Moles: friend or foe?

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

I've got a healthy population of moles, and they can be a real pain in the butt as they burrow around newly planted palms. They don't damage any of the plants, they just eat grubbs in the ground. It can make watering a real nightmare as most water just drains right off without benefiting the plants. Effectively, they turn my hillside into swiss cheese. I have experimented with blood meal as a repellant, seems to somewhat effective.

However, when the Winter comes around, the digging is actually desirable as it accelerates drainage and provides plenty of soil aeration, thus minimizing if not competely eliminating any risks of root rot.

The mole population also appears to keep gophers at bay, although I am not entirely sure if that isn't just wishful thinking on my part.

So the question is: should moles be considered garden friendly or not? And if not, what's the best way to control them.

[Jim in Los Altos]

I've had a few moles on and off for years and, other than having to clean up a small pile of soil now and then, I've had no other issues with them. If it's true that they minimize the chances of gopher infestation, then more power to 'em!

[pogobob]

I've got herds of them and they don't seem to harm any plants, and they do eat grubs which is a good thing.

[Moose]

I've got a healthy population of moles, and they can be a real pain in the butt as they burrow around newly planted palms. They don't damage any of the plants, they just eat grubbs in the ground. It can make watering a real nightmare as most water just drains right off without benefiting the plants. Effectively, they turn my hillside into swiss cheese. I have experimented with blood meal as a repellant, seems to somewhat effective.

However, when the Winter comes around, the digging is actually desirable as it accelerates drainage and provides plenty of soil aeration, thus minimizing if not competely eliminating any risks of root rot.

The mole population also appears to keep gophers at bay, although I am not entirely sure if that isn't just wishful thinking on my part.

So the question is: should moles be considered garden friendly or not? And if not, what's the best way to control them.

The mole poop may be a benefit.

[Alicehunter2000]

Interesting subject since I got several of them too....tunneling away. Was always under the impression that they ate roots of various plants......glad that is not the case. Never noticed damage to any plants.....other than possibly turf grass. Was just about to go on a mole killing rampage, but now maybe I'll let the little suckers live. My wife thinks they are cute. Don't think aeration of the sand around here is of benefit, but can see as to how if you have heavier soils it might help. Maybe mole poop is the fertilizer of the future........just got to get about 999,999,999,999 more of them to be commercially viable.

[grant b.]

i use blood meal but have never thought of it as a repellant. is there any merit to this or merely conjecture?

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

i use blood meal but have never thought of it as a repellant. is there any merit to this or merely conjecture?

i read about in online and tried it, seems to work.

[PalmatierMeg]

Moles are insectivores that eat worms, grubs, ants, etc. A much smaller part of their diet is seeds. And they aerate the soil. When they dig their tunnels they may damage plant roots and many people find their ridged tunnels unsightly in lawns and gardens.

[_Keith]

With the cosmetic exception and maybe tripping by stepping on and collapsing a tunnel, moles are the good guys.

[Zeeth]

This thread is awesome to see because I've noticed a bunch of moles in my yard and I was always worried for the day when they decided to chow down on the base of my palms and kill them like gophers do, but seeing that they actually eat the insects in the dirt and don't eat roots I'm revealed!

[DoomsDave]

Moles can cause damage. I remember how this golf course in Ohio had a serious mole problem that was partially solved when the lawnmower man ran his quiet electric lawmower which would, in addition to cutting the grass, suck up, chop up and spit out mangled moles. (Crows and cats liked to eat them.) They can wreck a putting green with their barely underground tunnels. The golf course people also used to gas them, poison them, and kill them with this mole spear trap thingy.

Palms, no problem, though I could see where they might uproot small plants and damage them.

That said, they are nothing whatsoever like the scourge that gophers and other rodents can be. Different animals entirely. At least moles don't eat your plants. If you can put their fevered digging to good use, so much the better.

If moles repel rodents, well: Here Moles! Come'n get it . . . (don't know what).

[Alicehunter2000]

Moles.......they are exactly like the creature from Star Trek "The Horta" except totally different. They didn't know that critter was trying to help them either.

Not to be confused with the other Mole that was in a different movie........

[MattyB]

wait wait wait wait wait you have moles that turn your soil into Swiss cheese and you're on a slope and you've been having problems with things drying out and you flood irrigate and this is the first we've heard of this? You have to kill the moles, you have to back pack the tunnels, especially on a slope, and especially if you don't use drip. you're basically pouring water down the drain and the roots aren't getting watered

[Hammer]

I happened to notice this on the 91 freeway last Friday. Seemed relevant to the topic.

[Mauna Kea Cloudforest]

wait wait wait wait wait you have moles that turn your soil into Swiss cheese and you're on a slope and you've been having problems with things drying out and you flood irrigate and this is the first we've heard of this? You have to kill the moles, you have to back pack the tunnels, especially on a slope, and especially if you don't use drip. you're basically pouring water down the drain and the roots aren't getting watered

Ahhh, finally someone understands the dilemma! I've switched to drip, packed the holes and using blood meal to repell them. If you can suggest easy ways to kill them, ket me know.

[MattyB]

I do not have moles where I'm at, but I know all too well the disaster that tunnels (gophers in my case), even old tunnels, can do when growing on a slope and you're flood watering. I have some trees that due to the rocky hillside I cannot get under them to backpack old tunnels and I'm pretty sure there's just air pockets under and around the areas that the roots are trying to grow. Watering with a hose will never be successful for these plants. I finally got the drip irrigation set up on a few of these trees and within 3-4 weeks they are looking better than they ever have in 6 years. Immediate improvement. Basically you're not loosing the fast applied water down the tunnels, the drip allows the water to just spread evenly through capillary action.

Just for clarification, most of these are tunnels that you cannot see when you do the initial planting because they are deeper or nestled in rocky soil, or for whatever reason, so even if you think you've packed these tunnels when you do the initial planting, if you've got a lot of tunneling critters, especially on a slope, these tunnels can cave in and cause problems later.

[akamu]

SOUNDS LIKE "live action" TIME TO CALL THE TURTLE MAN

[_Keith]

wait wait wait wait wait you have moles that turn your soil into Swiss cheese and you're on a slope and you've been having problems with things drying out and you flood irrigate and this is the first we've heard of this? You have to kill the moles, you have to back pack the tunnels, especially on a slope, and especially if you don't use drip. you're basically pouring water down the drain and the roots aren't getting watered

Ahhh, finally someone understands the dilemma! I've switched to drip, packed the holes and using blood meal to repell them. If you can suggest easy ways to kill them, ket me know.

Mole blood meal might be more effective.

[_Keith]

I do not have moles where I'm at, but I know all too well the disaster that tunnels (gophers in my case), even old tunnels, can do when growing on a slope and you're flood watering. I have some trees that due to the rocky hillside I cannot get under them to backpack old tunnels and I'm pretty sure there's just air pockets under and around the areas that the roots are trying to grow. Watering with a hose will never be successful for these plants. I finally got the drip irrigation set up on a few of these trees and within 3-4 weeks they are looking better than they ever have in 6 years. Immediate improvement. Basically you're not loosing the fast applied water down the tunnels, the drip allows the water to just spread evenly through capillary action.

Just for clarification, most of these are tunnels that you cannot see when you do the initial planting because they are deeper or nestled in rocky soil, or for whatever reason, so even if you think you've packed these tunnels when you do the initial planting, if you've got a lot of tunneling critters, especially on a slope, these tunnels can cave in and cause problems later.

I am so glad we don't have to deal with Gophers. Wait, we have Formosan termites. Want to trade?