No, you must whack it.

What do moles do in the winter (New Jersey)?

Lowbernate. Only creatures above ground can highbernate.

/dad joke.

Castor oil does work (mix in a bit of surfactant and neem oil to really ruin their day), but it only convinces them to move elsewhere. It's not toxic and not anything worse than a severe annoyance. You can't source any castor oil with enough ricin in it to kill anything.

But the stuff's a decent laxative, gentle enough for children...

They do sell traps, and poisons, but I've never used either. The castor was good enough, and I was content enough to move them down to the Thuja, where they can live their lives without bothering my gardens. And where the foxes will dig down to get them. But that's not my problem, man.

@molewacker - thanks but I have to try not killing it, first. Moles are mysterious, I guess. Don't know where this critter came from but unless someone dropped it on my lawn then it had to come from my neighbor's yard. That's the only place he has to go back to if the oil works but it isn't a huge yard. I guess it could have come from the small back woods but I have no mounds in my back yard.

I wish I had researched this earlier as there was a good suggestion online. If you see it digging a mound you quickly shove two shovels down in front of and behind the mound so you kind of trap it, and then carefully dig the mole out with a hand trowel and then throw him into someone else's yard, kidding... I saw it digging the other day but didn't think of yanking him out.

What’s your problem with moles? They are carnivores that will control your Japanese beetles and other grubs. I’d be afraid that if you drive off the moles, leaving their tunnels empty, you’d soon have a population of VOLES move in and then there goes the neighborhood.

I never had a mole in the yard for 13 years... then a couple just showed up in a small part of the yard. They can really do a number on the lawn in short order. The raised tunnels of course dry out faster so they then dry out and yellow faster. Walking around on a criss cross of tunnels isn’t the most fun either. So I tried the caster oil granuals… even over applied them in this small area that was locked between a drive way, a stone path and my neighbors horrible yard of compacted clay and sparse grass that he dumps all sorts of pesticides on. So I gave it some time for the product to work, but the moles didn’t care and stayed around just like before. I switched to lethal traps and caught one, but a second one made his way to my back yard and started doing his thing. He set off the trap 20 times before I finally caught him. I think they do have live mole traps you can buy… or DIY pit traps.

Have you tried talking to the moles?

@kitasei - I ignored the mole when it was in the mulch bed but now it is destroying my lawn with dirt mounds.

@morpheus - Yes, I've talked to them. Nice couple... Patricia and Larry. Problem is they don't listen to reason so what am I to do? I'm going to try castor oil first but I don't know if it will work while we are in freezing temps. Will have to research that.

@nevermore: I'm thinking liquid application of castor oil might be more effective as the mole food has to absorb it so that the moles won't eat them any more.

Castor oil or other mole repellents rely on unpleasant scents to deter moles or sometimes as a skin irritant......it is not something they eat. Unless you opt for the Bromethalin poisoned worms, which are remarkably effective. Most repellents (not poisons) have only marginal effectiveness......the moles just move on to other territory. And in many areas that may just be another section of your yard!

Gassing works really well also and pest repellent smoke bombs are pretty handy for getting rid of other pesky ground dwelling varmints like voles and gophers.

@gardengal from reading up on castor oil I'm seeing that worms and bugs absorb the oil when in contact with it and this makes eating them unpleasant to the mole. Not sure whether that was from the oil manufacturer or not. In any case, I think I have to at least give it a try. If I can catch it I will.

That and contact with the oil as it enters their tunnels results in sticky fur which, for a subterranean critter, can be fatal. Particularly in cold weather.

Hence the suggested surfactant as well which will also increase the effect...

I’ve never read or heard it has to get to their food source to become effective or that it causes any physical damage to them.... instead it’s just a scent repellent. The application rate of the granular form wasn’t heavy so I couldn't see it being a physical issue at any point. i would bet the surfactants are just to help a liquid form get down to the soil level.

I've read that the castor oil is very thick and does not want to mix with water, so a heavy dose of surfactant is used to help emulsify the oil and water for application.