Moles can be a nuisance to the gardener because they dig up the soil. Here are tips for how to get rid of a mole.
Prevent Mole Damage in Your Lawn and Garden
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How to Identify Moles in Your Garden
While moles are not after your plants, they end up making underground tunnels that can ruin your garden and lawn and make easy access to your plants for other rodents.
Unlike voles, moles dig deep. Their tunnels are usually at least 10 inches underground, unless they’re scanning the surface in search of a mat.
These expert diggers create characteristic volcano-shaped hills in the lawn. The tunnels are dug at a rate of 18 feet per hour and can add 150 feet of new tunnels in the lawn each day.
Moles are usually found where soil is rich in organic matter. Their presence in unusually large numbers might be due to a high population of soil pests. It, therefore, serves as a warning that all is not well with the soil life.
How to Deter Moles
- If you have a persistent mole problem, the best solution is trapping. Frankly, this is often the only way to get rid of moles. Use a humane trap, and release the moles at least 5 miles from your home in a rural area away from someone else’s garden. See more details below.
- Placing an ultrasonic device or noisemaker, such as a spinning daisy, near the runs is often effective.
- Owning a cat that enjoys walking through your flower beds is a very effective deterrent to rodents.
- Moles are carnivores that make themselves at home in lawns rich in grubs and insects. When their food is seasoned with castor oil, they will go elsewhere for meals. (Wouldn’t you?) Mix up a spray of 3 parts castor oil to 1 part dish detergent; use 4 tablespoons of this concoction in a gallon of water and soak the tunnels and the entrances.
- Dip an ear of corn in roofing tar and place it in one of their tunnels. Moles hate the smell of tar, and you’ll block their escape.
- Some readers say it works to sprinkle dried blood, tobacco, powdered red pepper, or coffee grounds near tunnel entrances. Remember to re-apply after a rain.
- However, many folk remedies do not control moles, such as placing gum, human air, bleach, ammonia, or mothballs near the tunnels. Remember that moles will not eat peanuts or grain; they are insectivores.
- You may have luck using wind power—setting up vibrations in the ground that will bother moles and send them away. Low-tech methods include kids’ pinwheels placed here and there on the lawn or a homemade thumper: Cut fins in the sides of a bleach bottle and place it on a stick driven into the ground near a mole entrance.
- Finally, there are mole repellents as well as baits though we do not personally use. Bromethalin is sold in the form of a worm-shaped bait; place baits in an active mole run. Correct placement is critical; read and follow all directions provided with the product.
Trapping Moles
No permit is required for trapping. Place traps so that they will be triggered as moles travel in the runs.
Before placing a trap, make sure the run is active by pressing down with your foot; if the soil is pushed up the next day, the run is still active.
Straight runs, especially those near the edges of a driveway or sidewalk, are preferred. If the trap does not catch a run in two days, move the trap to a different run.
Prevent Moles in Your Yard and Garden
- Check out your soil for the presence of pests; if you have a lot of moles, you may have an oversupply of grubs and bugs. You can try getting rid of the grubs with beneficial nematodes, however, it doesn’t necessary mean the moles will go away; grubs are only part of their diet.
- If you want to protect specific plants, dig a 2- to 3-foot hole and line the sides and bottom of the hole with wire mesh. Fill the hole with soil and plant.
- Where you are determined to try bulbs, make a small “cage” of 1/2-inch mesh screen. Place several bulbs inside, root plate down, and bury the entire cage at the proper depth. Rodents won’t be able to chew through, but roots and stems can grow out. Note: moles are often blamed for the damage caused by field mice.
Learn more about moles and what they do in your yard. Do you have comments or questions about moles? Let us know below!
Catherine Boeckmann
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Another solution to attempt is to go to Walmart/Academy Sports/Amazon online, and purchase (Red Fox Urine or Grey Wolf Urine), for approximately less than $20USD a bottle.
You take the urine bottle (Stand UP WIND!+ Wear GLOVES!), and either spray the Urine on ‘Scent Keys’ (Shaped like a “P” or a “T”) (OR) Spray the Urine on a material like a Cat Ball (cotton or fabric material that will hold the scent) (OR) Cotton Material Scraps/Rags, and
THEN take those sprayed items with the Urine Scent on them and Place one at each corner of Your Yard (at each corner of Your garden+Midway/the middle of each side of your garden - creating a box barrier), and midway/middle of each side of Your Yard - basically, You are creating an invisibility Box Scent Barrier. You can ALSO place some of the Scent Keys, Scent Balls, Scent Scraps down INSIDE the tunnel(s). The ‘smell’ of the Predator is what will drive the prey away.
The Theory behind this treatment is based on the Predator vs Prey Drive. That something bigger (Predator) that might EAT ME!, has moved into the area, so I (Smaller/Prey) should MOVE OUT! It usually works almost immediately, so it is best to apply this just before Dusk at night, so the prey naturally wakes up/becomes active and immediately looks to move out+Leave!
This works especially well, if You use the urine of an animal’s natural Predator. Moles, Voles, Field Mice, Etc are ALL PREY of Red Foxes!..Also, in the comments above, where someone states they used ‘Human Urine’, it likely had a similar effect, although not sure a Mole,Vole, Chipmunk, Mouse will recognize a Human as a natural predator+cause them to relocate.
Note: Must use when NOT raining, and reapply after rain (obviously the smell washes away)..
No Guarantee this will work for You, But, at like approx.$8usd a bottle for the Red Fox Urine it’s not much of an investment to lose if it doesn’t.
Plus, I have used this successfully to treat for house mice, (spread sprayed items under the house+sprayed each corner and midway of the house’s foundation/skirting), mice moved out in 24-48hrs. Continue to apply 1xweek, then 1x every 2wks, then 1x Mthly, unless they return, if they return, then step up treatment again to weekly.
I also had a small porch and something had crawled inside it, so just before dusk, I sprayed the heck out of that porch with the Urine. I went inside and waited to see what would happen. 10-15min (max) later, and whatever it was tore its way out from under the porch and took off & never returned..(I missed seeing it, because I got bored waiting, but I’m fairly sure it was a raccoon or a opossum).
Btw, do NOT use moth balls, read the label, they are horrid for the environment & can cause breathing issues for humans & bad for pets.
Yes!, this is No Kill, Yes, it moves the pests out of your property to the woods or someone else’s area, but that’s the nature of Humans living in Suburbia.
We are living in their environment.
Your neighbor may not garden, may not care, or may not even notice there are moles in their yard (or) the moles may move to the woods behind your houses or the open field where no one lives. You do not necessarily need to kill the Moles, Voles, Chipmunks, Mice, as they all serve their own purpose in nature, from pest control, etc..
Good Luck!!!
Last August our area was flooded which moved moles into my yard. Tried smoke flares, poison granules, glue boards, traps, repellent, human hair, planting garlic and green onions on edge of flower beds, buzzing stakes, and even called a pest control company ( they used the wrong bait, thought I said VOLES). The gummy worm did kill one mole last fall which my old cat found.( Told they would die underground). I've been trying to push it away from going deeper into my prized flower garden with 6" boards. So far it won't dig under them. The mounds can be huge, with 4"+ wide tunnels. Nearby a mound now something is eating my Veronicas. This sure is a smart monster! To hire a good pest control guy is over $350. The mound always appear in the morning, sometimes just a little hill, other times huge.
Sounds like rats to me.
Had been digging post holes to repair a fence and found that several holes kept catching moles that would fall in and were unable to dig out. Not sure if its because the earth was packed and they couldn't break through or what, but worked fairly well.
brown big like a silver dollar screams like a mouse cant see legs black little eyes ,is it a baby mole or mouse ??? and very fast
It sounds like it might be a mouse or vole. The eyes of moles are not easily seen, and their front feet are easily identifiable, looking like sort of large, pink/tan digging claws (for tunneling); their ears are not conspicuous. Shrews have a pointed snout; usually their fur color is gray to black, and their ears, eyes, and tail are small. Voles are mouse-like, brown with gray undersides, with rounded ears, but shorter tail than a mouse; usually larger than an adult mouse (although there are several species of each type), but smaller eyes; they have a rounded snout. Depending on the species, wild mice can be small or large, and gray, black, or brown; they have prominent eyes, long tails, big ears, and can run very fast; their snout is pointed, but not as much as a shrew’s. If this animal is inside, it may more likely be a mouse versus a mole, shrew, or vole; it is especially rare to have a mole or vole inside the home. Hope this helps!
After putting castor oil and washing detergent in my garden what will happen to the vegetables in my garden.
"And remember that moles will not eat peanuts or grain; they are vegetarians."
I'm quoting from your article about moles. Do they eat insects and worms?
They love worms. They sometimes keep them in a storage room and always squeeze the dirt out of them before eating.
Whoops, thanks for catching that! Moles are indeed insectivores (carnivores), as stated elsewhere in the article.
