Moles In The Lawn

Moles

Moles can become a terrible nuisance to the homeowner when their beautiful sod is suddenly and quickly torn up by Moles. The Moles will most often dig many tunnels under the lawn and to the surface of the lawn, the latter of which creates the eyesore that we all hate to see.

Moles will mostly prefer living underground and without rising to the surface, they burrow through the soil looking for grubs, worms and other insects to feed on. From a Moles perspective, the soil surface is a very inhospitable place, full of danger like foxes and other predators that want to eat them, and humans which often want to kill them. So it's only when a lack of this food becomes apparent that Moles will more often tunnel to the surface of the lawn to expand their horizons looking for a greater food supply.

Killing Grubs To Control Moles

There's an old school of thought which says that by using a grub killer on the lawn, and by killing the grubs, this will force the Moles to move away to find a new food source. The problem with this argument is that Grubs are only one of many food types for Moles, so if there are still plenty of earthworms and other insect below the soil, then Moles will continue where they are. Of course, as we said earlier, if there was in fact a greater percentage of grubs in the soil compared to other food sources for the Mole, then this would only force the mole to the surface of the sod to look for food - creating even greater lawn damage. So this method of control can be dismissed.

Are Moles Really A Problem In Lawns

Let's take a moment to look at the overall impact of Moles and our lawns, and our own place in the natural world. Moles are simply another piece of the natural world in which we all live, they have many benefits such as aerating soil, removing and controlling grubs and many different lawn pests, they are also a natural food source themselves for other predators like foxes. So they do have a natural belonging to and purpose in the environments in which they and we both live.

Before looking for any type of control for Moles, first we must ask ourselves if it is necessary to control them at all. Moles are extremely mobile by their nature, they never stay in one place too long because their food supply would diminish too quickly. So any visit to any particular lawn will always be short lived before they go their own way again.

The damage to the sod is an obvious concern to many people, it makes the lawn look ugly, and needs to be repaired. Again, we need to ask ourselves... is it really a big price to pay when we consider we are living in a natural world, and all these little things are all vital to the continuation of the health of our environment?

As an example, last week an enormous flock of birds flew over my house and nested in my trees for a while. They made a mess of my drive and my car. It took me 20 minutes to wash the car and hose the drive, and then I forgot all about it, because these birds are just another part of the environment we all share. Alternatively I suppose i could have demanded the entire forest be baited to kill all the birds so I'm never bothered again... make sense? No, it doesn't make sense to me either.

If Moles Really Do Need To Be Controlled

If Moles really are a big problem in the home lawn and creating an enormous amount of damage, then the property owner may want to look at controlling and killing the Moles. Killing Moles really should be a last resort if the problem remains persistent and highly damaging.

Mole Baits

Mole Baits are one of the most popular ways to kill Moles, and the most popular and effective of these baits are those which are shaped like and have the texture of earthworms. These Mole Baits contain a poison which will slowly kill the Mole after being eaten.

Mole Baits come in many other forms such as pellets and wheat, the only problem is that these are not the natural or preferred food source for Moles, and Moles being such fussy eaters are likely to just pass them by on their way to look for worms and grubs.

Mole Baits should be placed at the opening of the tunnel, and also along the course of the tunnel every 8-12 feet. Use a stick of similar object to pierce the tunnel from the surface, place the bait into the tunnel, and then most importantly... seal the hole again, usually by placing the sod or some soil back over the hole which you made. If the mole sense the tunnel has been disturbed it will flee the area.

Be aware of your State Laws regarding Mole Baits, they are not legal in all States.

Mole Traps

We highly recommend that people think about the cruelty inflicted by devices like these before contemplating their use.

Repairing Lawns From Mole Damage

Repairing from Mole damage is really very straight forward and simple. First, we need to make sure the Moles have indeed moved on, and away from our lawns, so we don't have to do 2 repairs.

The tunnel opening should be collapsed, which is easily done by just using our shoe or a spade, if an indentation is left then some soil from the property can be used to even out the soil surface. We then re-seed or re-sod the affected area. it's really that simple, and because the affected areas are so small it really only takes a minute or two with the hose to keep up the water while the new sod repairs and establishes itself. For warm season grasses such as Zoysia, Bermuda or Saint Augustine, no re-sodding is necessary, these grasses will spread over and repair the affected area very quickly in warmer weather.