It’s Not the Weather—It’s the Soil: Why Digging Pests Choose Certain Yards

Let me guess.

Your lawn was fine. Your neighbor’s lawn is still fine. And yet somehow your yard looks like it hosted an underground rave while everyone was asleep.

Naturally, the first suspect is the weather. Too wet. Too dry. Too cold. Too something.

But here’s the thing wildlife biologists figured out a long time ago (and homeowners are just starting to): digging pests don’t follow the forecast — they follow the soil. Armadillos, moles, and wild hogs aren’t rolling dice to decide where to dig. They’re making calculated, energy-efficient decisions based on what’s under your feet.

Take the quick check below to see what your soil and landscape are quietly advertising — then read on to understand why it matters.

So, how did your yard score? If it landed on the low end, that’s not luck — it means your soil and moisture conditions simply aren’t advertising easy food. If it landed somewhere in the middle, you’ve probably noticed damage that comes and goes. And if it landed high, well…now you know why the digging keeps coming back.

Digging pests respond to specific, repeatable conditions underground — conditions that make foraging efficient and worth the effort. Once those conditions line up, animals don’t just visit. They remember. That’s what we’re going to unpack next.

Digging Isn’t Destruction — It’s Foraging

From a human's perspective, digging looks personal. Vindictive, even. From theirs? It’s just the best way to find food. Armadillos are primarily insect hunters. Moles follow invertebrates through the soil. Wild hogs root for calorie-dense food like grubs, worms, and underground plant material. None of them are digging “just because.” They’re responding to food availability combined with physical access.

If the soil makes food easy to reach, digging happens. If it doesn’t, they move on. Simple. Annoying. And predictable. Which means, forewarned is forearmed (but not literally—please put down the gun).

Soil Type Matters More Than You Think

Here’s where things get interesting — and where most “it must be the weather” theories fall apart.

Sandy & Loamy Soils: The All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

Loose, sandy, or loamy soils are a dream scenario for digging pests. They have:

• Low resistance (easy to move)

• Good oxygen flow (great for insects)

• High worm and grub activity

From an energy standpoint, this matters a lot. Research shows that digging can require hundreds — even thousands — of times more energy than walking, depending on soil density. Animals simply cannot afford to dig where the payoff isn’t worth the effort.

Clay & Compacted Soils: Hard Pass

Dense clay or heavily compacted soils are a different story. When dry, they’re practically concrete. When wet, they’re sticky, heavy, and still difficult to excavate. Even animals capable of serious damage, like wild hogs, tend to focus their rooting where soil resistance is lowest, often avoiding hard-packed areas unless there’s a strong incentive to push through.

In other words: Two lawns can look identical from the street and function like completely different ecosystems underground.

Moisture Is the Real Magnet (Not the Season)

If soil type sets the stage, moisture cues the performance. Water does two critical things:

1. It softens soil, reducing digging effort

2. It pulls prey into the upper soil layers

That’s why irrigated lawns are digger magnets — regardless of whether it’s winter in Michigan or August in Texas. When surrounding ground dries out, a regularly watered lawn becomes an oasis.

In fact, research shows that during dry conditions, digging activity often concentrates almost exclusively in irrigated yards, because they may be the only places animals can physically dig and reliably find food. Wild hogs take this one step further. They require moist soil not just for feeding, but for thermoregulation (they don’t sweat). A well-watered yard can offer both food and cooling — a hard combination to ignore.

Mulch Beds, Compost, and Other “Soft Targets”

Let’s talk landscaping. Mulch is great for plants. Unfortunately, it’s also great for the exact invertebrates digging pests eat. Mulched beds:

• Retain moisture

• Stay loose

• Create a humid, stable microclimate

To an armadillo, digging through bark or pine straw takes far less energy than tearing up turf, and research consistently shows higher invertebrate density in organic, amended soils. Compost piles, raised beds, and freshly disturbed soil send similar signals: food lives here.

None of this means you “did something wrong.” It just means your yard is functioning exactly as designed — biologically speaking, at least.

“But My Neighbor Has No Damage”

Ah yes. The thing that haunts homeowners everywhere — what's going on next door. The short answer: animals learn where success lives. Digging pests follow a strategy biologists call “win-stay, lose-shift.” When they dig in a yard and find food, that location gets logged as a reliable resource. They return. Repeatedly. Often in patterns. Meanwhile, your neighbor’s yard might be:

• Drier

• More compacted

• Less food-dense

Not because it’s “protected,” but because it’s simply less rewarding. In some cases, one highly attractive yard can even act as a sink, drawing animals in and sparing nearby properties — at least temporarily.

Why Damage Feels Sudden (Even When It Isn’t)

Most digging pests are nocturnal or crepuscular. Translation: they work nights, dawns, and dusks — when you’re not watching. Add in the fact that a single armadillo can dig dozens of holes in one night, and you get the illusion of instant destruction. In reality, what looks like a sudden disaster is often the result of repeated, efficient foraging that finally crossed your visibility threshold. The activity wasn’t new. It's just been recently called to your attention.

Stop Blaming the Weather

Digging pests don’t wake up and check the weather. They test the ground. If the soil is soft, moist, and food-rich, they stay. If it isn’t, they move on. The pattern isn’t random — it’s ecological cause and effect playing out under your lawn.

Hugs & Hooves,

Lydia