I've been trying to catch some critters at this lady's house. She's got new sod in her front yard and SOMETHING has been grubbing just right around the edges. Not in the middle and not all over. Just right on the edges. I've tried just about every bait I can think of and am at a bit of a loss here. The lawn is NOT big at all. Maybe 10x10 in one spot and 10x20 on the other side of the sidewalk that runs through the middle of it. The house is RIGHT next to a school so the hours that I try to be there to set up and check traps are outside of school hours (to include walking to and from school......... am terrified of catching a stinker and having the thing spray some kid who's treating it badly just because it's in a cage.............. and yes the kids here in LA are that stupid)............

Any suggestions or thoughts? I'm leaning away from coons because there's not a LOT of damage and what little I see is just a little upturned dirt along the edges. I also don't see any prints ANYWHERE. My thoughts are that it's a skunk just grubbin' along the edge. I've heard that once a critter starts grubbin' it's utterly clueless about traps.

how about a squirrel?

That's something I hadn't thought of. I did remove a skunk this morning. Put some wet cat food in the back of the cage and got a text from the folks this morning that a skunk was in there. We'll see if that takes care of the problem.

What would a squirrel do digging in the sod? Bury nuts? There's one oak tree next door but I haven't seen any squirrels there (been lookin' too).

Even if they aren't burying nuts themselves, squirrels will usually check out any freshly turned soil in their territory to see if they can steal an easy meal buried by some other animal.

It sounds like skunks to me

That's what I was thinking, but this is JUST around the edge and only 1 or 2 spots. I'm about to buy a trail cam just to put there and see what all is making the damage.