There are several other types of pests common in New Jersey outside of insects, while they may seem cute the damage moles can cause on your lawn, yard and garden is anything but cute. Depending on your location in NJ you may have an issue on your property, for example the moles we will be talking about often look for sandy or wet soil, a common example being near a swamp.
What are moles?
While moles share a resemblance to mice they are not rodents, they are in fact a type of mammal that spend the majority of their lives underground. Moles have poor eyesight, however they are not blind or nocturnal, their lack of sight is made up for with their sense of touch and smell. A mole tends to have very soft fur to ensure that dirt doesn’t get caught up as they dig. In New Jersey there are two types of moles, commonly seen is the Eastern Mole or the Common Mole. The giveaway of whether or not you have a mole or a mouse is the mole has a flexible snout and claws for digging. Moles are about the size of a chipmunk, although moles will eat grabs, they eat a multitude of insects including the earthworm. Since Moles are moving all day they have quite the appetite. It should be noted that general purpose insecticides will not have any effect on moles.
Signs of moles in your yard
When you think of mole damage the obvious image that comes to your mind is likely mole hills, while this is a sign that moles are present, there are some other factors then the obvious “mole holes.”
Mole Hills
be sure not to confuse a gopher hole with a mole hole. A mole hill has a distinct look similar to a volcano mound of dirt while the mole pushes the dirt upward. Digging through the mound you’ll find the tunnel.
Damage to lawns and gardens
While moles actually don’t eat grass or plants their digging stunts the growth of vegetation damaging tree and other plant roots. Seeing patches of random grass can be just a small sign that moles are present. With gardens, you could possibly see disruptions in the soil where plants or vegetables should be growing and are simply not, the seed and roots can be disturbed to the point where they won’t take.
What do moles eat?
As we’ve mentioned moles don’t necessarily eat your plants, they are specifically looking for the bugs that eat your plants. Moles are heavy on the protein more than their veggies making them insectivores.
- Grubs are a favorite of the mole – a grub is another pest destroying your lawn
- Earthworms are also on the menu for the mole
- Spiders
- Snails
- Slugs
- Most varieties of insects
Getting rid of moles
Getting rid of a few moles on your property can be done with a few different methods, there are non-lethal methods for taking care of moles in addition to outright killing the mole. There’s also a few common home remedies that are often discussed on the internet that we will lend our expertise to. In our opinion, the use of poison or a kill trap is the most effective method to get rid of moles.
Kill Traps
Moles will return maybe once or twice to their original tunnels before digging in other places. Find the location of a run (an area of where the grass has been pushed up), stomp the area back down and return later to see if the area has been pushed back up. If the area is pushed back by the mole than you know that it is an active tunnel, this is where you should place your trap. Insert a scissor type trap on top of the ground where their tunnel is; this disturbs the soil again ensuring the mole will return to fix the hole. When the mole returns it sets off this trap, clamping down on the mole similar to a mouse trap and kills it. This is by far the most effective and environmentally friendly way to handle your mole problem. These traps are well made and reusable and are seen anywhere from $20 to $35. We recommend the Easy Mole Trap Step-To-Set Metal Mole Trap.
Live Traps
As we just mentioned above, moles return to their tunnel and repair them if the soil has been disturbed, so by this logic, live trapping can be done as well. For live trapping you’ll need to dig up the hole and place the trap in between a tunnel and cover the trap back up. The mole will walk through its tunnel unknowingly walking into a trap. Live traps tend to be expensive, require more work and are very limited in availability. Catching a live mole requires you to relocate the mole to an area without yards or other people (your neighbors yard is not a good place!) You may want to check with local municipalities to ensure that releasing moles on public land is legal.
No trap method
Find the tunnel and stomp down on the ground disturbing the soil. If you feel like waiting the mole should come back to fix the tunnel when this happen you will see the ground moving, you can play whack-a-mole and push a pitch fork/garden rake into the ground and kill the mole. You can also use a shovel and dig the mole up to find them a new home, place them in a box and take your new friend on a road trip to relocate them. Be warned, moles bite and scream, you’d be upset if you someone pulled you out of the ground!
What Kind of Dog do you have?
If you have a breed of terrier and you don’t mind them digging, they will do what they were bred for and hunt for rodents, the pesky mole is included. When your dog digs up the mole they will instinctively swing the mole back and forth until the mole’s neck snaps. You will just have to discard of the mole.
Contact a Professional
Use Arbor Quotes to help you find a professional pest control specialist, they will be able to help remove moles from your property either through live catching or killing them. In addition to removal of the moles, a specialist can help with the prevention of their return.
Store bought repellents
All repellents are short term fixes with limited success, if you are dedicated to applying these repellants and are ok with reapplying often, then a repellent may be the right approach for you. Repellents are either sold as granules or solutions to be used in sprayers. Here are the options we recommend trying.
- Tomcat Bait Pellets For Gophers and Moles (6 oz) – $8.99
- Bonide MoleMax Animal Repellent Granules For Moles and Voles (5 lb) – $17.99
- Victor Animal Repellent Granules For Gophers and Moles (4 lb) – $14.99
Baiting & poison
Some poisons are extremely effective, we recommend Victor Bait Worms, they come in a 10 pack. This poison is shaped like an earthworm, essentially this is the forbidden gummy worm for moles. With the right placement, a mole will eat this worm, usually dyeing under the ground in two days time. We recommend wearing gloves when touching the worms as the moles can pick up on your human scent. There are some things to consider when using poison:
- Placing poison into the ground where edible vegetation is present, can create a dilemma, could the poison now be in your food?
- What if an animal digs up the poisoned mole, could this unintentionally harm them?
Prevention
If you take some basic steps when preparing your grounds, lawn and/or garden, you can prevent some moles from taking an interest in your outdoor spaces. Prevention really starts with taking care of your lawn, below are some tips that can help. Also check out our guide to keeping a healthy lawn with pest control and take a look at what basic lawn care looks like.
Avoid excess moisture
Over-watering your lawn can create an environment that attracts moles, over-watered areas create a habitat for earthworms and other insects, favorite food sources for the moles.
Grub Control
In our other article on lawn pest control we’ve mentioned the importance of taking care of your lawn and the damage the grub creates to your grass. In addition to damaging your lawn, a population of grubs is a great way to ring the dinner bell for an all you can eat buffet for the mole. Managing grubs on your lawn ensures a minimal supply of food for the moles, which sometimes causes them to look elsewhere. Try a safe insect killer like BioAdvanced Insect Killer Liquid Concentrate to keep the population of the Moles food source in control.
Store bought repellents
If you know that moles are in your area or even located next door in your neighbor’s yard, you may want to plan accordingly. Some repellents have a limited success rate, but it may be a worthwhile investment in a layered defense strategy that you can use as part of your seasonal lawn care planning.
Other methods with varying success
Some of the methods below are home remedies for mole removal, some are possibly dangerous to your yard and/or just maybe ineffective. While some home remedies for mole removal may be marginally effective, we encourage you to evaluate your needs for your property.
Caster oil & Dawn dish soap
Castor oil essentially has little to no smell to humans but moles can’t stand the smell so using castor oil around your garden and lawn can have limited success in deterring moles. Its recommended to mix Castor Oil with either Dawn dish soap or any other type of soap. Spray the mixture in areas where you have a mole problem. Users have reported some level of success with this repellent method, the cons to this method is that the moles will return when the repellent wears off or possibly get used to the smell.
Flooding their tunnels
If you feel like being Carl from Caddyshack and flooding the moles’ tunnels, you can try it (we don’t recommend it!), flooding their entire network can take time and you need to closely monitor where the mole may go. You’ll have to look for movement near the mole holes and tunnels, then dig the mole up with a shovel. Keep in mind this technique still involves a live catch of the mole and this can likely cause overwatering of your lawn. Overwatering makes an area for earthworms and other insects, which in turn supports the moles’ food source.
Boric Acid
The idea of using a boric acid can be used with limited success considering that you may have to reapply. Pour boric acid into the holes and flush with water or make a solution with Borax. Moles don’t like the smell of boric acid, and it kills them if ingested. Boric acid is naturally occurring in the soil and will be absorbed without issue. You can also use fertilizer with boric acid, this is effective as a repellent and also kills the moles’ food source.
Ultrasonic stakes
Another option are Battery powered sonic spikes placed into the ground that emit a frequency underground that is said to bother and repel moles. This can be a somewhat effective way to keep moles out of a small area like your garden, there are some stakes that are loud enough to hear which may be off putting to some consumers. These stakes have varying levels of success and are not 100% effective.
Vinegar
The common theme today is to use vinegar for everything, using vinegar to repel and remove moles can be used with very limited success. Moles have a heightened sense of smell and are sensitive to the pungent smell. Vinegar contains both tartaric and acetic acid which can cause a burning sensation to the mole’s skin. To make this attempt with your mole problem, mix two parts vinegar to 4 parts water and spray the solution on the molehills. The issue with this technique; moles are below ground sometimes not smelling the vinegar. When moles reach an impediment such as a barrier or a smell they will dig deeper or go around to avoid the issue. Short term to no success.
Juicy Fruit Gum
We have heard in some circles that half a stick of juicy fruit (unwrapped) and placed in mole holes is believed to have some success, while moles eat only insects. We’ve heard making small bite sized pieces work and even chewing the gum and shaping the gum into grub size shapes. The theory is that they like the sweet smell, eat the gum and they are unable to digest it, which in turn kills them. Success rate of this method is very questionable at best, and not something we believe to work at all. (also imagining a mole chewing gum makes us laugh)