant granules down the holes, and the following day again the entrances to at least 8 holes were covered. Now, we just ran water down a hole to see how deep the tunnels run, and after 5 hours, the water had not spilled out of the holes. I do know that a dead large tree was in this area of our yard (actually on the neighbor’s property so the removal wasn’t done by us and really wasn’t done right) several years back. The stump was rotting and was burned and somewhat pushed over and left to rot until dirt could be filled in… I’m concerned about how many “critters” are making a home with so many holes above the ground. We haven’t seen any animals, except an occasional garter snake in the area.

Answer 1

Here are some links that may help you compare the damage you are seeing to some examples in the articles.
You may want to contact a local lawn service to see if they have seen this damage in other areas in your region.
I also might suggest you contact your local County Extension Office. They may have information on your local area and the common lawn pests.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/extension-search/

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/wildlife/whats-digging-holes/
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/pests/plant_problems/hgic2364.html
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/animals/mole-control.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/lawn-care/lgen/lawn-and-garden-holes.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/animals/eliminate-gophers.htm
http://www.gophergoner.com/faq_gophers_and_moles.shtml