Two-Inch Holes in Yard: Chipmunk, Rat, or Something Else?

A round hole about two inches across is classic burrow size, and the usual suspects are chipmunks, rats, and thirteen-lined ground squirrels. Chipmunk holes are clean with no soil pile, rat holes are worn and hug structures, and ground squirrel holes sit in open, sunny lawn — those three clues sort out most cases.

Most likely causes

  • Chipmunks — tidy 2-inch holes with no excavated soil, near walls or wood piles
  • Rats — smooth, well-worn holes with kicked-out dirt, tight against foundations and sheds
  • Thirteen-lined ground squirrels — 2-inch holes in open, sunny, short-mowed turf
  • Snakes — old rodent burrows kept open with no fresh digging
  • Crayfish — muddy 2-inch openings with a mud chimney in wet ground

Compare the possible causes

Possible cause Key signs When it happens How likely
Chipmunks A clean, almost drilled-looking 2-inch hole with zero loose soil around it Most digging in spring and again in late summer as they stock winter larders Very common
Rats A 2- to 3-inch hole with a fan of loose dirt, smooth greasy edges, and a hidden location Year-round, with a noticeable surge in fall as outdoor food disappears Common
Thirteen-lined ground squirrels A clean 2-inch hole in the middle of open, sunny, closely mowed lawn, sometimes with a shallow soil scatter April through September; they hibernate underground the rest of the year Less common
Snakes reusing old burrows A weathered 2-inch hole that stays open with no fresh soil, tracks, or digging Noticed most in spring and fall when snakes seek shelter and thermoregulate Less common
Crayfish A muddy opening up to 2 inches wide, often capped with a chimney of stacked mud pellets, in a soggy low spot Wet months of spring and early summer Rare

Visual clues to check

  • Check for soil: none at all points to chipmunks; a fresh fan of dirt at the entrance points to rats or ground squirrels
  • Map the location: against a foundation or shed favors rats; near walls and shrubs favors chipmunks; open sunny turf favors ground squirrels
  • Feel the rim: a smooth, packed, slightly greasy edge means heavy nightly traffic — a rat signature
  • Look for droppings within a few feet: rat droppings are blunt capsules; chipmunks rarely leave any near the entrance
  • Watch in daylight: chipmunks and ground squirrels are day-active, so an hour of quiet observation often catches the owner
  • After rain, check for tracks in the soft soil around the hole — four- and five-toed rodent prints confirm active use

The causes in detail

Chipmunks

Two inches is the textbook chipmunk front door. Because they carry excavated dirt away in their cheek pouches and scatter it elsewhere, the entrance stays immaculate — no mound, no apron of soil. Burrows favor edges: foundation plantings, retaining walls, stumps, and rock piles. One or two holes are normal chipmunk housekeeping; a cluster of entrances undermining a wall or stoop deserves attention.

Rats

Norway rats burrow under slabs, sheds, decks, and dense ground cover, and unlike chipmunks they leave the excavated soil right at the entrance. Heavy nightly traffic wears the opening smooth and slightly darkened. Supporting evidence seals it: capsule-shaped droppings up to three-quarters of an inch long, gnawed wood or plastic, and runs along walls. Rat burrows near a house should be treated as urgent, not cosmetic.

Thirteen-lined ground squirrels

Across the Plains and Midwest, these small striped squirrels dig burrows in exactly the kind of habitat lawns imitate: short grass with long sightlines. Unlike chipmunks they avoid walls and cover, so a 2-inch hole in the wide-open middle of the yard, with a squirrel standing bolt upright nearby in daytime, points here. They're active strictly by day, which makes visual confirmation easy.

Snakes reusing old burrows

No North American snake digs its own hole in a lawn, but many happily occupy abandoned chipmunk and rodent tunnels. If a hole persists for months without any sign of excavation or wear, a snake, toad, or other secondary tenant may be inside. Most yard snakes are harmless garter or rat snakes, but don't reach in to find out.

Crayfish

In yards with a high water table, burrowing crayfish dig vertical shafts down to groundwater and pile the diggings into distinctive mud towers. The holes only show up in chronically damp ground — near ditches, creeks, or that one corner that never dries out. Solving the drainage solves the crayfish.

When to worry

  • Any 2-inch burrow within a few feet of your foundation, crawl space vent, or garage door — rats can move from yard burrows into walls
  • Droppings, gnaw marks, or a sour odor near the holes
  • Multiple entrances appearing under a stoop, patio slab, or retaining wall, which can hollow out the base over time
  • A snake seen entering a burrow you can't identify — leave it alone and identify it from photos at a distance

What to do now

  1. Identify before acting: soil or no soil, hidden or open location, day or night activity — those three answers narrow it to one animal
  2. Do the paper test: loosely plug the hole with newspaper in the evening and check whether it's pushed out by morning
  3. Remove what attracts rats — spilled birdseed, pet food left out, unsecured garbage, and open compost
  4. For chipmunks, hardware cloth buried along the base of walls and stoops blocks re-digging in problem spots
  5. Tolerate ground squirrels if the lawn damage is minor; they're seasonal and their burrows are shallow
  6. If rats are confirmed or even strongly suspected near the house, bring in a licensed pest control professional — DIY baiting often scatters the problem

What not to do

  • Don't reach into or flood any 2-inch burrow — you can't know whether the current occupant is a rodent, a snake, or a wasp colony
  • Don't put rodent poison in open yard burrows; secondary poisoning kills owls, hawks, foxes, and pets
  • Don't seal a rat burrow flush and consider it solved — trapped rats dig out or die in inaccessible spots
  • Don't ignore a rat burrow because it's 'just in the yard' — the yard is stage one

Think you know the suspect?

These animals commonly cause this clue — see their full sign profiles:

Frequently asked questions

What animal makes a perfectly round 2-inch hole in the yard?

A clean, round 2-inch hole with no soil around it is most likely a chipmunk burrow — they carry their diggings away, leaving a tidy entrance. If the same-size hole has a fan of loose dirt and sits against a building, think rat. In open Midwest lawns, a thirteen-lined ground squirrel is a strong third option.

Do snakes make 2-inch holes in lawns?

No — snakes can't dig through turf, but they readily move into abandoned rodent burrows of this size. A hole that stays open month after month with no fresh digging is a candidate for a snake or toad tenant. Most are harmless, but observe from a distance rather than probing.

How do I know if the hole is a rat burrow?

Rat burrows have three tells: excavated dirt kicked out at the entrance, a smooth and well-worn opening from nightly use, and a location tight against structures or dense cover. Finding capsule-shaped droppings or gnaw marks nearby confirms it. Chipmunk holes, by contrast, are clean and soil-free.

Should I just fill the holes with dirt or concrete?

Not first. An occupied burrow will be reopened overnight, and sealing a rat burrow without removing the rats pushes them toward your house. Confirm the burrow is inactive with a paper-plug test for several days, then backfill with soil and tamp firm. Save concrete or buried hardware cloth for chronic re-digging spots.

Related yard clues

Yard Holes One-Inch Holes in Lawn: Identify the Digger by Size Holes about an inch wide in a lawn are most often the work of voles, young chipmunks, ground-nesting bees, or — in wet, low-lying yards — crayfish. An inch is a telling size: it's too big for most insects and too small for rats or full chipmunk burrows, so checking depth, soil, and location will usually name the digger. Read the guide → Yard Holes Small Holes in Yard With No Mound: What's Digging? Small holes in your yard with no dirt mound are usually caused by squirrels, chipmunks, foraging birds, earthworms, or ground-nesting insects. The size of the hole, how deep it goes, the time of year, and whether the damage appeared overnight can narrow down the cause quickly. Read the guide → Yard Holes Holes Near Your Foundation: Causes and When to Act Holes right along a foundation usually come from chipmunks, Norway rats, or voles, all of which like the shelter a house wall provides — but water pouring from downspouts and settling backfill soil carve foundation-line holes too. Sorting burrow from washout matters, because a rat burrow against the house is the one that needs fast professional attention. Read the guide → Yard Holes Large Holes in Yard: Groundhog, Fox, Skunk, or Armadillo? A hole 6 inches across or bigger is a den entrance, and in most American yards the owner is a groundhog — an 8- to 12-inch hole with a big dirt mound is their signature. Foxes, armadillos, and skunks dig or borrow similar burrows, especially under sheds, decks, and porches, so smell, mound size, and location are what separate them. Never fill a large hole until you know it's empty. Read the guide →

Still not sure? Compare with these clues

Yard Holes Quarter-Size Holes in Yard: Wasps, Cicadas, or Voles? Holes about the size of a quarter — roughly an inch across — most often belong to cicada killer wasps, emerging cicadas, ground-nesting bees, or voles. The soil is the fastest clue: a big horseshoe of excavated dirt means a cicada killer, a clean hole with no soil means a cicada came out of it, and a small crumbly rim means bees. Watch briefly from a distance before getting close, in case wasps own it. Read the guide → Yard Holes Holes Around Tree Roots: Squirrels, Voles, or Wasps? Holes at the base of a tree usually belong to squirrels burying and retrieving nuts, voles working the mulch line, or rats denning in the sheltered pocket under the root flare — and sometimes to nothing living at all, since decayed old roots leave open channels in the soil. The one to identify before you get close is a yellowjacket colony nesting in a hollow among the roots. Read the guide → Yard Holes Holes in Yard After Rain: Why They Appear Overnight Holes that appear after a good rain are usually not new digging at all — rain exposes earthworm burrows, washes open old animal tunnels, and collapses settling soil, while wet weather brings crayfish and emerging cicadas to the surface. Most rain-revealed holes are harmless; the size and what surrounds each hole tells you which kind you have. Read the guide →