Q: I have mole mounds in my lawn. I went out this morning to enjoy the sunrise as I sipped my coffee, and the first thing I spotted was a mole mound right in the middle of my lawn. How can I get rid of the mole before it does more damage to my lawn?

A: Moles can cause significant damage to a lawn or turf area. They also cause problems in other parts of the landscape and garden. Mole damage is not only unsightly, but it makes lawn maintenance difficult, and mole tunnels can destroy valuable plants in other parts of the landscape. Because of the damage one mole can cause, the number of moles that can be tolerated is usually quite low; for many gardeners that number is zero. You are correct to take action as soon as you see an active mound or surface runway.

The photo you sent was definitely that of a mole mound, but I always caution people to positively identify the mound before they start waging war on a mole. Make sure that the mound is truly one from a mole and not a gopher, as control methods will be quite a bit different. Moles have round mounds and sometimes telltale tunnels just below the surface tunnels that connect the mounds. A gopher mound is more fan shaped with a plug in the middle. Moles are carnivores that feed on insects and worms.

They are active throughout the year, but surface activity typically slows or is absent during periods of extreme cold, heat or drought. Most mole activity occurs after rainfall or irrigation when digging new tunnels is easiest.

There are several methods for controlling moles, but no single method has proven fail-proof, so it may be necessary to use a combination of techniques.

Trapping still remains the mainstay of mole control and there are several types of traps available for moles. For trapping to be effective, the trap must be set to catch the mole underground. The traps should be set to straddle, encircle or be suspended above the tunnel otherwise moles will sense the trap when they are moving about and just plug off that part of the tunnel. For more advice on trapping check out the University of California IPM Pest Notes on Moles found at https://bit.ly/3bheF2h.

Baits are another way to control moles but be careful to keep pets and children away, as they could dig up the bait.

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According to the University of California Pest Note on Moles, “several new forms of toxic control have been developed that better mimic the moles natural food source. One example is new gel-type warfarin anticoagulant bait (Kaput Mole Gel Bait, Scimetrics Ltd. Corp.) that is squeezed directly into the tunnel. Another example is a worm-shaped gel containing bromethalin (Talpirid, Bell Laboratories Inc.) that can be placed directly into the tunnel.”

More testing is needed to determine just how effective these controls are, but early studies have shown them to be fairly effective. As always, when using any type of pesticide, be sure to follow label instructions.

You may have seen home remedies for mole control that call for placing irritating materials such as broken glass, thorny rosebush branches or strong-smelling things like mothballs, lye or castor oil in the burrow in an effort to drive moles away. These, and other remedies calling for the use of “frightening” devices — such as mole wheels, vibrating windmills and whistling bottles — are not shown to be consistently effective in driving the mole away, or keeping moles out of the landscape in research done by the University of California.

The Shasta Master Gardeners Program can be reached by phone at 242-2219 or email mastergardener@shastacollege.edu. The gardener office is staffed by volunteers trained by the University of California to answer gardeners’ questions using information based on scientific research.

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