Contrary to the belief, the squirrels have a mixed diet. They usually collect more food than required and will bury it under the soil but do you think storing food is the only reason for digging underground, or do squirrels dig for grubs?
Yes, squirrels do dig for grubs. While they primarily eat nuts, seeds, and plants, squirrels are omnivorous and will search for grubs, worms, and other small insects when there is a food shortage, especially during harsh winters. Squirrels’ digging in the soil is often related to their search for food.
Squirrels are included in the omnivorous group of animals and enjoy eating a little protein. Continue reading to find out about squirrels’ hunt for grubs and worms.
Why Are Squirrels Digging In My Lawn?
Squirrels are friendly. They love to play around and enjoy themselves all the time. But this cute animal can be annoying when digging in your lawn or the yard. It is not uncommon to find squirrels burrowing in your beautiful garden. Squirrels dig underground for mainly two reasons; either they are storing food or looking for food.
According to the research of Ardhendu Chakraborty, squirrels can cause damage to plants. They dig in the lawn for bulbs and can swiftly destroy fruits and vegetable trees. Squirrels will wait until the fruits and vegetables are ripe and ready to eat. Therefore, causing considerable loss.
Storing Food
Winters are harsh times on almost every animal. There is less food, and it is cold to travel long distances to hunt. Therefore, before winters begin, many animals store the food inside their homes or burrow it underground.
Similarly, squirrels start collecting and storing food from the beginning of the autumn.
It will store food in multiple locations near the nest. Squirrels are not hibernating animals. After a few days of sleep, when the weather gets better, they will come out and dig up the food supply without wasting time searching for food that might not be present.
Even though squirrels are excellent for searching and identifying their food store, occasionally they can forget, or the food might get stolen in this situation, they will dig out your entire yard in search of their food.
A squirrel can store up to thousands of nuts, so when squirrels cannot find stored food, they can turn your lawn upside down.
Searching For Food
Squirrels are omnivorous. They will eat plants and small animals from the lawn. Squirrels are famous for searching and munching on bulbs. Tulip and Crocus bulbs are particularly appealing to them. In search of bulbs, squirrels can dig all the flower beds on your lawn.
Apart from plants, squirrels get their proteins from the tiny crawling insects. It will dig the soil on your lawn in search of worms, ants, snails, caterpillars, and grubs. However, squirrels are not keen insect eaters, unlike other critters. Thus, they probably will not destroy your garden in insect search.
Do Squirrels And Chipmunks Eat Grubs?
Grubs are the beetle larvae that slowly turn into adult beetle that eats the plant roots. The grubs are alarming for gardeners, as they can damage the entire lawn and make your effort go to vain.
There are many natural predators of the insects, and many animals enjoy munching on their larvae.
Squirrels and chipmunks eat grubs, but their favorite food differs. Squirrels mainly eat nuts, seeds, grains, roots, bulbs, wheat, and corn. While chipmunks generally eat grains, berries, nuts, insects, bird eggs, and even young mice.
However, squirrels’ search for insects and grubs will not destroy the yard. The holes dug by chipmunks are shallow, two to three inches in diameter. They will look around bulbs for the beetle larvae.
Do Squirrels Eat Worms Or Grubs?
Yes. Squirrels eat worms and grubs. In fact, they can consume different types of insects, including ants, worms, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, and grubs.
Squirrels do not find insects, including worms and grubs, as tasty as the plant-based food source. But they will eat them when there is a food shortage, such as during winters, when the weather is too cold to go a long distance to hunt for food.
Squirrels can effortlessly dig underground to find small hiding animals that can provide quick energy. Unlike ants which provide them with only a few calories, a meal of worms will give squirrels many nutrients, consisting of proteins, fats, and minerals.
Squirrels will find grubs near the bulbs as grubs feed on the plant roots. Plus, squirrels are good diggers. They can dig a few inches in the ground to search for worms or store them for a later meal.
What Animals Eat Grubs In The Lawn?
Grubs are active in mid-summer. They eat plant roots and make your lawn or yard dull and wilted. You will be frustrated to see all your efforts eaten away by a tiny beetle larva. The problem is not only the grubs but the predators that attract grubs.
Many animals, including omnivorous and carnivorous, find grubs appealing and tasty. These animals might destroy the plants, bushes, and flower beds in search. The animals that eat grubs are rats, mice, armadillos, raccoons, birds, moles, skunks, and squirrels.
You can consider these animals helpful in removing grubs, but during the hunt, these grub predators’ especially raccoons and skunks’ can cause damage to the lawn.
Raccoons will burrow huge holes, and skunks dig several in a small area. Moles will probably rip up an entire lawn in the hunt for earthworms and grubs. Squirrels will burrow a small hole. The minimum damage is by birds that pick up only the grubs available on the top of the soil.
Do Squirrels Dig Holes In Grass?
Squirrels ruin the garden by digging holes in the soil. The holes made by squirrels are small, only two to three inches in diameter. They will destroy the lawn while searching for food like nuts, bulbs, and insects.
The massive damage will occur when squirrels are looking for already stored food in the grass. Squirrels store food underground for winters when there is less food. They save their energy by eating the stored food.
Although squirrels are clever and remember where they hide their nuts, bulbs, and insects, if they forget or cannot find their meal, they will tear up the entire lawn destroying the grass and plants.
Conclusion
Squirrels are a pest because they can cause damage to the house and lawn. Although the damage is small-scale, they still destroy your entire efforts, especially in your yard or garden, as squirrels dig in the soil in food search. Squirrels mainly eat nuts, bulbs, and insects.
In search of this food, it will burrow in the vegetable garden and the flower bed.
Additionally, squirrels are not hibernating animals. They come out when the weather is slightly better in search of food. But they are clever and will save energy by eating the food they stored earlier during autumn.