There are a few, but not many, divets in my turf.

 

I've seen squirrels in my yard create similar trouble. Do you have many squirrels in your area?

 

Could be an armadillo.

 

My vote is armadillo. I had a couple tear up my yard a couple years ago

 

Armored dill holes.

 

Armored dill holes.

LOL!

My vote is squirrel. Never seen an Armadildo not dig a giant tunnel.

 

I think it's a squirrel, too. It got in my raised herb bed yesterday. Although I didn't see it, I doubt an armodillo could do that.

Now to get rid of them.

 

The jerk squirrels around my house dig obscenely large holes so that's what I'd say it is.

 

Armadillo but.....

Could be chipmunks. I have similar damage and holes from chipmunks. Your first photo is spot on for chipmunks

 

Get a game camera. Best $50 I've ever spent. It's very entertaining to see what goes on when you aren't around.

 

The armadillo holes I have on my property are a lot bigger than that. You could easily fit a football into them. Luckily he's around 100 yards from the lawn. If he starts getting closer I'll need a pair of night vision goggles and my 12 gauge.

 

Had dillos last year making very similar holes in my lawn - tearing it up. Bought a cheap (<$30) driveway sensor that I mounted on a tripod and placed in lawn. Set the base unit next to the bed and it would go off when the critters came around in the wee hours .22lr Velocitors ended the problem! Managing the grubs better this year and they've hit all around me but not the lawn. I did learn to hate the sound of the alarm though, lol.

 

I vote Armadillo.

Call you local Animal control and ask them for a Box Trap with some Cat Food. That is how I accidentally caught one in my yard. I was actually catching cats and a Armadillo showed up. Then they can safely remove it from your property.

 

Looks like a Dillo looking for grubs to me.

 

Well, c'mon, get the trail cam, and let's solve this mystery! @ericgautier turn this into a poll?

 

Ha. The trail cam is intriguing. I don't know how much use I'd get out of it.

I put down some Critter Ridder (black pepper and capsaicin). It must be a Cajun critter, because it didn't do a thing.

Possibly a silly question here - would urea be an irritant to it, do you think? I know I'd need to be careful in applying it around my plants.

 

I'm thinking an application to kill the grubs (bait) would be in order? When I did that they'd raid my neighbor's yard but not mine...

 

Well, I did my experiment. I smoothed our the foraged mulch and sprinkled urea between the plants. I did this about three days ago. No foraging! I'm sure it's short lived, but I could cast out some urea every now and then I guess!