ST. LOUIS, MO- Last week, a viewer wrote to FOX 2 asking whether the Saint Louis area has a growing mole problem. So, we reached out to the experts at Rottler Pest Solutions for an answer.
“Could you just tell me, as a company, what you guys are seeing. Is there a growing mole problem in the St. Louis area?” I asked. Rottler Technical Director Jay Everitt responded, “Yeah, I would say there is. I think it is just attested to that there’s not a lot of great tools out there.”
These subterranean mammals use tunnels to travel, digging chambers at the ends for nests. They eat insects and earthworms, which our healthy lawns provide.
“We fertilize it. We put all the good stuff on it to make it grow. Well those are all perfect things for the insects to live in,” Everitt explained.
Winter doesn’t discourage them.
“Sometimes these guys will burrow right under that layer of snow, searching around in the upper parts depending on what’s there for them to feed on,” Everitt said.
If you want to try to stop a mole from tearing up your lawn, Everitt said to pay attention to the active runs, the areas where they are pushing the soil up in a long strip. You can walk or press down on those.
“Sometimes you’ll deter them just with that. They don’t want to come back and rebuild those tunnels,” Everitt said.
If you try to use store bought traps or products, don’t give up. You may have to move them around several times.
“There are a lot of people out there that are just fed up with it. You can get the professionals involved,” Everitt said.
While a lot of the problem is cosmetic, Everitt said safety is a factor too.
“You talk about soccer fields. You get into horse stables. It can be real damaging if a horse or an animal were to step into a hole, let alone you or I for that fact. People are out mowing their lawns, the last thing they want to do is twist their ankle doing that,” Everitt said.
Everitt said there is nothing out there that will keep moles at one hundred percent of the time.
One tip that Jay Everitt shared is that you can actually water your lawn or wait until after a heavy rain to track the moles. Because the water brings the earthworms to the surface, the moles will follow their dinner. Good luck!
