Raccoon Dug Up Lawn Looking For Grubs

Imagine You Are A Raccoon: Week 4

A weekly series by Brad Gates, B.Sc. Stay tuned each Wednesday for the continuation of this story!

October has now arrived and your two den sites are firmly established. Your focus shifts to finding enough food to increase the protective layer of fat which you will need to survive the winter. With most of the summer food already harvested, your diet must change. You become more dependent on your acute sense of touch to locate nourishment. A fair amount of time foraging is spent on neighbourhood lawns. You use your paws to press the grass against the ground until you feel the slightest movement within the soil. When movement is detected you begin to easily turn the grass upside down, since the roots of the grass have been chewed off by the food you are after.

One by one you pick up the “C” shaped grub known as the June Bug larvae. These ever so tasty morsels provide you with an excellent source of protein. You will of course never understand that your search for grubs and the resulting “rotor tiller” like damage to well manicured lawns is most upsetting for the property owner. On the other hand, the property owner will never appreciate the fact that your activities are merely pointing out that unless the grub infestation is dealt with, the grass would die regardless.