The moles are emerging! Not the ones on your skin, but the ones in your lawn.

In previous blogs, I discussed the fact that moles don’t hibernate; they just go deeper when the ground is frozen. Some may remember that just before New Year’s Day in Cincinnati, the temperatures rose to around 60 degrees, with rain. On the Friday before New Years, I noticed several mole mounds emerging. The cold, however, set in, and the moles again went deeper.

Now, the moles are back as temperatures — both air and ground — are above freezing.  Here are some other mole facts to consider this spring:

  • Worms are the mole’s main food source; not grubs.  Yes, moles eat grubs, ants and other insects, but the vast majority of their diet is earthworms.  Therefore, a grub control treatment should not be considered for mole control.  Grub control should be considered for the removal of grubs!
  • Moles mate in the spring.  The males are rutting, and there is a lot of mole activity in the spring months.
  • Moles create two different kinds of tunnels – probing tunnels and active tunnels.  They use the probing tunnels simply to look around.  Most of these tunnels will not be re-used.  The active tunnels are the ones moles use on a regular — usually daily — basis.  These are the tunnels mole trappers try to identify the most in effective mole control.
  • Trapping is the time-tested, proven method of mole control.  Nearly all other methods of mole eradication are a waste of money.

Learn the answers to the following questions at RedwinePest.com:

How many moles are in my lawn? What causes the large mounds of dirt in the lawn? Do I need mole control during the winter?  Don’t moles hibernate? What do moles eat?  Will grub control help rid my lawn of moles?

For more information on the web, check out:

Effective Mole Control, Ohio State University Fact Sheet

Mole Control, SR Craven – PDF format