GREENVILLE — Moles don’t appear to be a big problem as long as the soil is blackland gumbo.

However, sandy soil — we do have some in Hunt County — is perfect for moles to burrow in. A mole’s primary diet consists of earth worms, and they have to continually burrow or tunnel to find this food source. The big damages that they create are raised tunnels and the mounds where they have pushed soil to the surface. This damage is especially harmful in lawns. Contrary to popular belief, moles do not eat grass roots. The damage caused by them to grasses is the undermining of root systems by their tunneling which can cause stunting or death of grass. Also, the mounds that they throw up are good fresh soil for the propagation of weeds.

The question master gardeners receive is: “How do I get rid of moles?” There have been all kinds of methods invented or tried to get rid of the critters. When I was a kid, you could buy a spring-loaded spear mechanism that had a prong on either side of the spear. This was driven into the ground with the prongs straddling an existing tunnel with a trigger inserted in the tunnel. When a mole moved through his tunnel, he touched the trigger and the spear stabbed him. I don’t think this contraption worked too well since grandpa had several in his tool shed and also had moles working his yard and pastures, but he never used the “sure-fire mole killer.” Grandpa’s fields also were home to badgers that are a natural predator of moles. These badgers would dig until they caught a mole for dinner. Badgers do not bother to go back and fill in their diggings, so they create about as much damage as they do good.

All kinds of mole killers have been tried, such as inserting broken glass, pickle juice, red pepper, razor blades, moth balls, castor oil and fish hooks into their tunnels. Grandpa had a friend that had acetylene welding equipment. They filled one of the tunnels with unlit gas from this equipment and set it off. The resulting explosion rocked the neighborhood and scared grandpa and grandma half to death. I don’t think it bothered the mole much since it continued to mine the yard for worms.

In the final analysis, trapping seems to be one of the best methods of controlling these pests. I am sure that garden supply houses have a variety of this equipment.

Moles do have a beneficial side. I had a friend, Dick Robbins, who owned Robbins Machinery in Seattle. Some of their products were tunnel-boring machines which were commonly referred to as “Moles.” Robbins sold these machines all over the world. They were very complex machines capable of boring large diameter tunnels. You might have seen the final breakthrough of these machines when boring tunnels under the English Channel for railway service between England and France.

Man can build mechanical “Moles” for these enormous tasks but will probably never entirely eliminate nature’s mole. 



Chitwood is a master gardener with Texas AgriLife Extension Service-Hunt County.