Getting rid of lawn-destroying moles

As the snow melts and the lawns begin to appear, many people have found problems with moles burrowing in their lawns. Moles tunnel through the soil, pushing up ridges. Moles do their tunneling to find food. A tunnel may be dug and never used again. If a tunnel leads to food, then it will be used daily. Either way, your lawn gets ripped up and areas die due to the tunneling.
Controlling moles can be difficult, but if you take some time to address the problem, you can usually stop their damage.
As I said earlier, moles tunnel through the soil looking for food. They may dig into a section of soil and not find food. If they don't find food, they will continue digging until they do. Many times, moles enter a lawn area to feed on grubs in the soil. If they find grubs or other food sources, they will continue to dig and feed in your lawn.
The appearances of tunnels in your lawn does not necessarily mean that the moles are still in your lawn. If they don't find sufficient food, then they move on to someone else's lawn. To check if moles are still actively feeding in your lawn, flatten out about six feet of ridges in various areas. If the ridges are pushed up again after 24 hours, then moles are still feeding.
If the moles are still in your lawn, you should first determine if there are grubs in your lawn. Take a shovel and peel back a section of grass. If grubs are present, then you can reposition the grass and proceed to treat your lawn with a grub control. Once the grubs are killed, the moles will move on to another lawn. If grubs are not present, or if the moles hang around after the grub treatment, then there are other food sources available. At this point, you have a few choices on how to control the moles.
There are devices that are inserted into the soil. These battery-operated devices vibrate and create an environment that many claim drive the moles out of the area. I have had a customer buy these products and swear that it is the easiest way to rid the lawn of moles. Other customers have told me that the product did not work. Either way, it may be the simplest way to rid your lawn of moles.
There are also sprays containing castor oil that you apply to the lawn. The manufacturer claims that the smell drives the moles out of the area. I have had customers try this approach and they have had excellent results. Others have tried it and did not have good results. There are poison baits that you insert into the tunnels. The mole consumes the bait and dies. Over the years, this has proven very effective. However, if the mole eats the product and before it dies climbs out onto the surface of the ground, you may have problems. Any animal that eats that mole can be poisoned by it.
There is also a mole trap. This trap is placed over an active mole tunnel. As the mole burrows through the tunnel, the trap is sprung and tines plunge into the soil and kill the mole.
All of these items have worked. There may be other options, but these products have the best track records.
Moles tunneling in your lawn can kill a large area of lawn. A quick response by you to rid the lawn of moles will mean less damage to your lawn.