Holy Moley!

I have had unwanted visitors in my neighborhood this spring. I love the return of the peepers and the song birds, and resignedly accept that spring in New Hampshire also means the return of the Black fly. However, this year spring also brought mysterious tunnels and piles of dirt all over my pristine lawn. Well, it’s as pristine as you can hope for with two large dogs frolicking on it. The dogs were not the culprits of lawn destruction this time. I was whining to one of the neighbors about it when they mentioned that they were having troubles with moles too. Another neighbor farther down said he had tunnels all over his yard and he had never had problems before. I established an informal poll and found every neighbor I talked to was having mole problems. I was duly appointed to find a solution since I work in the library. Sure enough, the Library collections came up with some helpful books.

Bugs, Slugs & Other Thugs by Rhonda Hart recommended:
Whirligigs and whistling soda bottles
Placing used kitty litter in the tunnel
Planting Castor oil plants (these are poisonous, children should be kept away from them)
Drenching the soil with a solution of 2 parts Castor oil, 1 part liquid detergent. Dilute in one gallon of water and saturate the soil inside and around the mound
Trapping them with a mole trap

Tiny Game Hunting by Hilary Klein had further suggestions:
Flood the tunnels with a garden hose
Get rid of the grubs the moles are eating by applying milky spore disease and beneficial nematodes
Digging a trench at least 2 feet deep all around and filling it with stones and clay
Put peeled garlic cloves, hot peppers, Juicy Fruit gum, or pet droppings in the tunnel

So far the Castor oil solution has been the most successful, Juicy Fruit gum was a total bust. Let me know if you have some clever solution to the attack of the moles!