Use Repellents To Deter Moles And Gophers
Using castor oil is another method for how to get rid of moles and gophers in your yard. Castor oil will not kill them, but it will upset their digestive tracts. It will also make your lawn less appealing. For a homemade remedy, mix three parts castor oil and one part dish soap. Add four tablespoons of the mixture to a gallon of water. Soak the tunnels and entrances to evict the moles and soak the holes to evict gophers. Castor oil is one of the most effective home remedies to get rid of these animals. Skip the moth balls, tea tree oil and cayenne pepper for pest control they are not effective.
You can also purchase repellent granules or liquid repellents to get rid of gophers and moles. Most granules can be applied directly from the bag or from a spreader. Read your product label and follow the instructions.
To use a liquid repellent, hook your garden hose onto the bottle and spray it into the tunnels or holes as the label directs. Liquid repellents usually contain castor oil and other ingredients that are absorbed into the soil. The tunnels and holes will become less appealing to the animals and make their food sources distasteful, so theyll leave. These repellents typically last for several weeks. Most are safe to use around pets and on your lawn but, be safe, and read your product label to confirm.
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Mole Myth #: Trapping Moles Is The Best Way To Get Rid Of Moles In Your Yard
MYTH BUSTED: While there are a variety of mole traps on the market that function to either kill the mole or actually trap it to be released off your property, trapping is only about 13 percent effective for reducing your mole population. If you do try to set a trap, you have to first find the main tunnel. Then, be sure you dont try to place your bait in mole mounds. The mound will be too deep to effectively trap the mole.
Once the trap has been sprung, dont just pull the trap out of the ground. The dead mole will not come out of the ground like a shish kabob, it will be stuck in the tunnel. This is fine if you dont want to have to dispose of the critter, but without inspection of the tunnel, you wont know if you killed the mole or if the trap had a misfire. Many homeowners have trapped a mole and not even realized it. One yard can have enough worms and insects to support several moles. Trapping moles can be effective, but if your yard is adjacent to a forested or wild area, complete mole control may be difficult.
How To Prevent Moles In Your Lawn
Preventing moles in the first place means you dont have to resort to using a homemade mole killer for lawns to eliminate them. Here is how to create an environment that deters moles.
- Wire mesh
The best way to prevent moles in the yard is to eliminate their food source using insecticides to kill grubs and other insects. Consider protecting your garden beds by creating a vertical barrier.
Dig a two to three-foot deep trench around the garden and fill it with wire mesh or rocks. Doing this prevents the moles from entering the space and destroying your plants.
Its not easy to spot moles since they spend their time beneath the ground, but these destructive little animals quickly become a nuisance as they create more and more mole tunnels throughout your lawn.
Fortunately, moles are relatively easy to eliminate and control if you use the correct methods.
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Does Chewing Gum Kill Moles
Chewing gum is a highly considered method of eliminating moles by many gardeners. The idea behind feeding the moles on gum is to have them eat it and then have it gum up in their stomachs causing them to die of digestive problems.
Gardeners are advised to cut the gum into tiny pieces, and then stuck them in the mound through digging holes and being sure not to collapse the tunnel. It is believed that the moles are attracted to the sweet smell of the gum.
Where Do Moles Live
Moles are native to Canada, Europe, Mexico and the United States. The Eastern Mole, most common in our area, is a small sturdy animal that lives principally underground and is highly specialized for a subterranean way of life. Like other insectivore species, it prefers loamy soils in woods, pastures, meadows and manicured lawns.
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Remove The Mole Yourself
If you dont want to pay for a professional, you can always try and remove the mole on your own. Besides the traps, there are a few ways to remove the mole without killing it.
If you have a bunch of mole holes out in your yard, youll need three shovels when you go out to investigate them. Youll also need a lot of patience.
First, youll have to take the back of a shovel and flatten out one of the hills that youve found. The mole will be able to smell or hear you, so make sure you step away from the shovel after youve placed it over the hill. This will make the mole comfortable enough to show itself.
Wait patiently until you see it start to move the soil. It will try to repair the hill that you covered and move your shovel. Once you see it start to move, you can run to the area and put the shovels in the ground to try and grab the mole.
Once you have the mole, put it into a cardboard box and take it somewhere far away from your property.
Identification: Is It A Mole Vole Or Gopher
- Mole
- Vole
- Gopher
If the damage to your yard is beyond just aesthetic, then theres a chance that moles arent the problem. Moles, voles, and gophers are often mistaken for each other, but there are distinct differences between each of them.
One of the first signs of identifying your pests is based on the damages. Moles only eat the grubs and worms in your soil. Voles and gophers, on the other hand, would much rather munch on your fresh greens or damage your plants.
If youre seeing mounds of dirt in your yard but no destruction to your plants, then you more than likely have a mole problem. In contrast, if you have a vole or gopher problem, youll see that your plants are destroyed rather than the soil around them.
In total, voles and gophers cause much more terror than moles. For voles, your plants could dry out or become unrooted due to the animals munching at the base of the plant.
Gophers have a tendency to pull out entire plants all at once. They just go underground and pull their snack inside, roots and all!
To make identification a little bit easier, you can clearly identify a mole by noticing their bright red/pink nose and long pink claws. A vole, on the other hand, is much smaller and looks more similar to a rat.
One more note about spotting moles is that they genuinely look like they dont have eyes at all .
Out of these three animals, gophers are the largest of the group and have a similar look to that of a large rat.
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Eliminate The Food Source For Moles
Moles feed on soil-dwelling insects, especially grubs. You can eliminate this food source by using beneficial nematodes and milky spore to kill the grubs in your soil. The application of milky spore may take several seasons to become effective.
You can also use a more aggressive grub killer, such as an insecticide. Without food, moles will move on. However, this method is only partially effective. The moles eat earthworms along with other types of worms and insects. They may choose to feast on these instead of leaving your yard. Carefully follow the directions on any products you use.
Gophers eat vegetation, so grub killers will not get rid of them.
Some Of These May Surprise You
One natural method to fighting gophers is to create noise in your yard
As it turns out, moles and gophers are sensitive to noises, especially loud noises.
So adding some natural noisemakers such as wind chimes in your yard is a good natural way to annoy these critters enough to leave your lawn. Whats more you can take this method a step further and introduce a radio into your yard.. But more on that later.
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Killing Moles Using Poison Baits
The development of poison baits that resemble the moles food have become quite popular. Many professional are now using these in addition to traps. The price is the biggest problem with these products. Talpirid is the name of a product used by many professionals, but comes with a price tag of around $60.00 a box. Homeowners can also purchase and use Talpirid.
Other manufacturers, such as Tomcat, offer a similar product for less than half that price.
Read the directions carefully before using. Gloves should be worn when handling the bait.
Placing the Baits
Follow the same methods listed above for finding an active tunnel. After finding the active tunnels, make a small quarter sized hole in the top of the tunnel and drop a worm into it. Make sure the worm is completely in the tunnel and then cover the hole with dirt. You find it easier to place a small rock over the hole first, then cover the rock with dirt to block out all light from entering the tunnel.
It helps to mark the drop location with a landscape flag, rock or stick. After a couple of days you can check to see if the worm has been eaten. I have used a lot of these baits and found worms to be completely missing or partially eaten.
Good Luck! Please write to me and tell me if you are having success or if you have found a better way of killing moles. We can share your results with other readers.
How To Identify Moles In Your Garden
Moles are surprising little mammals with pointed muzzles, tiny eyes, and bodies shaped like Idaho potatoes. In motion they actually swim along underground, using wide front flippers to part the soil as they go. They prefer moist, loamy soil and are most active in the early morning or evening in the spring or fall they also come out after a warm rain.
Moles have the distinguishing characteristic of a hairless, pointed snout. Their small eyes and ear canals are concealed by fur, and they do not have external ears. They have very large and broad forefeet with webbed toes. Their hind feet or more narrow and have slender claws. They are usually about 7 inches in length and weigh about 4 ounces.
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How To Get Rid Of Ground Moles With Mole Traps
Moles are subterranean creatures that live off of grubs and worms. They tunnel underground to build their homes and find food, creating ridges and holes on the surface of your lawn. In order to catch a mole, you can use traps that kill or allow you to relocate the animal.
There are many types of traps available at garden supply stores that you can use to get rid of ground moles.
You can either opt for a lethal trap or a live one that removes moles without killing them. The former is more effective but less humane while the latter requires some extra effort but is safer for animals.
Eliminating Moles With Chemicals
Although traps work, they do not guarantee that other moles will not come crawling back into your landscape. Chemicals ensure all moles are eliminated, and that there is no chance of them ever coming back to your compound. Where you place the chemical solution is what needs careful consideration. The two common chemicals include worm-shaped baits rich in Bromethalin and Warfarin.
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How To Get Rid Of Moles With Bait
Another way to kill moles in lawn and yard is to use bait. The bait resembles their favorite food source, and one day after ingesting it, they die in their mole tunnels.
Mole Baiting
There are various mole baits on the market that resemble earthworms, grubs, and other food favorites of moles. The bait contains a lethal dose of an active ingredient, which kills the mole after ingesting it.
Locate active tunnels in your yard and use a stick to poke holes into the mole tunnels. Place the bait into the hole and cover it with soil. Wait about one week and check for signs of new tunnels. If there is still activity, repeat the steps once more.
Getting Rid Of Moles Using Castor Oil
Castor oil is another way to get rid of moles and gophers on your lawn without killing them. Creating a mixture of Castor oil and Dawn dish soap upsets a moles digestive tract, making your yard less appealing.
If you are looking to kill ground moles with Dawn soap, create a mixture with the correct measurements.
Castor Oil Ground Mole Repellent
- ½ cup of Castor oil
- 1 ounce of Dawn liquid dish soap
- 5 cups of water
To use this simple castor oil mole repellent recipe, pour the ingredients into a bottle with a spray nozzle and mix gently. Next, spray the affected areas of your lawn. Ensure you spray any holes where the moles have dug in your grass and cover them up with dirt after spraying.
We recommend you repeat this routine at least once per week to kill ground moles in the garden and grass that are damaged.
Seal a chipmunk hole or mole holes after treatment to further discourage the creatures.
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How To Get Rid Of Moles In Your Yard: 5 Home Remedies
Well look at five different home remedies to get rid of moles and gophers in your yard without using poisons or pesticides. But before driving them away, you should take a moment to consider: Moles and gophers can be very useful for your garden.
The good news is that if you have a mole or gopher in your garden, you can consider yourself lucky. Molehills and gopher holes indicate good soil quality, which means your garden has everything it needs to thrive. Before you look for home remedies to get rid of moles in your yard, consider the benefits of keeping them around:
- They eat pests like insects, grubs and earthworms.
- The strenuous digging uses up a lot of energy, so moles consume a good half of their body weight in insects per day.
- Both animals loosen your soil while building their tunnels and increase soil fertility.
- If you still want to get rid of them, please do not use poison or other deadly measures!
Live traps should also be avoided at all costs. The mole has a rapid metabolism and will starve to death within a few hours without food supply. If the animal in the live trap is not noticed in time, it will die.
If youre not sure whether your unwanted garden tenant is a mole or a gopher, you can check out the National Wildlife Federations guide to moles and gophers to identify it. Then you can better decide how to send it on its way.
Mole Myth #: Stomp Down The Moles Tunnels To Eliminate Moles From Your Yard
MYTH BUSTED: While performing nightly stomping rituals in your yard may help alleviate some of the anger you feel toward the moles tearing up the lawn you have been caring for, it wont eliminate or deter them in any way. Moles use main & exploratory runs to scout for food and will re-use a run at any time whether its stomped down or not. They love to dig and will easily reclaim the damaged tunnels or dig new ones.
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Building A Mole Repellent Fence
If the area youre protecting isnt that large, you can build fences around it to keep them out. This strategy can be quite effective, but it takes a lot of work.
If you have a huge garden , dont try this, as it will end up being very pricey in the long run.
Our garden, which is behind the woodpile here is pretty large. You can see where all the sunflowers are sticking up. It wouldnt be totally worth it for us to build a mole repellent fence due to the cost and time it would take.
However, if you have an actual normal garden, you should definitely look into building a mole repellent fence.
Heres what youll need to build a mole repellent fence:
- Measure the perimeter of your garden
- Use 1/4 in. of galvanized metal hardware cloth or mesh wire around the perimeter
- Dig a trench about 12 inches wide and 2 3 feet deep
- Place the fence material inside of the trench
- Bend the buried part of the material, so it is parallel to the ground and face it away from the plants.
- Fill in the trench and leave at least 1 ft. of fence protruding from the ground.
Really, a lot of this is something that you can eyeball but will be more accurate with specific measurements. Just make sure you measure at least 2 feet deep!
Anything shorter and moles will most likely just dig right under the fence because theyll still be in the topsoil, which is easier to dig through.
