What in the world makes these holes??

Welp, sad but welcome goodbye to my lawn. Moving more to the countryside and going from 2500sqft total to nearly 10,000sqft. It's definitely a huge difference and I'm anxious to get it all started. However, I've noticed these holes all around the back lawn. Almost look as if someone had metal poles in the ground everywhere. I assumed they were molehills...but they arent hills at all. More like, burrows or holes that go down at an angle. This morning I noticed when I got closer...it started coming out and stopped. So I snapped a pic. I have NO IDEA what it is. Does NOT look like a mole. I see something that looks like...pincers? Any help is appreciated. Here are attached photos.