A new product containing 65% castor oil with the trade name Mole-Med was evaluated for its effectiveness in repelling eastern moles (Scalopus aquaticus) from lawns. Seven lawns in southern Michigan during September, 1993 were selected as preliminary test sites, and the ridges over mole tunnels in the lawns were flattened each day for 3 days. If some existing and new ridges were raised each day, the site was classified as having mole activity and continuing damage. The repellent was then applied according to label directions, and ridges above mole tunnels were flattened as described previously. If no tunnels were raised on the test lawn after one week, the repellent was considered to be effective. The repellent was classified as effective on all 7 test lawns. In May-July, 1994, 17 additional lawns were selected in the same way as preliminary test sites and classified as having or not having mole damage. Eleven received repellent treatment, while 6 were considered control, 3 adjacent to a treated area, 3 not adjacent to treated areas. Raised mole produced ridges were flattened on all test sites. On any site where ridges remained flattened and no new ridges were created for one week, moles were considered repelled. Mole activity as indicated by raised ridges ceased on eleven treated sites but continued on 5 of 6 control sites. The effectiveness of the repellent as indicated by the lack of new ridges continued for 65 days on one treatment site and for 30 days on the remaining treatment sites

Dudderar, Glenn R.

Elshoff, Dale K.

Tellman, Stacey

English

DigitalCommons@USU

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEW MOLE REPELLENT FOR PREVENTING DAMAGE TO LAWNS BY EASTERN MOLES GLENN R. DUDDERAR, STACEY TELLMAN, and DALE K. ELSHOFF, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 ABS1RACT: A new product containing 65% castor oil with the trade name Mole-Med was evaluated for its effectiveness in repelling eastern moles (Scalopus aquaticus) from lawns. Seven lawns in southern Michigan during September, 1993 were selected as preliminary test sites, and the ridges over mole tunnels in the lawns were flattened each day for 3 days. If some existing and new ridges were raised each day, the site was classified as having mole activity and continuing damage. The repellent was then applied according to label directions, and ridges above mole tunnels were flattened as described previously . If no tunnels were raised on the test lawn after one week, the repellent was considered to be effective. The repellent was classified as effective on all 7 test lawns. In May-July, 1994, 17 additional lawns were selected in the same way as preliminary test sites and classified as having or not having mole damage. Eleven received repellent treatment, while 6 were considered control, 3 adjacent to a treated area, 3 not adjacent to treated areas. Raised mole produced ridges were flattened on all test sites. On any site where ridges remained flattened and no new ridges were created for one week, moles were considered repelled. Mole activity as indicated by raised ridges ceased on eleven treated sites but continued on 5 of 6 control sites. The effectiveness of the repellent as indicated by the lack of new ridges continued for 65 days on one treatment site and for 30 days on the remaining treatment sites. The burrowing of eastern moles (Scalopus aguaticus) within 2-4 inches of the soil surface creates winding ridges in lawns that cause problems unac.ceptable to most affected property owners. The grass over the ridges dies, the ridge may be scalped by lawn mowers, and people sometimes fall and are injured where they unknowingly step on the ridge and it collapses beneath them into the underlying burrow (Elshoff & Dudderar, 1989, Henderson, 1994). The damage caused by moles is controlled by a variety of methods: lawn rolling, capturing or killing the mole as it burrows, trapping, soil insecticide application, burrow fumigation, and the use of mechanical repellents (Henderson, 1995). Each of these methods has some disadvantage, ranging from people's reluctance to kill moles or use insecticides to the need for special application skills or extensive visible application. An effective, easily applied repellent would provide an alternative for property owners or pest control operators unwilling or unable to utilize the other damage control methods. Proc. East. Wildl. Damage Mgmt. Conf. 7:149-152. 1997. 149 METHODS A potential mole repellent containing castor oil was provided by Mole-Med, Incorporated for efficacy testing. In all test applications, the repellent was mixed and applied as a spray according to label directions - 8 ounces of repellent mixed with 8 gallon of water and applied to 2,500 square feet of lawn thoroughly wetted before and after application. In September 1993, 7 lawns in Ingham County Michigan were selected for preliminary testing because ridges above mole tunnels were raised after all ridges on the site were flattened for 3 consecutive days. Mole repellent was applied to each site during September 7-9, 1993. For the next 30 days, sites were inspected periodically and all ridges above mole tunnels were flattened. If any ridges were observed and flattened, mole activity was recorded as present. All sites had a clay soil. In May and June of 1994, 17 sites in southeast Michigan were selected for treatment and control. Of these 17, 6 sites were selected as controls and were not treated. Three of these 6 sites were adjacent to treated sites, 3 were not. All sites except the adjacent control sites were at least 350 meters apart. The mole repellent was applied to 11 test sites on June 21 as described for the September 1993 preliminary test, and the evidence of mole tunneling was observed and recorded twice weekly for the next 30 days, again using the same method as described for the September 1993 preliminary test. Because of complications caused by weather, the experiment just described was repeated in June and July of 1994. In addition, 4 treated sites and one adjacent control site were treated 3 weeks after the initial treatment. All sites had soils classified as clay or silt loam. RESULTS Preliminary test All of the 7 lawns treated with the mole repellent between September 7-9, 1993 in Ingham County, Michigan had no mole activity 12 days after treatment and no further evidence of mole tunneling was observed in 1993. Comparison Test All of the 11 lawns treated with the mole repellent on May 15, 1994 in southeast Michigan had no mole activity by May 20. By May 25, however, all untreated control areas also had no mole activity (Table 1). From May l to June 15, 1993 less than l inch of rain was reported by local weather service and soil on all test sites was dry and hard to a depth of over 4 inches. On June 14-15 thunderstorms produced over 3 inches of rain over most of southeast Michigan, and rainy periods occurred for the next 5 days. Near surface mole tunneling indicated by raised ridges resumed during this period, and test sites were revisited and categorized as before. Mole tunneling had resumed on all treated sites except 2 and 3. All test were then retreated, including sites 2 and 3 because mole activity had been observed prior to May 15. In every treated site, mole tunneling near the soil 150 surface stopped or did not resume, and no ridges, new or restored, were seen until after July 8 (Table 1). Mole tunneling on both adjacent and non adjacent control sites continued as before, except that on one adjacent control site mole tunneling occurred where it had not occurred previously. A series of heavy rains fell during the week of July 10-14, and renewed mole tunneling was noticed on test sites l, 2, 8 and 11. These sites were retreated on July 18, after which no mole tunneling was detected until observations ended on July 23. In addition, an adjacent control site was also treated at this time at the request of the homeowner, after which all mole tunneling ceased until observations ended July 23 (Table 1). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Between September 1993 and July 1994, 18 different lawns were treated with the mole repellent and in all cases near surf ace mole tunneling as indicated by raised ridges in the lawn ceased within 6-12 days treatment. The cessation of mole tunneling in the preliminary tests in September of 1993, however, may have also been caused by the on-set of cold weather. The lack of control sites preclude determining whether the repellent, weather, or a combination of the two contributed to the decline of mole tunneling. Mole tunneling on 11 application sites in May of 1994 also ceased within 5 days of treatment, but mole tunneling also eventually ceased on the untreated control sites. This cessation was probably due to the lack of rainfall from May 1 to June 15 and the subsequent drying and hardening of the soil on the sites. The fact that mole tunneling resumed on all but 4 sites after rainfall during June 15 to June 20 further supports this relationship. Thus even with untreated control sites, it was not possible to distinguish between the effects of the repellent and the effects of weather. After mole tunneling resumed in June following the heavy rainfall, the cessation of mole tunneling on all test sites following retreatment, and the continued mole tunneling on 5 of the control sites clearly indicates the effectiveness of the repellent. However, the resumption of mole tunneling on 4 treatment sites following heavy rainfall in mid-July suggests that rain may reduce the effectiveness of the repellent. The fact that re-treatment of these 4 sites resulted in a cessation of mole tunneling further supports this conclusion. Because mole tunneling occurred on an adjacent control site within 5 days after application of the repellent to a treatment site, the moles present on the treatment site may have been repelled onto the adjacent control site. Unfortunately, no similar occurrences were systematically observed, but a casual observation during the preliminary test revealed a similar relationship. The unplanned treatment of an adjacent control site having mole tunneling was also successful, thus raising the number of successful treatments to 12. The repellent was effective for at least 30 days on all treatment sites and effective on 1 treatment site for 65 days. A single retreatment effectively repelled moles for 65 days on 10 treatment sites. Weather , however, may reduce the time of effectiveness or give the appearance of extended effectiveness . Because all treatment sites were either clay or silt loam, no conclusions can be made about the effectiveness of the repellent or other soil types. Similarly, no conclusions can be made about its effectiveness on other species of moles. 151 LITERATURE OTED Elshoff, D. K. and G. R. Dudderar. 1989. The Effectiveness of Oreo Mole Bait in Controlling Mole Damage. Proc. Eastern Wildl. Damage Control Conf. 4 :205-209 . Henderson, F. R. 1994. Moles. Pages D51-D58 in Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage, S. E. Hygnstrom, R. M. Tims, G. E. Larson, Eds. Nebraska Coop. Ext. Ser. IANR. University of Nebraska . 753 pp. Table 1. Response of mole activity in lawns to treatment applications ofMol-Med in June and July 1994 in southern Michigan. Test Site Mole Activity Treatment Mole Activity Treatment Mole Activity 6-20 6-24 6-30 7-8 7-15 7-23 1 Yes 6-21 No No No Yes 7-18 No 2 No -- No No No Yes 7-18 No 3 No -- No No No No -- No 4 Yes 6-21 No No No No -- No 5 Yes 6-21 No No No No -- No 6 Yes 6-21 No No No No -- No I-' 7 Yes 6-21 No No No No -- No u, N 8 Yes 6-21 No No No Yes 7-18 No 9 Yes 6-21 No No No No -- No 10 Yes 6-21 No No No No -- No 11 Yes 6-21 No No No Yes 7-18 No Non adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes -- Yes Non adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes -- Yes Non-adjacent control No -- No No No No -- No Adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes -- Yes Adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes 7-18 No Adjacent control No -- Yes Yes Yes Yes -- Yes 

The Effectiveness of a New Mole Repellent for Preventing Damage to Lawns by Eastern Moles

A new product containing 65% castor oil with the trade name Mole-Med was evaluated for its effectiveness in repelling eastern moles (Scalopus aquaticus)  from lawns. Seven lawns in southern Michigan during September, 1993 was selected as preliminary test sites, and the ridges over mole tunnels in the lawns were flattened each day for 3 days. If some existing and new ridges were raised each day, the site was classified as having mole activity and continuing damage. The repellent was then applied according to label directions, and ridges above mole tunnels were flattened as described previously. If no tunnels were raised on the test lawn after one week, the repellent was considered to be effective. The repellent was classified as effective on all 7 test lawns. In May-July, 1994, 17 additional lawns were selected in the same way as preliminary test sites and classified as having or not having mole damage. Eleven received repellent treatment, while 6 were considered control, 3 adjacent to a treated area, 3 not adjacent to treated areas. Raised mole produced ridges were flatted on all test sites. On any site where ridges remained flattened and no new ridges were created for one week, moles were considered repelled. Mole activity as indicated by raised ridges ceased on eleven treated sites but continued on 5 of 6 control sites. The effectiveness of the repellent as indicated by the lack of new ridges continued for 65 days on one treatment site and for 30 days on the remaining treatment sites

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 7 - Seventh Eastern Wildlife Damage Management Conference (1995) Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences November 1995 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEW MOLE REPELLENT FOR PREVENTING DAMAGE TO LAWNS BY EASTERN MOLES Glenn R. Dudderar Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Stacey Tellman Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Dale K. Elshoff Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ewdcc7  Part of the Environmental Health and Protection Commons Dudderar, Glenn R.; Tellman, Stacey ; and Elshoff, Dale K., "THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEW MOLE REPELLENT FOR PREVENTING DAMAGE TO LAWNS BY EASTERN MOLES" (1995). 7 - Seventh Eastern Wildlife Damage Management Conference (1995). 10. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ewdcc7/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in 7 - Seventh Eastern Wildlife Damage Management Conference (1995) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEW MOLE REPELLENT FOR PREVENTING DAMAGE TOLAWNS BY EASTERN MOLESGLENN R. DUDDERAR, STACEY TELLMAN, and DALE K. ELSHOFF, Department of Fisheriesand Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824ABSTRACT: A new product containing 65% castor oil with the trade name Mole-Med was evaluated for its effectivenessin repelling eastern moles (Scalp pus a uaticus from lawns. Seven lawns in southern Michigan during September, 1993was selected as preliminary test sites, and the ridges over mole tunnels in the lawns were flattened each day for 3 days. Ifsome existing and new ridges were raised each day, the site was classified as having mole activity and continuing damage.The repellent was then applied according to label directions, and ridges above mole tunnels were flattened as describedpreviously. If no tunnels were raised on the test lawn after one week, the repellent was considered to be effective. Therepellent was classified as effective on all 7 test lawns. In May-July, 1994, 17 additional lawns were selected in the sameway as preliminary test sites and classified as having or not having mole damage. Eleven received repellent treatment, while6 were considered control, 3 adjacent to a treated area, 3 not adjacent to treated areas. Raised mole produced ridges wereflatted on all test sites. On any site where ridges remained flattened and no new ridges were created for one week, moleswere considered repelled. Mole activity as indicated by raised ridges ceased on eleven treated sites but continued on 5 of6 control sites. The effectiveness of the repellent as indicated by the lack of new ridges continued for 65 days on onetreatment site and for 30 days on the remaining treatment sites.Proc. East. Wildl. Damage Mgmt. Conf. 7:149-152. 1997.The burrowing of eastern moles Scalo us a aticus within2-4 inches of the soil surface creates winding ridges in lawnsthat cause problems unacceptable to most affected propertyowners. The grass over the ridges dies, the ridge may bescalped by lawn mowers, and people sometimes fall and areinjured where they unknowingly step on the ridge and itcollapses beneath them into the underlying burrow (Elshoff &Dudderar, 1989, Henderson, 1994).The damage caused by moles is controlled by a variety ofmethods: lawn rolling, capturing or killing the mole as itburrows, trapping, soil insecticide application, burrowfumigation, and the use of mechanical repellents (Henderson,1995). Each of these methods has some disadvantage, rangingfrom people's reluctance to kill moles or use insecticides to theneed for special application skills or extensive visibleapplication. An effective, easily applied repellent would providean alternative for property owners or pest control operatorsunwilling or unable to utilize the other damage controlmethods.149METHODSA potential mole repellent containing castor oil wasprovided by Mole-Med, Incorporated for efficacy testing. In alltest applications, the repellent was mixed and applied as a sprayaccording to label directions - 8 ounces of repellent mixed with8 gallon of water and applied to 2,500 square feet of lawnthoroughly wetted before and after application.In September 1993, 7 lawns in Ingham CountyMichigan were selected for preliminary testing because ridgesabove mole tunnels were raised after all ridges on the site wereflattened for 3 consecutive days. Mole repellent was applied toeach site during September 7-9, 1993. For the next 30 days,sites were inspected periodically and all ridges above moletunnels were flattened. If any ridges were observed andflattened, mole activity was recorded as present. All sites had aclay soil.In May and June of 1994, 17 sites in southeastMichigan were selected for treatment and control. Of these 17,6 sites were selected as controls and were not treated. Three ofthese 6 siteswere adjacent to treated sites, 3 were not. All sitesexcept the adjacent control sites were at least 350metes apart. The mole repellent was applied to 11 testsites on June 21 as described for the September 1993preliminary test, and the evidence of mole tunnelingwas observed and recorded twice weekly for the next30 days, again using the same method as described forthe September 1993 preliminary test.Because of complications caused by weather, theexperiment just described was repeated in June andJuly of 1994. In addition, 4 treated sites and oneadjacent control site were treated 3 weeks after theinitial treatment. All sites had soils classified as clay orsilt loam.RESULTSPreliminary testAll of the 7 lawns treated with the mole repellentbetween September 7-9, 1993 in Ingham Comfy,Michigan had no mole activity 12 days after treatmentand no further evidence of mole tunneling wasobserved in 1993.Comparison TestAll of the 11 lawns treated with the mole repellenton May 15, 1994 in southeast Michigan had no moleactivity by May 20. By May 25, however, all untreatedcontrol areas also had no mole activity (Table 1). FromMay 1 to June 15, 1993 less than 1 inch of rain wasreported by local weather service and soil on all testsites was dry and hard to a depth of over 4 inches. OnJune 14-15 thunderstorms produced over 3 inches ofrain over most of southeast Michigan, and rainyperiods occurred for the next 5 days. Near surfacemole tunneling indicated by raised ridges resumedduring this period, and test sites were revisited andcategorized as before. Mole tunneling had resumed onall treated sites except 2 and 3. All test were thenretreated, including sites 2 and 3 because mole activityhad been observed prior to May 15. In every treatedsite, mole tunneling near the soilsurface stopped or did not resume, and no ridges,new or restored, were seen until after July 8 (Table1). Mole tunneling on both adjacent and non adjacentcontrol sites continued as before, except that on oneadjacent control site mole tunneling occurred whereit had not occurred previously.A series of heavy rains fell during the weekof July 10-14, and renewed mole tunneling wasnoticed on test sites 1, 2, 8 and 11. These sites wereretreated on July 18, after which no mole tunnelingwas detected until observations ended on July 23. Inaddition, an adjacent control site was also treated atthis time at the request of the homeowner, afterwhich all mole tunneling ceased until observationsended July 23 (Table 1).DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSBetween September 1993 and July 1994, 18different lawns were treated with the mole repellentand in all casts near surface mole tunneling asindicated by raised ridges in the lawn ceased within6-12 days treatment. The cessation of mole tunnelingin the preliminary tests in September of 1993,however, may have also been caused by the on-set ofcold weather. The lack of control sites precludedetermining whether the repellent, weather, or acombination of the two contributed to the decline ofmole tunneling.Mole tunneling on 11 application sites inMay of 1994 also ceased within 5 days of treatment,but mole tunneling also eventually ceased on theuntreated control sites. This cessation was probablydue to the lack of rainfall from May 1 to June 15 andthe subsequent drying and hardening of the soil on thesites. The fact that mole tunneling resumed on all but4 sites after rainfall during June 15 to June 20 furthersupports this relationship. Thus even with untreatedcontrol sites, it was not possible to distinguishbetween the effects of the repellent and the effects ofweather.After mole tunneling resumed in Junefollowing the heavy rainfall, the cessation of moletunneling on all test sites following retreatment, and150the continued mole tunneling on 5 of the control sitesclearly indicates the effectiveness of the repellent.However, the resumption of mole tunneling on 4treatment sites following heavy rainfall in mid-Julysuggests that rain may reduce the effectiveness of therepellent. The fact that retreatment of these 4 sitesresulted in a cessation of mole tunneling furthersupports this conclusion.Because mole tunneling occurred on an adjacentcontrol site within 5 days after application of therepellent to a treatment site, the moles present on thetreatment site may have been repelled onto theadjacent control site. Unfortunately, no similaroccurrences were systematically observed, but acasual observation during the preliminary testrevealed a similar relationship. The unplannedtreatment of an adjacent control site having moletunneling was also successful, thus raising thenumber of successful treatments to 12.The repellent was effective for at least 30 days onall treatment sites and effective on 1 treatment site for65 days. A single retreatment effectively repelledmoles for 65 days on 10 treatment sites. Weather,however, may reduce the time of effectiveness or givethe appearance of extended effectiveness.Because all treatment sites were either clay or siltloam, no conclusions can be made about theeffectiveness of the repellent or other soil types.Similarly, no conclusions can be made about itseffectiveness on other species of moles.LITERATURE CITEDElshoff, D. K. and G. R. Dudderar. 1989. TheEffectiveness of Orco Mole Bait inControlling Mole Damage. Proc. EasternWildl. Damage Control Conf. 4:205-209.Henderson, F. R 1994. Moles. Pages D51-D58 inPrevention and Control of Wildlife Damage,S. E. Hygnstrom, R M. Tims, G. E. Larson,Eds. Nebraska Coop. Ext. Ser. IANRUniversity of Nebraska. 753 pp.Adjacent control No -- Yes Yes Yes Yes -- YeTable 1. Response of mole activity in lawns to treatment applications of Mol-Med in June and July 1994 in southern Michigan.Test Site Mole Activity Treatment Mole Activity6-20 6-24 6-30 7-,8 7-151 Yes 6-21 No No No Yes2 No -- No No No Yes3 No -- No No No No4 Yes 6-21 No No No No5 Yes 6-21 No No No No6 Yes 6.21 No No No No7 Yes 6-21 No No No NoN8 Yes 6-21 No No No Yes9 Yes 6-21 No No No No10 Yes 6-21 No No No No11 Yes 6-21 No No No YesNon adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes YesNon adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes YesNon-adjacent control No -- No No No NoAdjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes YesAdjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEW MOLE REPELLENT FOR PREVENTING DAMAGE TO LAWNS BY EASTERN MOLES

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
7 - Seventh Eastern Wildlife Damage 
Management Conference (1995) Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences 
November 1995 
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEW MOLE REPELLENT FOR 
PREVENTING DAMAGE TO LAWNS BY EASTERN MOLES 
Glenn R. Dudderar 
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 
Stacey Tellman 
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 
Dale K. Elshoff 
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ewdcc7 
 Part of the Environmental Health and Protection Commons 
Dudderar, Glenn R.; Tellman, Stacey ; and Elshoff, Dale K., "THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEW MOLE 
REPELLENT FOR PREVENTING DAMAGE TO LAWNS BY EASTERN MOLES" (1995). 7 - Seventh Eastern 
Wildlife Damage Management Conference (1995). 10. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ewdcc7/10 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conferences at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in 7 - Seventh Eastern Wildlife 
Damage Management Conference (1995) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska 
- Lincoln. 
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A NEW MOLE REPELLENT FOR PREVENTING DAMAGE TO
LAWNS BY EASTERN MOLES
GLENN R. DUDDERAR, STACEY TELLMAN, and DALE K. ELSHOFF, Department of Fisheries
and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
ABSTRACT: A new product containing 65% castor oil with the trade name Mole-Med was evaluated for its effectiveness
in repelling eastern moles (Scalp pus a uaticus from lawns. Seven lawns in southern Michigan during September, 1993
was selected as preliminary test sites, and the ridges over mole tunnels in the lawns were flattened each day for 3 days. If
some existing and new ridges were raised each day, the site was classified as having mole activity and continuing damage.
The repellent was then applied according to label directions, and ridges above mole tunnels were flattened as described
previously. If no tunnels were raised on the test lawn after one week, the repellent was considered to be effective. The
repellent was classified as effective on all 7 test lawns. In May-July, 1994, 17 additional lawns were selected in the same
way as preliminary test sites and classified as having or not having mole damage. Eleven received repellent treatment, while
6 were considered control, 3 adjacent to a treated area, 3 not adjacent to treated areas. Raised mole produced ridges were
flatted on all test sites. On any site where ridges remained flattened and no new ridges were created for one week, moles
were considered repelled. Mole activity as indicated by raised ridges ceased on eleven treated sites but continued on 5 of
6 control sites. The effectiveness of the repellent as indicated by the lack of new ridges continued for 65 days on one
treatment site and for 30 days on the remaining treatment sites.
Proc. East. Wildl. Damage Mgmt. Conf. 7:149-152. 1997.
The burrowing of eastern moles Scalo us a aticus within
2-4 inches of the soil surface creates winding ridges in lawns
that cause problems unacceptable to most affected property
owners. The grass over the ridges dies, the ridge may be
scalped by lawn mowers, and people sometimes fall and are
injured where they unknowingly step on the ridge and it
collapses beneath them into the underlying burrow (Elshoff &
Dudderar, 1989, Henderson, 1994).
The damage caused by moles is controlled by a variety of
methods: lawn rolling, capturing or killing the mole as it
burrows, trapping, soil insecticide application, burrow
fumigation, and the use of mechanical repellents (Henderson,
1995). Each of these methods has some disadvantage, ranging
from people's reluctance to kill moles or use insecticides to the
need for special application skills or extensive visible
application. An effective, easily applied repellent would provide
an alternative for property owners or pest control operators
unwilling or unable to utilize the other damage control
methods.
149
METHODS
A potential mole repellent containing castor oil was
provided by Mole-Med, Incorporated for efficacy testing. In all
test applications, the repellent was mixed and applied as a spray
according to label directions - 8 ounces of repellent mixed with
8 gallon of water and applied to 2,500 square feet of lawn
thoroughly wetted before and after application.
In September 1993, 7 lawns in Ingham County
Michigan were selected for preliminary testing because ridges
above mole tunnels were raised after all ridges on the site were
flattened for 3 consecutive days. Mole repellent was applied to
each site during September 7-9, 1993. For the next 30 days,
sites were inspected periodically and all ridges above mole
tunnels were flattened. If any ridges were observed and
flattened, mole activity was recorded as present. All sites had a
clay soil.
In May and June of 1994, 17 sites in southeast
Michigan were selected for treatment and control. Of these 17,
6 sites were selected as controls and were not treated. Three of
these 6 sites
were adjacent to treated sites, 3 were not. All sites
except the adjacent control sites were at least 350
metes apart. The mole repellent was applied to 11 test
sites on June 21 as described for the September 1993
preliminary test, and the evidence of mole tunneling
was observed and recorded twice weekly for the next
30 days, again using the same method as described for
the September 1993 preliminary test.
Because of complications caused by weather, the
experiment just described was repeated in June and
July of 1994. In addition, 4 treated sites and one
adjacent control site were treated 3 weeks after the
initial treatment. All sites had soils classified as clay or
silt loam.
RESULTS
Preliminary test
All of the 7 lawns treated with the mole repellent
between September 7-9, 1993 in Ingham Comfy,
Michigan had no mole activity 12 days after treatment
and no further evidence of mole tunneling was
observed in 1993.
Comparison Test
All of the 11 lawns treated with the mole repellent
on May 15, 1994 in southeast Michigan had no mole
activity by May 20. By May 25, however, all untreated
control areas also had no mole activity (Table 1). From
May 1 to June 15, 1993 less than 1 inch of rain was
reported by local weather service and soil on all test
sites was dry and hard to a depth of over 4 inches. On
June 14-15 thunderstorms produced over 3 inches of
rain over most of southeast Michigan, and rainy
periods occurred for the next 5 days. Near surface
mole tunneling indicated by raised ridges resumed
during this period, and test sites were revisited and
categorized as before. Mole tunneling had resumed on
all treated sites except 2 and 3. All test were then
retreated, including sites 2 and 3 because mole activity
had been observed prior to May 15. In every treated
site, mole tunneling near the soil
surface stopped or did not resume, and no ridges,
new or restored, were seen until after July 8 (Table
1). Mole tunneling on both adjacent and non adjacent
control sites continued as before, except that on one
adjacent control site mole tunneling occurred where
it had not occurred previously.
A series of heavy rains fell during the week
of July 10-14, and renewed mole tunneling was
noticed on test sites 1, 2, 8 and 11. These sites were
retreated on July 18, after which no mole tunneling
was detected until observations ended on July 23. In
addition, an adjacent control site was also treated at
this time at the request of the homeowner, after
which all mole tunneling ceased until observations
ended July 23 (Table 1).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Between September 1993 and July 1994, 18
different lawns were treated with the mole repellent
and in all casts near surface mole tunneling as
indicated by raised ridges in the lawn ceased within
6-12 days treatment. The cessation of mole tunneling
in the preliminary tests in September of 1993,
however, may have also been caused by the on-set of
cold weather. The lack of control sites preclude
determining whether the repellent, weather, or a
combination of the two contributed to the decline of
mole tunneling.
Mole tunneling on 11 application sites in
May of 1994 also ceased within 5 days of treatment,
but mole tunneling also eventually ceased on the
untreated control sites. This cessation was probably
due to the lack of rainfall from May 1 to June 15 and
the subsequent drying and hardening of the soil on the
sites. The fact that mole tunneling resumed on all but
4 sites after rainfall during June 15 to June 20 further
supports this relationship. Thus even with untreated
control sites, it was not possible to distinguish
between the effects of the repellent and the effects of
weather.
After mole tunneling resumed in June
following the heavy rainfall, the cessation of mole
tunneling on all test sites following retreatment, and
150
the continued mole tunneling on 5 of the control sites
clearly indicates the effectiveness of the repellent.
However, the resumption of mole tunneling on 4
treatment sites following heavy rainfall in mid-July
suggests that rain may reduce the effectiveness of the
repellent. The fact that retreatment of these 4 sites
resulted in a cessation of mole tunneling further
supports this conclusion.
Because mole tunneling occurred on an adjacent
control site within 5 days after application of the
repellent to a treatment site, the moles present on the
treatment site may have been repelled onto the
adjacent control site. Unfortunately, no similar
occurrences were systematically observed, but a
casual observation during the preliminary test
revealed a similar relationship. The unplanned
treatment of an adjacent control site having mole
tunneling was also successful, thus raising the
number of successful treatments to 12.
The repellent was effective for at least 30 days on
all treatment sites and effective on 1 treatment site for
65 days. A single retreatment effectively repelled
moles for 65 days on 10 treatment sites. Weather,
however, may reduce the time of effectiveness or give
the appearance of extended effectiveness.
Because all treatment sites were either clay or silt
loam, no conclusions can be made about the
effectiveness of the repellent or other soil types.
Similarly, no conclusions can be made about its
effectiveness on other species of moles.
LITERATURE CITED
Elshoff, D. K. and G. R. Dudderar. 1989. The
Effectiveness of Orco Mole Bait in
Controlling Mole Damage. Proc. Eastern
Wildl. Damage Control Conf. 4:205-209.
Henderson, F. R 1994. Moles. Pages D51-D58 in
Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage,
S. E. Hygnstrom, R M. Tims, G. E. Larson,
Eds. Nebraska Coop. Ext. Ser. IANR
University of Nebraska. 753 pp.
Adjacent control No -- Yes Yes Yes Yes -- Ye
Table 1. Response of mole activity in lawns to treatment applications of Mol-Med in June and July 1994 in southern Michigan.
Test Site Mole Activity Treatment Mole Activity
6-20 6-24 6-30 7-,8 7-15
1 Yes 6-21 No No No Yes
2 No -- No No No Yes
3 No -- No No No No
4 Yes 6-21 No No No No
5 Yes 6-21 No No No No
6 Yes 6.21 No No No No
7 Yes 6-21 No No No No
N
8 Yes 6-21 No No No Yes
9 Yes 6-21 No No No No
10 Yes 6-21 No No No No
11 Yes 6-21 No No No Yes
Non adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes
Non adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes
Non-adjacent control No -- No No No No
Adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes
Adjacent control Yes -- Yes Yes Yes Yes


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The Effectiveness of a New Mole Repellent for Preventing Damage to Lawns by Eastern Moles

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