Mole Control: Stop Moles From Tearing Up Your Lawn

Your lawn has soft, raised ridges that sink under your feet, and small piles of loose dirt keep popping up. That is almost always a mole. One mole can do a lot of damage, and the products sold to fix it often miss the mark. This guide helps you confirm what you have, skip the remedies that do not work and decide whether to trap it yourself or hire someone.

How to identify moles (and rule out voles and gophers)

Moles are not rodents. They are insect eaters related to shrews. Most are about 5 to 7 inches long, with a pointed, hairless snout, no external ears, tiny eyes buried in short velvety fur and huge front feet built for digging. You will rarely see one above ground, so you usually identify a mole by what it leaves behind.

If plants are being chewed or bulbs are vanishing, look harder at voles or gophers. Moles rarely eat plants, though their digging can dislodge them and dry out roots. Voles and mice also borrow old mole tunnels, so a mole sometimes takes the blame for their feeding. If your mounds are crescent-shaped, read our pocket gopher guide instead.

Signs of moles

• Molehills. Round piles of soil pushed up from deeper tunnels, often with ripple marks from each load.
• Surface ridges. Raised, wandering ridges where the mole hunts just under the sod. The grass above can brown and die as roots dry out.
• Scalped turf. Mowers catch the ridges and tear the lawn.
• Timing. Fresh activity shows up most after rain or watering and in spring and fall, when the soil is moist.

Many shallow feeding tunnels are used once and abandoned, while the main runways that lead to deeper dens may stay in use for years. Traps belong in those main runways.

Why moles show up in your yard

Moles go where the food is. Loose, moist soil full of earthworms and insects is ideal, which is why a healthy, watered lawn draws them. They are active all year and do not hibernate. They also live alone, so the damage that looks like a dozen moles is often the work of one or two. Penn State notes that three to five moles per acre counts as a high population.

Moles do some good, too. Their tunnels loosen and aerate soil and carry organic matter deeper. If the activity is in a field or the back of a large lot, living with it is a fair option.

Why grub control alone usually fails

The most common advice for moles is to kill the grubs in your lawn. Extension specialists at Iowa State call this a myth that will not die. Here is why it falls short:

• Earthworms are the main food. Moles eat more than their weight in earthworms each day. Lawn insecticides sold today do not kill earthworms, so the mole’s food supply stays put.
• The timing is usually wrong. People notice moles in spring, when grubs are large and deep in the soil and hard to kill. Early spring and late fall grub treatments do not work well.
• Moles may dig more first. Penn State notes that when grubs drop, moles may tunnel harder in search of food before they move on.

Treat grubs only if you actually find them at damaging levels, and do it at the right time of year. Our guide to lawn grubs walks through the peel-back test and timing. Just do not count on it to solve a mole problem.

How to get rid of moles, step by step

1. Confirm the tunnels are active

Pick a few ridges and step them flat. Check the next day. Any section the mole has pushed back up is an active runway and a good trap site. A ridge that gets rebuilt every time you flatten it is very likely a main runway.

2. Check the rules in your state

Rules on moles differ by state. Pennsylvania classes moles as protected nongame mammals but allows control when they cause damage, with local laws governing which traps and methods are allowed. California allows owners to control moles that threaten property by any legal means. Local rules may also limit which traps you can use. Call your state wildlife agency before you buy a trap.

3. Trap in main runways

UC IPM and Penn State both rate trapping as the most dependable mole control, and Iowa State also recommends it over other methods. Common designs are harpoon, scissor-jaw and choker-loop traps. Mole traps and gopher traps are not interchangeable.

• Set traps only in active main runways, not in winding feeding tunnels that may never be used again.
• UC IPM suggests setting at least 18 inches away from a molehill.
• Follow the trap’s instructions exactly, and keep children and pets away from set traps.
• Give it a couple of days. If nothing happens, move the trap to another active run.

Live trapping is possible, but Iowa State describes pitfall traps as labor-intensive and often unsuccessful, and any mole you catch has to be released somewhere it is legal to do so.

4. Keep watching

Iowa State notes that mole control takes ongoing effort. Step down any new ridges in spring and fall and reset traps on the ones that pop back up.

Do not use poisons or gas on moles. Grain and peanut baits do not work because moles eat worms and insects, not grain, and many mole baits are restricted-use pesticides. Gas cartridges rarely work because moles quickly seal off tunnels. Traps work better and keep poison out of reach of pets and other animals.

Repellents and gadgets: what the research says

• Castor oil repellents showed some early promise on eastern moles, but later testing was inconsistent. Iowa State does not consider them effective, and UC IPM notes they may just push the mole into a neighbor’s yard.
• Vibrating stakes, sonic and ultrasonic devices are widely sold but research does not support them.
• Chewing gum, plants like castor bean and mole plant, and other home remedies have no proven effect. Castor bean and mole plant are also poisonous.
• Chemical repellents: Penn State reports that none are currently registered for moles.

When to call a professional

Trapping one or two moles in a home lawn is a reasonable DIY job if you are willing to learn the runways and check traps daily. Consider hiring help when:

• Several sets have failed and the damage keeps spreading.
• The yard is large, such as an acreage, a sports field or a commercial property.
• You do not want to handle lethal traps yourself, or kids and pets make them hard to use safely.
• You are not sure which traps are legal in your state.

What a pro visit usually involves: an inspection to sort mole damage from vole or gopher damage, finding the active main runways, setting traps and coming back to check and reset them. Expect more than one visit, since moles can take several days to hit a trap.

Questions to ask: Are you licensed for wildlife or nuisance animal work in this state? Which traps will you use, and are they legal here? How many visits are included? What happens if a new mole moves in next month? Will you treat for grubs, and if so, why?

A company that pushes a grub treatment as the whole solution is selling the myth above. Our guide to choosing a pest control company has a full checklist, and what affects pest control costs helps you compare quotes. For other yard animals, see the nuisance wildlife hub or the lawn and garden section.

Mole questions

Will moles eat my bulbs? Rarely. Moles eat worms and insects. Missing bulbs and chewed roots point to voles or gophers. Voles and mice also travel in old mole tunnels.

Why does one mole make so much damage? A mole can eat close to its own body weight, or more, each day and can dig a surface run at 1 to 3 feet per minute while it hunts.

If I trap one, am I done? Often, for a while. Moles live alone, so one or two catches can clear a typical lawn. Keep checking for fresh ridges in spring and fall in case another one moves in.