How to Get Rid of Moles in My Yard

Techygran is a vegan who looks for kind but practical ways to best co-habit with our critter friends for mutual health and safety.

The Mole: Never a Lender Nor a Burrower Be...

Michael David Hill, Photographer - Mikiwikipikidikipedia at en.wikipedia

"True Moles" are small cylindrical mammals that live an underground lifestyle in gardens and lawns of North America, Europe, and Asia. Unrelated mammals ("false moles") with some similar characteristics are incorrectly identified as moles in Africa and Australia.

If you have watched cartoons about this little creature you probably think they have no eyes: but they do, only almost invisibly small, as are their ears. Contrary to popular wisdom, moles are not interested in eating plant roots but in getting at the earthworms that also inhabit the underbelly of lawns and gardens.

Because of their displacement of soil with their massive and strong 6-fingered paws, they are considered lawn and garden pests. Understandably, home- and business-owners contending with disheveled yards look for a way to get rid of the varmints and return their yards to their former order. Some of the methods of dealing with this pest are related in this article.

Scalopus Aquaticus: A most unattractive creature

Wikimedia Commons

Traditional Methods Used to Get Rid of Moles

The following are some historical methods that have been used to get rid of moles:

Ancient Romans are said to have buried earthenware pots in gardens, filled with water, to lure and possibly drown moles.
In post-Victorian England, Edward the VII's wife, Alexandra, had a dress designed that required several hundred of the soft and pliable dyed mole pelts thereby launching a fashion trend that helped stem the out-of-control mole population in Scotland. (This pest-to-fashion-statement technique had earlier worked to eradicate beavers and buffalo in Canada.)
Itinerant "mole-catchers" traveled from farm to farm in the British Isles and were paid in food and lodging to catch moles. They would sell the soft mole-skin pelts for cash, often to plumbers who would use the soft 'cloths' to wipe (finish) the 'joints' in their lead pipes.
In the early days of mole-catchers, there was probably a reliance on wood, steel, and clay traps (clay did not carry human scent and was a preferred medium for traps). Smoking the moles out of their "galleries" or flooding them out were two methods to catch them. When they emerged, they were usually stabbed (or similarly dispatched) by the mole-catchers, who got a small sum from the farmer and more from the plumber or whoever else bought the pelts.
The use of poisons and chemical pesticides became more common in the 20th Century, with 'pest control managers' ('exterminators') taking over from the traditional mole-catchers. While the poisons, such as strychnine, killed the moles faster than the more traditional methods, by the later 20th Century there was an awareness of the adverse impact of such poisons on the environment in general. Poisons like strychnine were removed from the market, but fumigation with aluminum phosphate is still allowed when overseen by a licensed exterminator.

"Natural" Mole and Pest Management Techniques

Here are some techniques for dealing with moles and molehills in as natural a way as possible:

Nitrogen extermination. High-quality nitrogen gas can be used to exterminate the moles without affecting the environment adversely. An exterminator can do this.
Plant over them. If you have the attitude that grass (lawn) is just a 'green desert' and are willing to look at other ways of using your property in a less conventional "pretty" way, you might want to learn to remove the aerated soil on top of the molehills and use it to grow food plants. You would thus leave the underneath "gallery" or burrows of the mole, allowing the mole to continue to go about eating the earthworms and grubs from under your yard.
Kitty litter and blood meal have been said to drive moles out of their burrows. But chances are they will just burrow into the neighbour's yard and come back to yours again later.
Get a dog. On one forum about rat terriers, it would seem that they have a natural dislike of moles and will dig them up and kill them. This, of course, makes more trenches, and there is the issue of little corpses being mauled and deposited around the yard as well.
A sonic stake is another method being explored with variable success-- some people state that this method (the emission of a very high penetrating sound that irritates the animals and compels them to try to get away from the sound quickly) works beautifully and some state that it doesn't.
A bio-organic mole repellent works to coat the earthworms in your yard so that when the mole eats them, they taste unpleasant and disrupt the mole's digestion. Presumably, the mole will go off (to your neighbour's yard?). It seems that a neighbour doing the same as you is a pretty good assurance of continuing in harmony with your neighbour as well as the rest of your environment. This particular repellent (not harmful to pets or your children) is called "Liquid Fence for Moles." They promise that if it is not 100% effective, you can return it and have your money refunded.

Why Are There So Many Moles?

Certain "modern" agricultural perceptions present an over-abundance of moles as a great threat to safety (citing molehill contamination for outbreaks of listeria and a decrease in crop yields). On the other hand, permaculture advocates argue that the proliferation of moles is indicative of a shortage of 'checks' on this mole over-population (decreased natural predator populations, etc.) that are likely the result of "modern agriculture" having knocked the balance off with its too zealous desire to 'control' the environment with fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, GMO seeds, etc.

Benefits of Moles

Today's permaculturist is apt to see the molehill as a source of well-aerated soil for a great vegetable garden. As most of us laypeople gain more understanding about the somewhat mysterious harmonious interplay in our environment, it is possible to reframe what was traditionally seen as "damage" as something natural to the little creatures that created this assault on our comfort level. Granted, moles are not the most endearing animals, but they do not gnaw into your basement, as rats are capable of doing. They also do not attack your kids, like your neighbour's dog might, nor do they hack into your online accounts, as your neighbour's kid might.

I guess we each have the choice of whether we want to "make a mountain out of a molehill" or just look for some method of living more co-operatively with the moles.

References:

Moles, Molehills, and Mole-catchers in Wikipedia

"Gas Out Moles" http://www.rtbot.net/gas_out_moles

Rat Terriers vs. Moles http://www.rat-terrier.com/Home/tabid/37/forumid/3/postid/434619/view/topic/Default.aspx

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author's knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Cynthia Zirkwitz (author) from Vancouver Island, Canada on March 02, 2016:

Wow, I'm speechless... while I can't imagine myself actually killing rats or moles, I don't think I would feed them, or not directly! I think you have copped on to a most effective and natural way to keep the rodent population down! Your feeding and befriending them reminds me of a friend who feeds crows in his community and has also not broken the code, I'm pretty sure. Thank you for sharing your ideas! ~Cynthia

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Besarien from South Florida on March 02, 2016:

I just made friends with all my moles and gave them names. Then I buried their little bodies when our neighborhood cats killed them. The same thing happened when a family of rats moved in one winter tunneling under our gardening shed. It was a hard winter, so we were feeding them (and everything else out there) with seed and kitchen scraps for a while. My son called this "measuring the precipitation" as code, because you can't talk about feeding rats in front of company. Then spring came. The cats got let out. There are just too many outdoor cats in our neighborhood for any kind of mole or rodent activity to persist.

Cynthia Zirkwitz (author) from Vancouver Island, Canada on November 19, 2014:

thanks for dropping by wilderness... juicy fruit gum? I haven't chewed that since childhood but heard someone mention it just a couple of weeks ago as a great car fragrance.

I hope the sonic stake works against your moles! ~Cynthia

Dan Harmon from Boise, Idaho on November 19, 2014:

My mother (a gardener of 70+ years) swears by putting juicy fruit gum in the holes. Says they like the smell and sweet taste but it plugs up their digestive system, killing them.

I've tried it with some success, but it doesn't always work (are they just not finding it?). I guess the sonic stake will be my next effort.

Cynthia Zirkwitz (author) from Vancouver Island, Canada on June 01, 2014:

FlourishAnyway-- I hope the stake works to keep the moles at bay... thank you for your kind words & actions!

FlourishAnyway from USA on May 31, 2014:

You would think with 5 cats outdoors that I would not have this problem, but they are old, lazy, well-fed cats who apparently enjoy watching my yard be eaten through by these pesky critters. I might try the sonic stake, hoping my cats cannot hear it. Good hub. Voted up and more, and shared.

Cynthia Zirkwitz (author) from Vancouver Island, Canada on April 16, 2013:

Thiago DaLuz, there is no accounting for the tastes of the rich and narcissistic... the same silliness that drove the desire to have clothing made from moles' skins has also rendered various reptiles and African wild cats almost extinct. Thanks for your comments!

Cynthia Zirkwitz (author) from Vancouver Island, Canada on April 26, 2012:

okay Dana, thanks for the food for thought-- and when/if you do the research, do you want to come back here to report? I'd appreciate that! If there is really something to the bubblegum theory, humane or not, there will be desperate mole-challenged people reading this who might be interested in following through. Cheers!

Dana Strang from Ohio on April 26, 2012:

techygran - about the gum. not pulling your leg at all! something aboutthem not being able to digest it and it blockd them up, fatally. if that is the case it doesn't sound terribly humane. i like your theories better! i am going to look into it when i have some time, to see if its just an urban legend.

glad you liked my little joke. i was told it when i was only about 8 or 10 and i have never forgotten it :o)