You have to be sure that what you have is in fact a mole and not something else. Moles are carnivores and won't eat plants. Any damage they might do to plants' roots by tunneling is inadvertent. That said, I've had one in my yard for a couple years now and haven't lost any plants because of it.

Rodney

I haven't seen him so I can't say if he is a mole or a gopher. I can tell you that there must be more than one. I've got a corner lot and he's got tunnels ALL over the place. There's not more than 3 feet where there isn't a tunnel or hole.

More than likely a she, although it could be a he. A mole needs about 1/4 acre of territory to live on and will defend that from other moles, so even if it appears to be several it is most likely just one. Moles are carnivores, meat eaters, whose favorite food is earthworms although they will eat other insects including grubs. There are many myths out there about controlling them but traps are one of the best, if properly placed and handled.
A spray of 1 pint of Castor Oil mixed in 1 quart of water and sprayed over 2,500 square feet has been shown, at Michigan State University, to be effective at deterring moles for a time. Other places will state it does not but most have used weaker dilutions. Most of the commercially available sprays I have seen have less than 1 pint of Castor Oil and are set to be spread over 10,000 square feet, much too little over much too much territory.
Perhaps the link below may be of some help.

Here is a link that might be useful: controlling moles

There are some pretty effective, and reasonably safe, mole poisons available. There are also some combination mole and gopher poisons in case you cannot tell who is doing the damage, or you have both. A number of the mole poisons are shaped like worms, and made of a gel to attract the mole's attention. You simply put a worm or two in a run, and let the mole think it is his lucky day.
Renais

There are problems with poison baits, including the worm types, that should give an organic minded grower pause in the use of them. Poison baits are not quite as environmentally innocuous as the sellers try to tell us and some states severely restrict them if not outright ban them because of these concerns.

I am very scared of using poison as I have a dog. If she encountered a dead mole she would certainly try to eat it and get poisoned her self. So I reconsidered using poison.

Good to know I may only be dealing with one mole. Since I don't have giant piles of dirt, I think it may be a mole rather than a gopher.

If it is a mole and it won't bother my plants, I guess it's ok- but it is destroying my yard and digging next to my foundation and not happy about the visible tunnels in my rose bed, my vegetable garden, etc. Plus what if it has babies? Additionally several times I've nearly twisted an ankle walking on the grass as I sink in where it has dug.

Regarding the castor oil in water, why does this work? Will it harm my plants? My dog? Castor oil is a potent and painful laxative! And how do you get it to mix with water?

Try the suggested castor oil treatment. It will be necessary to order a pint of castor oil at a pharmacy as such a large amount is not usually in stock. Somewhat costly so we have to figure out a way to use it in a frugal manner.

Next stop is the dollar store to locate the least expensive watering can available; or use a presently owned old beat up one that you will want to save for only this job as it becomes, ucky, sticky black over time.

Ready, set, go. Best to wear rubber gloves due to sticky nature of castor oil. Fill watering can with warm water. Pour in 1/4 pint of castor oil. Stirring often with strong, throw-away stick, lightly sprinkle the tunnels with this mixture in affected gardens. Not on walkway areas. It does not take much castor oil to encourage them to move on. Wait a few days. See what happens. Sometimes treatment may have to be repeated along property borderline sections and new activity in gardens.

Also, many find the 'turned over pot with a rat trap beneath" set over main tunnels works fairly well.

Are we really talking about moles? I have moles throughout my yard and gardens, but they have NEVER proved a problem in any of my gardens, vegetable garden included. Now voles are another story. Gophers I hear are quite a problem, but we don't have them here, and the OP doesn't tell us where he/she lives.

BTW, the correct term for moles is insectivore, not carnivore.

I wonder if moles defend their territory from voles? If so, catch him and send him/her to me. I lost a large portion of my root crops to voles, so mole importation could be an option.

Moles, being insectivores, would not attack voles since the voles eat things that moles don't. Therefore voles do not compete with moles for either food sources or territory.

This post was edited by kimmsr on Thu, Oct 30, 14 at 5:48

Thanks for the info, kimmsr.
so I guess I'm back to stuffing Juicy Fruit Gum into the vole holes.

Gum does no more to control voles then it does moles. The myth is that these wee critters cannot digest gum and it clogs their digestive system, not.

Here is a link that might be useful: vole control

My barn cat is an excellent mole hunter. Never make the second hole. Rats - not so much!

I don't know what species of moles you get in the States but the ones we get are easy to id in that they make molehills. Clearly visible and unmistakable.

This post was edited by floral_uk on Mon, Nov 10, 14 at 16:57

floral, do you get gophers in the UK? Gophers also make mounds or 'gopherhills' so it is sometimes hard to distinguish what kind of critter is present. Gopher holes do look slightly different however - more of a cresent shape with the entrance to the tunnel off to one side - compared to the even, volcano shape of the mole.

Gophers eat plant parts - roots, bulbs, foliage and like vegetables, especially root vegetables. They also eat worms and grubs. Voles are omnivores - they like plant parts (bark and stems of tender saplings seem to be a favorite) and they will eat roots, bulbs, fruits, berries and nuts and dead animals (mice, rats, shrews, etc.) and various soil creatures. They tunnel like crazy but make no mounds, only open holes as entrances.

If moles are the only problem, you are lucky. Gophers and voles are much worse as far as a gardener is concerned. I would ignore mole activity (they are actually very good for the soil) but a good hunting cat will take care of all three. My boy brings me at least a prize a day in summer, sometimes more than one. Shrews seem to be his prey of choice but a lot of pocket gophers and field mice (voles) show up as well.

One learns to deal with small furry bodies lying on the door mat :-))

No, no Gophers over here. Molehill soil used to be sought after to include in potting mixes as it is finely crumbled and friable. Moles are really only a nuisance with their hills in lawns. As the RHS rather charmingly puts it 'Any plant damage they cause is incidental to their lifestyle.'

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:157999}}

kimmsr -- thanks for the link.

I need a cat.
My dog would appreciate a cat, too.

Neither of my cats has any interest in hunting moles or voles. So you can't count on the cat.

I know several people that use that type of trap in an effort to control moles and they have for the last several years trapped 40, or more, moles every year. They must be doing a really good job of mole control.