Mike McGrath | mmcgrath@wtop.com

Jeff of Manassas wrote: “I can refer to some suggestions. We have a mole (or a few moles from the outside) making a home in the yard. They are in the grass and flower beds. We don’t know how. Ask them to move forward in good faith. Any help you can provide would be great!"

Yes, Jeff-I'm great. Huge, even.

Now: Moles (with M) form raised tunnels on the lawn. You can push them hard to collapse, but don't hurt the plants. Voles (with a V-shape) form a track-like path on the surface of the lawn, eating parts of underground plants, such as spring bulbs and (especially) the roots of plants, such as hosta.

What kind of pests do you have?

Whenever someone like Jeff of Manassas writes to ask for "mole" help, I always ask: Do you really have a mole? Or voles?

Although humans rarely see them, the mole looks blind and strange. They live underground and are 100% carnivorous, eating only beetle larvae, earthworms and cicada larvae. They don't eat plants. But their wide tunnels may damage the lawn. (The real gophers, the classic movie "Caddyshack" may be the most serious underground pests. Fortunately, they do not exist in our area.)

Voles are shrew-like creatures the size of mice with dark fur. They are very reproductive and sometimes appear on the ground. Those who are tortured by them often see paths on the lawn where they are often trampled on. Like moles, their food is underground. But they are vegetarians; greedy pests like spring bulbs, such as the roots of tulips and perennials.

Oh happy, Jeff said. "I believe we have both. We have many raised tunnels in our yard, and our spring bulbs and perennials are disappearing."

Jeff of Manassas has a mole and a field mouse. He wrote: "We tried to use impulse stakes (it didn't work at all), but we didn't know what to do next."

Your experience is not surprising, Jeff. I have never seen any form of "electronic insect repellent" effective evidence-from indoor products theoretically used to repel mice and cockroaches, to your vibrating pile, to the big pile used to repel deer. But they are still everywhere. You can also see them everywhere.

reason? According to federal law, liquid and granular herbicides and pesticides (whether organic or chemical) must be proven effective before they can be sold legally. Unfortunately, "devices" are not part of federal guidelines and do not have to prove their validity; they can be sold for any reason. But these devices have failed in every actual research I have seen.

(My favorite experience with these things was many years ago. A local TV reporter arranged a huge transparent glass tube full of cockroaches, which was escorted to the studio by a Wrangler at the local insect zoo. She put the tube aside and waited for a minute , The cockroaches disperse, and then turn on the electronic "cockroach exterminator" and put it close to one end of the tube. The cockroaches swarmed towards the end of the tube. Fortunately, she did not hold the glass tube, or it would become the most exciting ever One of the TV moments...)

The next thing you can't try is the gum worms, which are designed to be thrown into the mole. Because moles only eat raw, warm food (and they are blind, so they can't see this very clever disguise), these things only pose a danger to children who might think they are candy.

The same thing applies to the famous "Juicy Fruit Gum" technique. Neither moles nor voles find this gum attractive-even though it is one of my childhood favorite gums, just like bazooka bubble gum. (The penny candy version with Bazooka Joe's comics and your wealth wrapped around it-not the hard, stale tablets in every pack of baseball cards. All these inedible pieces could stain and ruin your 1952 Mickey The ultimate value of the mantle.)

Like many of you, Jeff of Manassas has both moles and voles.

Both of these pests are not easy to control, but the first course of action should be to apply a large amount of castor oil-based mole and voles repellent to the affected area. Most garden centers and home stores have both liquid and granular forms. These insect repellents are designed to make your subsoil emit an unpleasant smell. Castor oil will not directly harm pests, but if you use a strong enough concentration, it should deliver them to your neighbor's lawn.

Mole and vole repellents based on castor oil are non-toxic to humans, pets, etc. But they cannot be replaced by castor oil for human consumption. Castor oil has been processed to be tasteless. You want the strongest smell possible underground.

This means buying the product with the highest percentage of active ingredients and using it as much as possible. Don't try to dilute.

If, like Jeff of Manassas, you have moles digging tunnels on your lawn and voles eat your spring bulbs and perennial roots, then first use castor oil-based moles and voles to repel insects Agent. A sufficiently high concentration should pack both pests.

Any remaining voles can be baited with peanut butter. In this case, new battery-powered electric mousetraps will be perfect because they will not pose a threat to birds. (This is an image from an online seller. You can also find them on the shelves of most garden centers, home furnishings, and hardware stores.)

For moles, there is a relatively new product called Mole Zap-the name sounds like electric shock underground terrorists, but it actually flooded their tunnels with carbon dioxide and put them to sleep.

Finally, the raptor bass — a simple beam placed 5 to 6 feet above the ground — can attract an astonishing number of owls, and they are the number one predator of voles.

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