# Landscapers / lawn workers - What is tearing up my lawn like this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588 "2022-09-14T22:04:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/21 "2022-09-15T17:43:42Z")
My front lawn looked like that this spring. The culprit? Robins digging for grubs. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/22 "2022-09-15T19:46:47Z")
Last year I reseeded a portion of my lawn that had grubs. Believe me, if you have grubs, they aren’t exactly hard to find. I was in a mood, so I can tell you they really “pop” when you squeeze them between your thumb and forefinger. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/23 "2022-09-15T19:52:57Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Let the critters dig for grubs, winter is coming and they need the calories. Your lawn will recover just fine and probably benefit from the grub grubbing action. Yep. And for a healthier lawn, put some clover seed on those holes. Monocultrue lawns are unhealthy, and require herbicide, pesticide, fertilization, and more frequent watering. The holes are harmless. We have raccoons, ravens and skunks doing the same. The lawn heals up fast. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/24 "2022-09-15T20:06:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Monocultrue lawns are unhealthy, and require herbicide, pesticide, fertilization, and more frequent watering. And mowing. Honestly who gives a fig for an imperfect lawn 🤷‍♂️ But good luck I know it’s part of the American dream. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/25 "2022-09-15T20:09:37Z")
My lawn is still green, and nice to walk upon, with 4 species of clover, dandelions, 4 or more grasses, plantain, and others. I never spray with anything, just water it. The bees like it. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/26 "2022-09-15T20:12:17Z")
We don’t need no stinking lawns. First thing I did when we boughy our house was to remove the (cranefly-rich) lawn. Haven’t missed having one. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/27 "2022-09-15T20:15:29Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I too was going to guess armadillos but I take it that you don’t live in the American southwest. They’ve been spotted in central Illinois. The Armadillo Insurrection is moving northward! Their only natural predator - the automobile. They don’t even die of leprosy! ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/28 "2022-09-15T22:39:44Z")
Crows aren’t the only birds who dig holes like that, our local Curved Bill Thrashers do damage like that to our clover patch in the spring. I assume they are going after insects and allow them to dig as many holes as they want until they get into the potted plants on the porch. Then I go out and scold them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/29 "2022-09-17T20:03:19Z")
I envision a line of birds, looking guilty- while Jane in a professors robe lectures them on their misdoings. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588/30 "2022-09-18T01:44:21Z")
So not Evil Nazi Groundhogs? Darn. > [@How to kill evil Nazi Groundhogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-kill-evil-nazi-groundhogs/11064): > > I Live on a farm. I have horses. I have fields. I have groundhogs. They dig holes which endanger the horses (broken legs), and destroy portions of the fields so that tractors can not run over them without danger of ground collapse (which means I get less money for renting them.) Some of these “Ground Grizzlies” can get quite large and agressive. Both my wife and I have been chased, and our two dogs have both needed stitching up after an ill-advised tangle with these menaces of the dirt. They ha… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landscapers-lawn-workers-what-is-tearing-up-my-lawn-like-this/971588.md?page=1)