things in the ground that tear you your grass like moles?

Answer 1

Any one of the furry little critters could be the culprit........
This is what I do for MOLES....I find the mounds and the tunnels and I take a knife and cut a slit in it and pour cheap pine oil down the tunnels.........ALWAYS make sure you patch the hole up so that no light can get in the tunnel.
I do this all over the yard. The the little buggers leave and go to my neighbors because they don't like the sticky pine oil on them. I would imagine you can do that with all of them.
***********Good Luck!*************


They could be :
************Vole Hole Identification: ************Voles vs. Moles

Since voles are not the only animal pests responsible for runways in lawn and garden areas, they are often confused with these other pests you'd like to get rid of – namely, moles. Because both moles and voles are rarely seen, it makes more sense to base identification on the signs they leave behind, rather than on how the animals look. After all, you may never come face to face with these furtive foes!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moles produce two types of runways in your yard. One runway runs just beneath the surface. These are feeding tunnels and appear as raised ridges running across your lawn. The second type of runway runs deeper and enables the moles to unite the feeding tunnels in a network. It is the soil excavated from the deep tunnels that homeowners find on their lawns, piled up in mounds that resemble little volcanoes. These mounds are a dead giveaway that your problem is not voles, but moles. Voles leave no mounds at all behind.

*******BIOLOGY / IDENTIFICATION ************OF MOLES
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/moles.htm
Moles******** have velvety blue-black to gray mohair-like fur, a slender snout, needle like teeth, with flattened feet, claws and inconspicuous ears.
They can grow from 6'-12" long depending on species.

Moles may be distinguished from meadow voles, gophers, and shrews by their naked, pointed nose that extends well in front of the mouth.
Moles have small eyes and ears that are concealed by fur.
Their spade like fore feet are wider than they are long.
Discharged mounded soil and heaved runways are indicators of the mole's presence.
***************Gophers*************
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7433.html
Mounds of fresh soil are the best sign of gopher presence. Mounds are formed as the gopher digs its tunnel and pushes the loose dirt to the surface. Typically mounds are crescent- or horseshoe-shaped when viewed from above. The hole, which is off to one side of the mound, is usually plugged. Mole mounds are sometimes mistaken for gopher mounds. Mole mounds, however, appear circular and have a plug in the middle that may not be distinct; in profile they are volcano-shaped. Unlike gophers, moles commonly burrow just beneath the surface, leaving a raised ridge to mark their path

Answer 2

Are you sure they are in the ground ? This time of year the skunks come out & start digging for grubs.