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Controlling Moles in Your Lawn
Moles are those lovable little fellows drive terribly in great books and cartoons and creep around under our lawns in search of grubs and earthworms. While they don’t damage the grass intentionally, the do leave little tunnels behind them and entrance holes that resemble miniature volcanoes. While they might sneak the odd bit of vegetable matter into their diet, the are primarily meat eaters. To eliminate this pest, the easiest thing is to eliminate their food source, i.e. kill off the white grubs in your lawn.
Mole-med is one product used to deter this small rodent and it is simply old-fashioned, smelly castor oil (not like the newer products) that is diluted and sprayed onto the lawn area. It also comes as a dry product for spreading.As far back as the late 1800’s, garden writers were suggesting their readers should use castor beans inserted into the tunnels and castor oil sprayed over the garden to deter the critter. These liquid products don’t kill the animal, apparently they don’t like the smell and move on. Gardeners debate whether they actually eat the castor beans. Some gardeners swear by sonic blasters as well. These are torpedo shaped tubes stuck into the garden that emit a powerful hum through the soil. Battery-operated, they (and voles) do not like the sound and leave the area. I’ve had good reader reports from these as well.
Cats have been touted as mole-suppressors. It is more likely that cats will catch voles than moles (the latter being mostly underground) but every little bit helps. Click here for free newsletter or to ask a question about moles
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