How to reliably get rid of moles in a summer cottage or garden plot

In many cases, it is possible to get rid of moles on a summer cottage using quite simple means that are inexpensive and accessible to every summer resident. However, this is not always the case - the same product can give excellent results in some areas (say, carbide or rotten fish buried in the ground), but in others it turns out to be absolutely useless.

And, the question arises, what to do if the moles on the site, it would seem, do not react in any way to attempts to scare them away, continuing their active pest activity? The most common approach of gardeners in this case is to continue haphazard and haphazard attempts to combat moles, in the hope that some remedy will finally work. As a result, it comes to the point that urine is poured into mole holes, cat and even human excrement is buried, and somewhere here there are traps or hand-made traps made from fish hooks.

Review:

“I’ve been fighting moles in my dacha for two months now. I hung beer cans all over the area, poured water into the holes, shoved herring heads, but nothing helped. The moles were still digging and digging, piles all over the dacha. I don’t know what to do anymore, I have no strength..."

Oksana, St. Petersburg

An alternative option is to take into account the reviews and experience of a large number of gardeners who have already gotten rid of moles in their garden plot. Based on this experience, a consistent methodology has been developed that allows you to achieve the desired result quickly, efficiently and with minimal effort.

In accordance with this technique, against moles in a summer cottage or garden, a combination of repellents is first used, first simple, and if this does not help, then more complex (expensive). And if this does not give results, then effective physical methods of struggle are additionally used.

So, in order for the measures taken to get rid of moles to have an effect, we proceed step by step...

Find out how many moles live on the site and where they live

This stage is quite important, since there are cases when a gardener, after a long hunt, finally managed to get rid of one mole, he relaxed, thinking that the fight was over, and then was surprised to discover that the problem had not disappeared.

In general, on small plots of land - up to 20 acres - cases of simultaneous settlement of several adult moles are quite rare.

On a note

Moles are very jealous of protecting their territory, and usually do not allow strangers into it. Moreover, when defending their hunting grounds, serious skirmishes are possible between moles, in which one of the individuals sometimes dies or is injured.

As a rule, several animals require a fairly large territory (about a hectare) for sufficient nutrition, in which they can lead a normal life without meeting each other.

In rare cases, a garden plot may be located at the junction of the territories of two moles, and they can “manage” here at the same time, spending most of their lives outside the garden.

On a note

The area of ​​the hunting area of ​​one mole is on average 600-1000 square meters, and therefore several moles can easily coexist in one large garden.

The number of moles in a dacha is determined by the disconnection of molehills, that is, by the location of soil emissions on the site. Roughly, we can assume that such piles of earth, located along a clearly visible line and located at a distance of up to 20-30 meters from each other, were made by the same animal.

If two or more separate groups of such molehills are clearly visible on the site, separated by a considerable distance (more than 30 meters), then we can conclude that they were most likely made by different animals. This means that there are several moles here, and this will need to be taken into account in the future when getting rid of them.

On a note

If a female mole lives on the site, then in June-July up to 5-6 young animals - her offspring - can be present here at the same time, which by the end of June will begin to disperse throughout the adjacent territories. Before this, they use the maternal system of underground passages, without creating new emissions of earth on the surface.

If you want to get rid of moles forever, or at least for a long time, then the above point is also important to take into account: there are cases when up to 6 moles were caught with traps in a single move in a short period of time. This is exactly the situation when all the caught animals are the cubs of one female. If in this case you catch only one animal and calm down, then all the other moles will remain on the site for some time, and one of them will most likely spend the winter here, and next year will show itself to the fullest.

So, let’s assume that you have roughly calculated how many moles live on your summer cottage, and roughly estimated their favorite places to move. Let's start getting rid of pests...

We use repellents

Simple repellents work very well in some cases and allow you to get rid of moles in your summer cottage in just a few days. In other cases, repellers do not have a sufficient effect on the animals, but you should definitely try these products - at least as a simple experiment (many mole repellers are inexpensive, or even practically free, and, importantly, their use does not require serious expenses time and effort).

Mole repellents are based on exposure either through sounds or smells, since it is the hearing and sense of smell in these animals that are very well developed. At the same time, it is impossible to say in advance what will work better - sound or aromatic influence, so it is worth trying both options.

On a note

As practice shows, in many cases it is possible to get rid of a mole on a personal plot already at the stage of using a combination of repellents, using both noise and aromatic repellers at the same time (and we are talking about combination, and not about sequential testing).

Repelling moles with homemade sound repellers

There are many options for homemade sound repellers, which in many cases really help get rid of moles.

Here are just some of the most popular designs:

1. Turntables (noise makers) made from plastic bottles or tin cans and mounted on metal poles or pipes dug into the ground. Rotating in the wind, they knock on the metal, through which the sound is transmitted into the soil, scaring the moles. The photo below shows examples of such turntables;
2. Weathervanes that work on the same principle, but are more complex to manufacture;

3. Stems of reeds humming in the wind;
4. Chinese alarm clocks powered by batteries. They are placed in glass jars, which, in turn, are buried in the ground. In this case, different alarms are set for different times;

5. Glass bottles that are buried in the ground at approximately a 45 degree angle at 2/3 of the height, leaving the neck open outside. Wind blowing into an empty bottle creates a hum, which can also scare away moles;
6. And even simple plastic bottles with a lid, which are placed in abundance in the summer cottage, sometimes laid out directly on the ground. Due to temperature changes at night and during the day, the air in the bottles either contracts or expands, as a result of which the bottles crack, scaring the moles.

Such means are installed in close proximity to the expected mole passages (they are often clearly visible between mole heaps, since they are located close to the surface of the earth and give themselves away as a slightly raised top layer of soil).

The more such repellers there are at the dacha (within reasonable limits), the higher the chance of getting rid of moles. It is preferable to simultaneously use means of different designs in a summer cottage so that the noises differ in frequency and duration, and the moles cannot quickly get used to them. However, you should not forget about aesthetics, so that when getting rid of moles, the area does not turn into a landfill.

It is also useful to read: Using a mole net and reviews about this method of protecting a site

This is interesting

To quickly get rid of moles, some summer residents recommend regularly playing loud music on the site. Moreover, if you believe the reviews, hard rock works best in this regard. There are also cases where moles left the area when a lawn mower or walk-behind tractor was frequently used on it, although such precedents are rare.

The most odious fighters against moles explode firecrackers in the underground passages of the animals, after covering the excavated passage with a bucket or pan. This method of fighting can hardly be considered humane, since there is a high probability of concussing the mole, after which it will die a painful death of starvation (due to the rapid metabolism without food, the animal dies within 24 hours).

You can tell that the repellers have worked by the long absence of new molehills in the area. It is the long-term absence of fresh earth emissions that is important, since the animal may not make them if the already created passages in the garden are enough for it to collect a sufficient amount of food.

We use electronic devices

The use of industrially produced electronic mole repellers is a simpler and, in most cases, a more effective way to get rid of pests on the site than using homemade products. However, the use of such devices already requires certain financial costs (the cost of devices in stores, depending on the quality and principle of operation, ranges from 800-5000 rubles).

The greatest effectiveness in repelling moles is shown by devices that generate not only sound, but also vibration, and in a random mode - with varying frequency, duration and sound frequency (an example of such a device is, for example, the mole repeller Ecosniper LS-997MR; the letter M in the name indicates for the presence of a motor in the device that produces vibration, and R – operation in the “random” mode, that is, with randomly changing switching intervals and the duration of sound and vibration).

On a note

Mole repellers of this kind in the form of columns buried in the ground are often mistakenly called ultrasonic, although they do not produce any ultrasound, generating sound signals in the audible frequency range. At the same time, the optimal sound frequency for scaring off moles is considered to be 300-400 Hz.

Ultrasound corresponds to vibration frequencies above 20,000 Hz.

When purchasing this or that repeller, you should keep in mind that the price more or less reflects the quality of the device: for example, Chinese mole repellers for 600-800 rubles often cannot withstand even one rain, or the battery charge from a solar battery is only enough for a couple of hours of operation in Night time. It is clear that getting rid of moles in a summer cottage using such devices will be very problematic.

The photo below shows several examples of battery-powered sonic mole repellers (usually one set of batteries lasts for 3-6 months):

And these photographs show examples of repellers with solar panels that charge the built-in battery during the day:

Review

“The moles on our site just went crazy in the summer. I bought two scaring pegs, although they are awkward, they did their job quickly. At first the moles began to dig less, and soon they left completely. They work normally."

Sergey, Moscow

And again, it is impossible to say in advance whether such a device will help in your case - testing is required. There are many positive reviews where even one post dug into a plot expelled moles from the garden literally within a day. But there are also cases when models of repellers considered to be quite effective did not allow getting rid of moles for the entire season.

Review

“Simply amazing! A neighbor installed a Tornado repeller, the moles ran away from it, their heels sparkling. Heaps of earth began to fall behind the fence, but there was not a single fresh one on his site. I took his Tornado from him, placed it at home, and the next morning there was a pile of earth in the same place, the repeller had been dug up, lying nearby, buzzing. How is this to be understood?”

Sergey, from correspondence on the forum

If you decide to test a sonic mole repeller in practice on a large plot of land, then it is useful to limit yourself to purchasing 1-2 products to begin with. And only when it becomes clear that the device really gives the required result and the moles near it have significantly reduced their activity (usually within a radius of 15-20 meters), then it makes sense to use the selected model on a larger scale.

We use scented products

Repelling moles with smells is not much more difficult than with noises - just bury the odorous agent in the animals' passages or near them.

Perhaps the simplest and at the same time popular way to get rid of moles using such means is to place rotten fish in the passages of the animals. In this case, you usually proceed as follows:

1. Any fish can be used, including the most inexpensive ones (in particular, herring and sprat are the most popular);
2. The fish is cut into small pieces (and the same sprat may not be cut at all);
3. Then the pieces of fish are left outside for several days, out of reach of pets;
4. When the fish gives off a characteristic odor, a piece of it will need to be placed in holes dug in the ground in all detected near-surface mole passages.

People who have been helped by this method to get rid of moles in their dachas note that the pests go away within 3-5 days after placing the fish.

In addition, instead of spoiled fish, the following options are sometimes successfully used to get rid of moles in a summer cottage:

1. Calcium carbide (technical carbide always contains impurities of calcium phosphide and arsenide, and when interacting with water, it releases not only acetylene gas, but also specific-smelling phosphine and arsine as impurities);

2. Technical fluids - kerosene, gasoline, turpentine, solvents (646, etc.);

3. Acetic acid;

4. Ammonia;

5. Alphos anti-mole tablets (their active ingredient is aluminum phosphide, which releases a strong-smelling and very poisonous phosphine gas upon contact with moisture);

6. Feces of domestic animals, as well as human;
7. Exhaust gas from a car - a hose is put on the exhaust pipe, the end of which is inserted into the mole's hole, after which the car is started and just waited for about 1 hour;
8. Smoke bombs (sulfur, insecticidal-repellent and even just signal).

More pleasant to use and sometimes show good effectiveness are Detia mole balls with the scent of lavender (a product made in Germany). If you use them according to the instructions, burying them in the ground at a depth of 20-30 cm and at a distance of a meter from each other, then sometimes you can get rid of moles quickly enough and for the entire season (though not in all cases either).

What is useful to keep in mind if you suddenly decide to “go crazy” at the dacha:

• Improper handling of calcium carbide can result in ignition and even a dangerous explosion of the acetylene air mixture. Therefore, it is not recommended to fill mole holes with acetylene and then try to set it on fire;
• Similarly, filling mole holes with kerosene, gasoline and other flammable liquids can pose a fire hazard;
• Ammonia (ammonia dissolved in water), which is sometimes used to scare off moles from an area, is very volatile and quickly disappears from the ground, so its effect will be very short-lived;
• Also, bleach, being a very active substance, decomposes very quickly in the ground, completely losing its repellent activity after just a couple of days;
• When using smoke bombs, it is useful to keep in mind that sulfur bombs burn only with good air access, so they will not burn underground and are unlikely to help get rid of moles. But insecticidal smoke bombs (Quiet Evening, City, etc.), as well as signal bombs, may well smolder even underground, however, when using them, you need to be aware that the mole will not crawl out of the ground to the surface to “get some fresh air,” and with a certain probability he will simply die right in his own moves. That is, this option for getting rid of moles in a summer cottage can hardly be considered humane (just like using car exhaust gases).

It is also useful to read: Ecosniper mole repellers and reviews of their use

If you use several different methods of repelling moles at the same time, you can significantly increase your chances of a positive result. Sometimes it is the combination of different options that allows you to get rid of moles that were not repelled by the same means, but used separately.

On a note

There is also a known method of repelling moles with various plants that are planted in the country (black beans, imperial hazel grouse, onions, garlic, etc.). However, judging by the reviews, in general this technique is ineffective.

But suppose you used a combination of repellents, two weeks passed, and you still couldn’t get rid of the moles in the garden or dacha. In this case, we move on to the next stage - catching moles in the area...

Description of the drug

Dakfosal Antikrot is a very dangerous, but at the same time effective drug. Its main active ingredient is aluminum phosphide, the content of which is 570 g/kg. The insecticide is produced in the form of so-called “gas” tablets, each of which is capable of releasing up to 1 g of toxic fumes.

Tablets are always sold in a hermetically sealed flask, which must be opened immediately before use.

Dakfosal Antikrot.

As soon as the drug comes into contact with air, an irreversible reaction occurs, during which a dangerous gas is released.

Toxic vapors penetrate even the most inaccessible corners of tunnels and burrows. After rodents, insects or mammals inhale these vapors, their respiratory system is disrupted, which ultimately leads to a lack of oxygen, suffocation and death.

We catch moles and remove them from the site

You can catch moles using either homemade traps or commercially available devices.

A “pipe” type trap is most often used as a mole trap, which is installed during the animal’s move: the mole crawls into it, pushing the door forward (the door only opens inward), after which the animal can no longer get out.

The photo below shows an example of an industrially produced mole trap-pipe:

And here is a photo of a homemade mole trap-pipe:

You can also make such mole traps with your own hands from ordinary plastic bottles or sections of plastic water pipes. Although it will be easier for someone to buy a ready-made product - the price of such traps in stores is approximately 600-1200 rubles.

Another way to catch a mole is to dig a bucket, pan or plastic bottle into the ground under its passage, into which the animal will fall when it passes through its tunnel.

It is advisable to check such traps every 5-6 hours. After catching the animal, you need to take it 1-1.5 km from the site and release it in the grass or bushes - this way you can get rid of the mole forever, since it will not be able to overcome such a distance and will not come back.

Review

“I had garden moles on my property for three years. I was already tired of fighting with them; there was no way to get rid of them. And they constantly dig, and spoil the flowers, the garden is a mess. I installed repellers - it didn’t help, I filled the holes with water, but a week later there were new piles. I had to catch them with traps. I’m terribly afraid of them, I can’t take them in my hands, so I carried them out in a trap and released them into the cemetery. So I got rid of it. I caught two moles, and after that no one dug in the garden.”

Oksana, Ryazan

Here are some more popular and fairly simple ways to catch a mole in the country:

1. Just dig it out with a shovel while moving near the surface. At this time, the ground rises a little, the animal is visible, and if you quickly stick a shovel behind it and throw out the lump, the mole will appear on the surface of the earth. The method is complex, it requires strength, speed and, most importantly, time to wait for the animal;

2. Sometimes they get rid of moles using traps that kill the animal. These devices are as effective as live traps, but their use is inhumane. If the animal can be caught alive and taken out of the summer cottage without killing it, then it is better to prefer the humane option;

3. Installation of fishing lines with fishing hooks in mole passages. Some even recommend hooking earthworms. This is a rather brutal method of catching moles, and it can hardly be recommended for use.

In some cases, with proper use of traps, it is possible to get rid of moles in a summer cottage in just 1-2 weeks. However, we note once again that the use of traps does not cancel the use of repellents, since only in this case the risk of new moles coming to the site will be minimal (in general, using repellers to drive away a mole living in its “native” territory can be more difficult than repelling the animals , coming from outside and only looking closely at potential hunting grounds).

Choosing a location for the trap

During the hot season, it is best to catch moles along ditches and streams, as well as on trails used by people and livestock for travel. In such places the soil is not so hot, so moles will be found here most often. During the rainy season, it is best to place mole traps directly on the surface, where the prey will crawl out of the water-filled holes.

Permanent and feeding passages are quite often located in close proximity to each other, forming a complex interweaving between them. In order to determine the type of burrows, do not hesitate to dig up the ground and examine them from the inside. If you find a feeding ground, then be sure that there will be a permanent passage nearby. Remember that setting traps in feeding holes is a waste of time.

We call specialized services

Meanwhile, there are situations when, for some reason, neither repellers nor traps help get rid of moles in the country. For example, in very rare cases, pests constantly come from the field adjacent to the site, and the fight against them turns into an endless marathon.

It is also possible that a person simply does not have the time and energy to tinker with all the above-mentioned means. For example, if the owner wants to quickly sell a plot, or we are talking about a realtor who needs to have the territory in perfect commercial condition.

In this case, the best option may be to call a special mole control service (deratization service). Most companies offering services for exterminating rodents (rats, mice) also successfully fight moles (which, strictly speaking, are not rodents), and do it quickly, usually in one day, and with virtually no effort on the part of the owner of the site.

Review

“...It’s crazy, here you put rotten fish in holes, then pour kerosene on them. I understand that some characters don’t really care what their garden plot looks like or what it smells like. But that’s why I decided to get rid of the moles because they spoil all the harmony. And so I’ll come to my beautifully licked flower garden, throw some rotten fish on it, pour it with kerosene, and top it with a firecracker. Well, I do not! I told my husband that he called the guys who, for only 3,000 rubles, did what we couldn’t achieve for two years. Now there are no moles.”

Alina, Kaluga

What pests is Dakfosal Antikrot effective against?

The drug effectively destroys most pests, such as:

• mole;
• mole rat;
• shrew;
• flour beetle;

• mill flame;
• bread grinder;
• tobacco beetle;
• potato fly.

As for terrestrial rodents, in particular rats and mice, Dakfosal does not always cope with them. As soon as rodents smell an unpleasant odor, they rush to get as far as possible from its source and leave the area of ​​effect of the drug.

What means of struggle do you prefer?

ChemicalFolk

We protect the territory from repeated penetration of moles

It is useful to keep in mind that even if you managed to get rid of one mole on your site, then with a high probability its relatives may appear here again and again in the future, coming from adjacent territories. Accordingly, if you do not take measures to protect the site, then after some time you may have to fight pests again.

To prevent this, it is necessary to protect the summer cottage from repeated penetration of moles:

1. Perhaps the easiest way is to leave working mole repellers on the site, even if new heaps have not appeared for a long time;

2. A more effective option (though much more labor-intensive and expensive) is to install barriers along the entire perimeter of the site: bury a mesh to a depth of 70-80 cm, or slate or roofing felt. You can also dig a trench and fill it with crushed stone. The method is expensive, and even with the economical option, such a barrier will cost at least 500 rubles per meter of protected boundary of the site;

3. Installation of a fence with a deep foundation at the border of the site. In essence, this is the same barrier as in the previous paragraph, only more thorough and expensive;

4. Laying a special lawn mesh on the site (that is, horizontally under a layer of soil).

In conclusion, it is worth noting that when combining methods of sound and chemical repelling moles with catching them on the site, especially if measures are taken to prevent the penetration of new pests into the site, one can count on a successful outcome in the fight against moles in a relatively short period of time. It is an integrated approach in this matter that is the key to success.

If you have personal experience fighting moles on your property, be sure to leave your review of this or that method at the bottom of this page, sharing your results, regardless of whether they were positive or negative.

An interesting video demonstrating the operation of a mole trap-pipe

Preventive measures

If alarm signals are received from neighbors on all sides, it is necessary to take preventive measures. The most effective way to protect your territory is to install an underground fence. Typically, roofing felt, slate or fine metal mesh is used, dug under the fence to a depth of fifty centimeters. If the ground is wet, you should give preference to a mesh so that the water does not stagnate, but passes freely through the soil layers, both down and to the sides. Its disadvantage is its relatively short service life. It will have to be changed every few years.