Horticulture Hotline 04/23/18
By Bill Lamson-Scribner
Moles are always a hot topic in the Lowcountry. I try to
write about them only once a year, and after walking through some neighborhoods
and listening to the complaints in the Possum stores, it looks like the time
has come. The mamma moles are having baby moles now so expect the activity to
continue.
As with deer, raccoons, and possums, all the development has
squeezed the mole to move into your yard. The mole that was happy eating
insects and worms in a vacant lot is now moving to your yard as a house,
apartment complex or shopping center is being constructed on its old home. I
have even notice some buffer areas between different neighborhoods that were
once forest like being cleaned up and landscaped. Again, less habitat for the
mole. Moles really don’t have any natural predators to keep their numbers in
check, other than some dogs and cats, so their numbers keep increasing.
The weekly mowing (noise, vibration, wheels of the mower) of
your yard during the summer and the tight, actively growing grass seems to
lower the mole activity some during the summer; however, the moles are out
tunneling for food now. I haven’t looked at any historical weather data, but it
seems to me our night time temperatures are about 10 degrees cooler than usual.
Our grass is coming out of dormancy very slowly. Once the grass starts actively
growing and weaves itself together, along with regular moving, hopefully, the
moles will move.
I still recommend a
3-prong approach when controlling moles for the less adventurous people that do
not want to trap and look at a dead mole.
These 3 steps are:
- Kill the mole
- Manage its food source
- Repel other moles from your yard
Moles tunnel through your yard looking for food. They usually have several main runs through
your yard as well as secondary tunnels.
The secondary tunnels are where they collect their food, and once they
have a gone down a secondary tunnel, they will not return to that tunnel. In order to kill a mole with bait or a trap,
you must be able to locate the main tunnel.
The best way to locate the main runs is to take a stick and
poke holes in the tunnels in your yard.
Next, mark where you made these holes.
The next morning come and check to see if the holes are plugged. If they
are plugged, then you know you have a main tunnel. The mole will only plug holes on the main
tunnel. That evening, open up one of the
holes that the mole plugged the night before and place bait (or trap) 5 feet on
either side of the hole that you reopened.
When the mole comes back to re-plug the hole it will have to walk right
over the bait (or trap). These baits are
very tasty to the mole, so the mole will usually eat the bait and die.
Three baits that we regularly hear good results about are
Mole Patrol, poison worms and Talpirid.
I prefer Mole Patrol because it is one third the price and has 6 times
the amount of bait placement as Talpirid.
Stay away from poison peanuts.
Moles do not eat peanuts. They eat insects and worms.
Controlling the food source is the next most important
factor in managing moles on your property.
Depending on which doctor (PHD) you believe, the mole eats 85-125% of
its body weight every day. In human
terms a 100 lb. person would eat 85-125 lbs of food per day. That is a lot of
food! Think of Michael Phelps and all he eats from swimming in water. A mole is
swimming in soil!
Using a product like Sevin on a regular basis will do a good
job in managing the mole’s food source.
Monitor your insect populations with a soap solution to determine how
often you need to apply insecticides.
Use two ounces of lemon dish detergent in a five gallon bucket of water
and pour it slowly over your soil in the areas where you think you might have
insects and see what comes to the surface.
Some products get tied up in the thatch to kill surface insects (like
ants), so be sure to get a product for sub-surface insects.
Castrol products (Mole Repellent, Repellex Mole, Vole and
Gopher Repellent) and other repellents (Mole Stopper) work good as perimeter
treatments to keep moles from re-infesting your property. Be sure there are not
any moles on your property before you put out this barrier or you will trap
them inside your landscape. Make a 10-20
foot band treatment around the perimeter of your property. Reapply these repellents as the label
recommends.
If you yard is free of moles right now, you can skip #1 and
just manage their food source and repel them at the perimeter of your
property. Be sure your yard is free of
moles before you skip #1 in this process.
If you take away the mole’s food source and he is in your yard already,
he will really tear up your yard looking for food!
If all this sounds like too much work, try the mole and
rodent smoke bombs or hire a professional!
Always read, understand and follow product label. The
product label is a Federal Law.
