It seems that the dry August brought a lot of critters out of the woods and byways and into people's yards and gardens and doing quite a bit of damage. It is often difficult to determine exactly what animal is invading, but once we find out, we can determine the control measures needed.

One of my sons-in-law is responsible for the care of a football field. Lately, he noticed round bare spots, about 6 inches in diameter, in the field. Something has been coming in at night and digging up the turf.

After carefully watching the field, he discovered it skunks coming down from some of the ditches. They were looking for insects, grubs or worms. The question is, how do you get rid of skunks? I know of more ways not to get rid of skunks than how to. You don't shoot them because they will still stink before they die.

One time we were having skunks coming onto the back patio to eat dog food. It was about midnight when they would come onto the patio and the dog would give a low growl or bark, and the skunk would reply with a little squirt, and the dogs would leave him alone. I got tired of the midnight activities, so one night I decided to shoot the skunk.

We live out in the country, so there are no neighbors to worry about. The episode started as planned. The grow. The smell. I got the 12-gauge and started down the hall and through the kitchen. As I opened the backdoor, I heard the front door open and slam shut. I turned the corner with the gun and looked just in time to see a truck door slam and the truck start.

It was peeling rubber as fast as it could. One of my daughters had been sitting on the living room couch with her date when I walked in with the shotgun! That was the last date she ever had with him.

If you have a skunk problem, I recommend getting a professional wildlife control person to live-trap the skunk and take it away. They can catch and remove it without a big stink. The West Monroe Extension Office once had the number of a person who specialized in catching nuisance wildlife. You might want to see if that person is still available.

Creatures digging for worms, insects, moles, grubs and worms are damaging many yards because the dry weather is limiting the food supply for some of the animals in the wild.

Raccoons, armadillos, skunks and some pets like dogs and cats are also searching to see what the wild animals are looking for.

The type of damage can indicate which critter is the culprit. Dogs will dig and pull the dirt under their bodies so most of the dirt is on one side of the hole.

A cat will not dig as much as seek an opening where they can catch the mouse, mole or what have you. An armadillo will use his nose as a pig would a snout and bore more of a hole like what a dog might dig.

A raccoon doesn't dig so much as pick fruit. It will often make a hole in one end of a watermelon and dig the ripe insides out of it.

A coyote will sometimes roll the watermelons out of the patch to eat later. It will make you think someone is stealing them.

Often, the better way to decide what is causing the trouble is to look for tracks in the soft soil.

That is how I decided it was a black bear who was getting into my garbage in the back of my pickup.