Animals That Dig Holes: 26 Species and How to Tell Their Burrows Apart
September 16, 2026
A ring of torn-up turf, a volcano-shaped mound, or a perfectly round hole the width of a pencil can all mean something different is living underground. Animals that dig holes do it for one of three reasons: they’re hunting for grubs and worms, building a permanent home, or hiding from something that wants to eat them. Once a reader learns to read the size, shape, and location of a hole, identifying the digger becomes far less mysterious.
This guide walks through 26 species, from backyard regulars like skunks and raccoons to lesser-known diggers such as Franklin’s ground squirrels and Norway lemmings. Each one leaves clues in the dirt that point straight to its identity.
Pro Tip: Before assuming the worst, measure the hole. Diameter alone rules out most of the wrong suspects and narrows the list to two or three likely culprits.
1. Skunks
The striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) is one of the most common lawn diggers across North America, and its damage is easy to mistake for a raccoon’s. Skunks and raccoons are omnivores, eating plants and animals, but insects, particularly larvae like beetle grubs, are some of their favorite food. When a skunk is actively foraging, it leaves a very specific signature in the turf.
Skunks dig cone-shaped holes about three inches wide and deep in lawns and gardens. These holes tend to appear scattered rather than clustered, since a skunk is testing multiple spots for grubs rather than building a single den. For a broader look at diggers found specifically in warmer climates, see this guide to animals that dig holes in Texas.
2. Raccoons
Raccoons (Procyon lotor) rarely dig true burrows of their own. Instead, they rely on borrowed shelter and surface foraging.
Raccoons typically seek shelter in places like hollow trees, logs, or unused burrows made by other animals like groundhogs, and when searching for food they don’t dig deep holes but instead scratch and scrape at the ground’s surface looking for worms and small insects. That surface scratching can still leave a lawn looking disheveled overnight. Because raccoons feed on such a wide range of small animals and plant matter, they fit the broader pattern described in this list of animals that eat plants and animals.
3. Armadillos
The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) is a heavier-duty excavator than either skunks or raccoons, and its burrows can genuinely threaten structures nearby. Armadillos live mainly in the southern United States and Central America, are covered in leather-like armor with claws designed for digging, prefer forested areas near a stream or pond, come out mainly at night, and dig burrows that can be 15 feet long, which can cause sidewalks, driveways, and even building foundations to collapse.
Because armadillos are so closely tied to warm, humid regions, readers dealing with this species specifically will find more detail in the Texas-focused guide to animals that dig holes in that state.
4. Pocket Gophers
Pocket gophers belong to the family Geomyidae and are among the most misidentified diggers in North America because their holes are almost never visible. Unlike ground squirrels, which have open holes leading to their tunnel system and are often seen outside their holes, pocket gophers spend almost all their time in their sealed tunnel systems, and the mounds they create are usually fan-shaped with plugged tunnel entrances.
Typically, there is only one gopher per burrow system. That solitary habit, paired with the crescent-shaped mound, is the clearest way to separate a gopher from a mole. Learn more about this family in the roundup of animals that start with G.
Key Insight: Gopher mounds differ considerably from the conical, volcano-shaped mounds made by moles. Look at the margin: crescent-shaped with a visible plug means gopher, while a symmetrical cone means mole.
5. Moles
Moles (family Talpidae) are insectivores, not rodents, and their tunneling looks almost mechanical compared to a gopher’s messier fan-shaped piles. Mole mounds are volcano-shaped with a circular margin, and the soil pushes straight up from below, creating a symmetrical cone.
Because moles rarely leave an open hole, gardeners often only notice the raised ridges left behind as the animal pushes through topsoil hunting earthworms and grubs just below the surface.
6. Prairie Dogs
Prairie dogs are highly social burrowers found across the Great Plains, and the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) is the most widespread species. Prairie dogs are typically 14 to 17 inches long with reddish-tan fur, large eyes, short ears, and broad round heads, and they are highly social creatures that live in large colonies, each with its own burrow, active during the day and foraging most of the time.
While prairie dogs are cute, their extensive tunneling can create holes and mounds that are hazardous for people and pets to walk on. Their colonies, called towns, can span acres and house hundreds of individuals. For more small mammals in this family group, see the list of animals that start with P.
7. Ground Squirrels
Ground squirrels are often confused with pocket gophers because both leave visible mounds, but their burrow systems behave very differently. Ground squirrels dig shallow holes about 3 to 4 inches wide while foraging for buried nuts or bulbs, but will also create permanent burrow systems with multiple open entrances.
The open, unplugged entrance is the giveaway. Where a gopher seals its tunnel within a day, a ground squirrel colony’s holes stay visible and are frequently reused across seasons.
8. Groundhogs
The groundhog, or woodchuck (Marmota monax), is widely regarded as the most destructive backyard burrower in North America because of the sheer scale of its tunnel systems. Groundhog burrow entrances are large, about 8 to 12 inches wide, and unlikely to be mistaken for holes created by other mammals.
Groundhogs dig burrows in yards with abundant food like plants and flowers, and these burrows offer shelter from predators, a cool place during summer, and a safe spot for hibernation during winter. Since groundhogs spend so much of the cold season underground, they fit naturally alongside other species covered in this list of animals that sleep a lot.
9. Rabbits
Rabbits aren’t always thought of as diggers, but wild cottontails and European rabbits build some of the most complex tunnel networks of any backyard mammal. In the wild, rabbits create warrens, which are a series of tunnels and interconnected chambers used for shelter, hiding from predators, and raising young, along with pathways underground that give access to fenced gardens where they can feed.
Because so many predators specifically target rabbits at burrow entrances, readers curious about that side of the food chain can check the guide to animals that eat bunnies.
10. Badgers
Badgers are powerful, purpose-built diggers, and both the American badger (Taxidea taxus) and the European badger (Meles meles) leave some of the largest holes covered in this list. Badger holes are similarly large, over 6 inches wide, and they show up in different territory than woodchuck holes because badgers dig where their prey lives, so their holes tend to appear in areas with pocket gopher or ground squirrel activity rather than next to a building.
Pocket gophers of all ages fall victim to a variety of predators, but they are especially vulnerable to badgers, which are proficient at digging them out of their tunnels. In parts of the UK, badger setts also become shared real estate for other diggers on this list, a point covered further in the foxes section below.
11. Coyotes
Coyotes (Canis latrans) are opportunistic diggers that often expand or repurpose an existing burrow rather than starting from scratch. For large holes, the likely occupants of the burrow are woodchucks, coyotes, or badgers.
A coyote den entrance is typically wide, roughly a foot or more across, and is usually found on a slope or hillside for better drainage and visibility. Coyotes sit near the top of many backyard food chains, a role explored further in this guide to animals that eat other animals.
12. Foxes
Fox burrows, known formally as earths, share space with several other species covered in this article, especially in the UK and parts of Europe. It is by no means unusual to find badgers, foxes, rabbits, and rats all sharing the same badger sett, often emerging from the same holes.
Fox burrows are more properly known as fox earths and are generally taller than broad, around 20cm in diameter. Foxes use holes most intensively when breeding in spring, but at other times of year they often prefer to lie up above ground except in the most inclement weather. Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) also prey on many smaller burrowers on this list, which is why they show up again in the guide to animals that eat other animals.
13. Squirrels
Tree squirrels, including the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), dig for an entirely different reason than most animals on this list: caching food rather than making a home. Tree squirrels dig shallow holes about 3 to 4 inches wide while foraging for buried nuts or bulbs, and these are not usually deep burrows but rather small pits scattered across the yard.
Because these holes are so shallow and temporary, they’re rarely mistaken for a true den once a reader knows what to look for: no mound, no tunnel, just a small scoop with loose soil pushed to one side.
14. Chipmunks
The eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) is one of the smallest and least destructive diggers covered here. Chipmunks are small, reddish-brown rodents with distinctive facial stripes and bushy tails, primarily active during the day, diligently gathering seeds and nuts to store in their underground burrows.
While not as destructive as other animals that burrow, chipmunks can still be a nuisance by digging small holes in the yard. Their entrance holes are typically clean, round, and unobtrusive, often tucked beneath a rock, woodpile, or foundation edge.
15. Rats
Rats, most commonly the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), dig burrows near structures where food and shelter are both close at hand. A hole two to four inches wide suggests rats.
Rat holes tend to be smooth-edged and free of loose soil scattered nearby, since the animals compact the entrance through repeated use. Because rats are frequently controlled by natural predators, readers dealing with an infestation may want to review this list of animals that eat rats.
16. Bank Voles
The bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is a small, reddish-brown rodent common across gardens and hedgerows in the UK and much of Europe. Bank voles, wood mice, and yellow-necked mice can dig extensive burrow systems, often under tree roots.
These burrow networks are usually small and well-hidden, making bank voles far less noticeable to homeowners than larger diggers like rabbits or badgers occupying the same hedgerow.
17. Wood Mice
Wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) are among the most widespread small mammals in Europe and share the same tendency toward hidden, root-anchored tunnel systems as bank voles. Their extensive burrow systems, often built under tree roots, are difficult to spot from the surface.
Because wood mice are nocturnal and secretive, their digging is usually confirmed by droppings or by disturbing loose soil near a tree base rather than by ever seeing the animal itself.
18. Yellow-Necked Mice
The yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) is a close relative of the wood mouse, identifiable by a distinctive yellow band across its throat. Like its relatives, it favors woodland edges and hedgerows where tree roots provide natural structural support for its tunnels.
Its digging behavior mirrors that of bank voles and wood mice closely enough that all three species are frequently grouped together in UK wildlife identification guides covering common garden burrows.
19. Desert Spiny Lizard
Not every animal that dig holes list is dominated by mammals. The Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister) is one of two reptile species known to dig its own shelter rather than rely entirely on borrowed cover.
Lizards will usually use burrows created by other animals or find a small cavity to hide in during the day, but at times lizards will dig their own holes, and species that occasionally do this include the Desert Spiny Lizard and the Collared Lizard. A burrow made by a lizard is shallow, typically domed on top with a flat bottom.
20. Collared Lizard
The Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) is found across arid grasslands and rocky terrain in the southwestern United States and shares the same occasional self-digging habit as the Desert Spiny Lizard. Both species rely far more often on rodent burrows, rock crevices, or shrub cover than on original excavation.
When a Collared Lizard does dig, the resulting shelter is shallow and dome-shaped, offering just enough protection from daytime heat and predators without the depth of a true mammal burrow.
Common Mistake: Assuming every small desert hole belongs to a rodent. Reptiles like the Desert Spiny Lizard and Collared Lizard sometimes dig shallow, domed shelters that look similar at a glance but lack a true tunnel behind the opening.
21. Snakes
Most snakes don’t dig their own burrows, instead moving into holes abandoned or actively used by rodents, tortoises, or other small mammals. Small predators, such as stoats and weasels, often live in holes stolen from their prey, and the same pattern applies to many burrowing snake species.
Small holes less than two inches in diameter are often used by snakes, voles, rats, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, least weasels, Franklin’s ground squirrels, or lemmings. That overlap in hole size is exactly why it can be hard to determine which species is using the burrow, and readers should look for the animal or its tracks to confirm what is using the site. Snakes that specialize in burrowing rodents also make regular appearances in the guide to animals that eat snakes, since the predator-prey relationship runs both directions underground.
22. Voles
Voles (genus Microtus) are compact, short-tailed rodents that create shallow surface runways connecting a network of small burrow entrances. Their holes are almost always under two inches wide and are easy to overlook among grass roots.
Because voles feed heavily on plant roots and bark, they’re occasionally confused with mice, though their rounder body shape and shorter tail set them apart on closer inspection. Vole damage to young trees and shrubs is covered in more detail in the list of animals that eat trees.
23. Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrels
The thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) is named for the alternating light and dark stripes running down its back, and it’s a common sight across open grasslands and lawns in the central United States. Thirteen-lined ground squirrel burrow holes are about 2 inches wide.
This species is diurnal and often seen sitting upright near its burrow entrance, which makes it easier to identify by sight than many of the other small diggers on this list covered under animals that start with T.
24. Least Weasels
The least weasel (Mustela nivalis) is the smallest carnivore in North America and rarely digs an original burrow of its own. Small predators such as stoats and weasels often live in holes stolen from their prey, and even pine martens have been recorded living in badger setts.
Weasel and muskrat burrows tend to be located near water. A least weasel occupying a rodent’s old tunnel usually leaves the entrance looking almost identical to the original owner’s, which is why tracks or scat nearby are the most reliable identifiers.
25. Franklin’s Ground Squirrels
Franklin’s ground squirrel (Poliocitellus franklinii) is a grayish, medium-sized squirrel found in tallgrass prairie and marsh-edge habitat across the north-central United States and southern Canada. It digs a burrow system similar in scale to the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, with an entrance typically under two inches wide.
Because this species prefers dense grass cover and is more secretive than its more visible ground squirrel relatives, confirmed sightings near an active hole are the best way to rule out voles or rats occupying the same size opening.
26. Lemmings
Lemmings, including the Norway lemming (Lemmus lemmus), are small Arctic and subarctic rodents best known for their dramatic population cycles rather than their burrowing habits. In summer they dig shallow burrows in tundra soil, while in winter they tunnel through snow to reach the vegetation and moss they feed on.
Their surface holes fall into the same small category as voles, rats, and thirteen-lined ground squirrels, all measuring under two inches across. Because lemmings live in remote, cold-climate habitats far from most backyards, they’re the least likely species on this list for a typical homeowner to encounter directly.
How to Tell One Burrow From Another
With 26 species covered, a quick reference makes the differences easier to hold onto. The table below groups animals by their most distinctive hole or mound signature.
| Animal | Hole or Mound Signature | Typical Diameter |
|---|---|---|
| Groundhog | Large open entrance, often with a side hole | 8–12 inches |
| Coyote / Badger | Wide den entrance in open ground | 6+ inches |
| Prairie dog | Crater-rimmed mound with open hole | 4–6 inches |
| Ground squirrel / Tree squirrel | Shallow foraging pit or open burrow entrance | 3–4 inches |
| Skunk | Small cone-shaped foraging pit | ~3 inches |
| Pocket gopher | Crescent or fan-shaped mound with plugged hole | Hole hidden, mound 8–12 inches |
| Mole | Symmetrical volcano-shaped mound, no visible hole | Cone-shaped, hole hidden |
| Rat | Clean, compacted round hole near structures | 2–4 inches |
| Thirteen-lined ground squirrel | Small round hole in open lawn | ~2 inches |
| Vole, mouse, snake, lemming, least weasel | Tiny round opening, easy to overlook | Under 2 inches |
Key Insight: When two species share a similar hole size, location is the deciding factor. Weasel and muskrat burrows cluster near water, while badger and gopher holes appear in open grassland away from foundations.
Identifying the exact culprit sometimes still comes down to old-fashioned detective work. As one wildlife specialist put it, it’s really a process of elimination, and readers may start with 20 possible culprits before narrowing them down to the two or three most likely suspects. Fresh tracks, scat, or a trail camera pointed at the hole overnight can settle the question when size and shape alone aren’t enough.
Underground activity isn’t purely a nuisance, either. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements and can be found in nearly every biome, among various biological interaction types including symbiosis and competition. Gopher and mole tunnels in particular aerate compacted soil and cycle nutrients, which is part of why soil that has been compacted by trampling, grazing, and machinery benefits particularly from the tunneling process, and fresh soil in the mounds provides a fresh seedbed for new plants.
For readers still working through a mystery hole, cross-referencing predator activity can help too, since several diggers on this list, from foxes to badgers to snakes, are also predators of the smaller burrowers they’re often confused with. The guides to animals that eat eggs and animals that dig holes in other contexts round out the picture of how much overlap exists between these species in a single backyard ecosystem.
Whether the hole belongs to a groundhog settling in for winter or a thirteen-lined ground squirrel darting between grass tufts, the pattern holds across all 26 species: size, shape, location, and a bit of patient observation almost always reveal the digger responsible.