The Ultimate Guide to Filling Animal Holes in Your Yard: Prevention and Repair

You step outside on a Saturday morning and there it is — a fresh hole in the lawn — one of the most common animal holes in yard problems Pennsylvania homeowners face, soil heaped to one side, grass caved in around the edges. There might be two or three of them, or a dozen. Before you can fix it, you need to know what made it and why, because a chipmunk hole and a groundhog burrow require completely different approaches.

This guide walks through every common animal holes in yard culprit in Pennsylvania — how to tell them apart, what fill material actually works for each one, and how to do the job so it stays filled. We also cover prevention strategies that don’t require trapping or chemicals, and a PA-regional activity calendar so you know when each animal is most likely to be active in your part of the state.

Whether you’re dealing with animal holes in your yard near the foundation or a Pennsylvania lawn that looks like a putting green gone wrong, you’ll find the answer here.

How to Identify Which Animal Is Digging

The hole itself tells you more than you might think. Hole size, depth, and the presence or absence of a soil mound are the three most reliable clues. Look at the edges, too — a chipmunk keeps a tidy entrance with no loose soil around it, while a groundhog shoves a pile of dirt out like a front-end loader.

Timing matters as well. Skunk and raccoon damage appears overnight — these animals are nocturnal. Chipmunks and groundhogs work during the day. If you check the lawn in the morning and new damage appeared since dusk, that narrows the field considerably.

Best Fill Materials for Animal Holes

Not all fill is equal — the wrong material can actually make re-digging easier for the animal. The goal is to close the hole, discourage re-entry, and let your lawn recover over the top. Match the material to the depth and animal type.

For most PA homeowners dealing with chipmunks or moles, a soil and pea gravel mix is the go-to solution. It’s affordable, fills well, and the texture genuinely deters re-digging. For groundhog burrows, which can run 25 feet and reach 5 feet deep, start with expanding foam to fill the depth and top with a soil-gravel mix once the foam has fully cured.

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How to Fill Animal Holes Step by Step

The process is straightforward but doing it right — packing in layers, checking for occupants first, and finishing to grade — is what separates a fix that lasts from one that needs redoing in a week.

Step 1: Confirm the Burrow Is Empty

Stuff the entrance loosely with newspaper, dead leaves, or a handful of soil — do not pack it tight. Return in 24–48 hours. If the material has been moved or pushed out, the burrow is active. Wait until the animal has left on its own or has been humanely removed before proceeding.

Step 2: Clear the Opening

Remove any loose soil, debris, or collapsed turf around the hole. Use a hand trowel to widen the visible opening slightly so you can see how deep the burrow goes and pack fill properly all the way down.

Step 3: Fill in Layers

For shallow holes (under 6 inches), fill in a single pass with your soil-gravel mix and tamp down firmly. For deeper burrows, fill in 4–6 inch layers, tamping each one before adding the next. This prevents air pockets that cause the fill to sink later. A tamping bar or even the end of a shovel handle works fine.

Step 4: Finish to Grade

Fill the hole slightly above the surrounding lawn level — about half an inch high. The fill will settle over the first few weeks, especially after rain. Overfilling slightly prevents a depression from forming.

Step 5: Seed and Water

Rake the surface lightly, apply a thin layer of topsoil or compost to the top inch, broadcast lawn seed appropriate for your PA zone, and water daily for the first two weeks. Most patches recover fully within 3–6 weeks during the growing season.

Step 6: Monitor for Re-Entry

Check the filled area every few days for the first two weeks. If the fill is disturbed, the animal has returned and you’ll need to address the source — usually a food supply (grubs, pet food, compost) or a nearby shelter site.

Filling Holes by Animal Type

Each species digs differently and responds differently to fill materials. Here’s what actually works for the animals you’re most likely to encounter in a Pennsylvania yard.

Chipmunk Holes

Chipmunk burrows look deceptively small — the entrance is only 1–2 inches wide — but the tunnel below can extend 3 feet deep and branch into multiple chambers. The entrance is always clean, with no soil mound, which is how chipmunks hide them from predators (and from you until you step in one).

Fill with a 50/50 mix of topsoil and pea gravel, tamped firmly in layers. Chipmunks strongly prefer loose, easy-to-dig soil — the gravel texture usually discourages them from re-entering at the same spot. Address multiple holes in one session, since chipmunks typically have 2–4 active entrances per burrow system in the same area.

Mole Tunnels and Mounds

Moles don’t create the entrance holes you’d expect — they push up volcano-shaped dirt mounds (molehills) as they excavate and leave raised ridges across your lawn from shallow feeding tunnels just below the surface. The actual mole is rarely seen; you’re dealing with the aftermath of a grub-hunting run.

Filling mole tunnels is less about plugging a burrow and more about leveling the damage. Use the back of a spade to flatten raised ridges back down and firm the soil by walking over it. For the conical mounds, scrape the excess soil flat, tamp, and reseed. Moles rarely reuse the same surface tunnels, so filling is usually a one-and-done fix — the problem is they’ll create new ones nearby as long as grubs are present.

Groundhog (Woodchuck) Burrows

Groundhog burrows are the most serious damage you’ll encounter — a single adult can excavate 35+ pounds of soil and create a tunnel system up to 5 feet deep and 25 feet long. The main entrance has a large mound of excavated soil out front. There’s usually a hidden “plunge hole” — a second entrance with no mound — that’s the actual escape route.

Before filling, check for plunge holes by walking the area around the main entrance in a 20-foot radius — plunge holes are often hidden in tall grass or under dense plantings. Fill both. For the main burrow, use expanding foam to fill depth, then pack the upper 12–18 inches with a firm soil-crushed-gravel mix. Tamp aggressively in layers — groundhogs are powerful and will push through loose fill.

If the burrow runs under a deck, shed, or foundation — as is very common in PA — filling alone won’t solve the problem. The animal will dig a new entrance nearby. See the prevention section on underground barriers for a lasting fix.

Skunk Holes

Skunk damage is the easiest to fix but the most obvious to find — scattered cone-shaped holes 3–4 inches wide punched into your lawn overnight, each about 3–4 inches deep. Skunks are hunting grubs just below the sod surface, so the holes are shallow and don’t connect to a burrow network.

Simple topsoil fill and light tamping is all you need — the holes are too shallow to warrant gravel mixing. Focus your energy on the grub treatment that will stop skunks from returning. The damage is almost always worse in mid-July through September in Pennsylvania, when Japanese beetle and June bug larvae are near the surface.

Raccoon Damage

Raccoons don’t dig holes so much as they tear up your lawn in patches, rolling back sections of sod to expose grubs underneath. The damage looks like someone vandalized your lawn with a garden fork — irregular sections of turf peeled back, roots exposed.

Repair is straightforward: press the rolled-back sod sections back down firmly by hand or foot, water thoroughly, and they’ll usually re-root within 1–2 weeks if caught quickly. For sections where the sod has dried out or the roots are damaged, cut the dead section out cleanly, fill with topsoil, and reseed. Raccoon damage is almost exclusively a grub problem — treat the grubs, and the raccoons move on.

Vole Runways and Holes

Voles are often mistaken for moles because the names sound similar, but they’re completely different animals with completely different damage patterns. Voles are mouse-sized, create surface runways (paths of dead or matted grass visible after snow melts), and punch small holes under 1 inch wide at intervals along those runways.

Fill the small holes with topsoil. The more important repair is the runways — voles girdle plant roots and bulbs over winter, so damage to perennials and shrubs often shows up in spring when plants fail to emerge. Reduce vole habitat by keeping grass mowed (part of a solid spring lawn care routine) and clearing dense groundcover near garden beds.

Mouse and Rat Holes

Mouse holes near your house or outbuildings are a different concern than most yard-burrowing problems — the goal here is exclusion, not just filling. A mouse hole filled with dirt alone will be re-excavated within 24 hours. Pack mouse holes firmly with a combination of steel wool and hydraulic cement, or hardware cloth pressed into the opening before filling with soil. The coarse, abrasive materials make re-digging uncomfortable and slow.

Rat burrows (larger, 2–3 inches, often with worn runways leading to them) near structures should be addressed promptly. Use the steel wool or hardware cloth base method, combined with a gravel-soil fill mix packed firmly. Address any food sources within 50 feet — bird feeders, compost bins, pet food, and accessible trash are the primary attractants.

Long-Term Prevention Strategies

Filling holes is reactive. These strategies make your yard less attractive in the first place — no traps, no poison, no professional wildlife service required for most situations.

Eliminate the Food Source

Most yard-burrowing animals in Pennsylvania are there for one of three reasons: grubs, seeds/bulbs, or shelter. Remove the food and most animals move on on their own.

For grub-driven damage (skunks, raccoons, moles): treat your lawn with milky spore (a natural bacterial solution) in late summer when larvae are active. It takes 1–3 seasons to fully colonize your lawn but provides long-term control. Grub-control insecticides applied in late July are faster-acting if damage is severe.

For seed and bulb feeders (chipmunks, voles): plant bulbs with hardware cloth cages (2-inch mesh, lined around bulbs before backfilling). Keep bird feeders elevated on pole-mounted baffles, and clean up spilled seed daily. A single bird feeder can sustain a chipmunk colony through winter.

Underground Barriers for Persistent Burrowers

For groundhogs, gophers, or any animal repeatedly returning to the same area, an underground barrier is the most reliable long-term fix. Bury hardware cloth (½-inch mesh, galvanized) at least 12–18 inches deep, with the bottom 6 inches bent outward at a 90-degree angle away from the structure. This L-footer design defeats most burrowers because they hit the buried mesh and can’t get around it.

This approach works especially well under decks, along foundations, and around garden bed perimeters. It’s labor-intensive to install but lasts 20+ years and requires no ongoing maintenance.

Natural Repellents

Several natural repellents have genuine deterrent effect when applied consistently. Peppermint oil diluted in water and sprayed around active burrow sites irritates the sensitive nasal passages of mice, voles, and chipmunks. Reapply after rain. Castor oil granules spread across the lawn are one of the most effective commercial mole repellents available.

Predator urine products (fox, coyote) placed at burrow entrances can discourage groundhogs and chipmunks, though effectiveness varies and needs reapplication every 1–2 weeks. Hot pepper granules or spray applied around garden beds deters digging in those areas specifically — these need to be reapplied after rain and every 2–3 weeks during active season.

Habitat Modification

Dense groundcover, woodpiles, brush piles, and overgrown edges all provide cover that burrowing animals need to feel safe. Keep a 12–18 inch clear zone around the base of decks, sheds, and foundations — no dense plantings, no stacked materials. Animals are reluctant to burrow in exposed areas where they can be seen by predators.

Mow your lawn regularly and keep edges trimmed. Tall grass provides the travel cover voles and mice need to move between burrow sites. A well-maintained lawn with no debris piles is significantly less attractive than an overgrown one.

PA Regional Activity and Best Time to Fill Animal Holes

Burrowing activity varies across Pennsylvania’s climate zones. Groundhogs emerge earlier in warmer Eastern PA (often late February in Zone 7a near Philadelphia) than in Northern PA (often not until April in Zone 5a near Erie and the Poconos). Knowing your region’s peak window helps you time both prevention and repair work.

The best time to do major burrowing repairs in PA is late October through November for most of the state — animals have slowed down, burrows are more likely to be empty, and you can fill, seed, and let grass establish before hard freezes. Patches filled in fall come in thicker in spring than patches filled mid-summer.

When to Call a Wildlife Control Professional

Most yard-hole situations are DIY-friendly, but there are a few scenarios where professional help is the faster and safer path.

Call a professional when: the burrow is under or very close to a foundation and you’re not sure of its full extent; when you suspect a protected species (some bats, certain birds, reptiles) may be involved; when groundhog damage is extensive and recurring after multiple DIY attempts; or when you find what appears to be a skunk or raccoon den with young animals.

Pennsylvania has a number of licensed wildlife control operators (LCOs) under the PA Game Commission framework. Most operate humanely using live trapping and relocation. DIY trapping of groundhogs, raccoons, and skunks is legal in PA on your own property without a permit, but relocation must be to a suitable habitat and not onto state game lands without permission. When in doubt, contact the PA Game Commission or a licensed LCO.

Frequently Asked Questions About Filling Animal Holes in Your Yard