Jeff, it's actually a pretty common occurrence over here.

Raccoons aren't dumb, they know where the easy/free meals are and learn pretty fast about new ones.

We have a similar situation when we harvest our turf crops, they must be able to smell the fresh earth and grubs and move into the fields in large numbers.

We used to only harvest in the evening and into the overnight so the trucks could go out first thing in the morning (and so it was cooler to work) but it got to be such a problem the little buggers would try climbing onto the back of the harvester at the back where the rolls get stacked on pallets. We (and most other producers in our area) took to instead irrigating the field to be harvested in the evening, and begin harvesting at dawn for daytime deliveries.

That way the sod isn't left exposed to the little buggers overnight.

The easy way to keep them off the new turf is to keep a misting-type sprinkler going all night on the area, the water masks the smell of the grubs and helps to keep the raccoons from smelling them.

Best of luck.

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