How can I prevent Moles and Gophers?

Moles and Gophers can quickly become irksome pests. They gnaw on your fruit trees, they tear up your lawn and they destroy your vegetable gardens. Every season is an ideal time to protect your lawn because these pests are active year round. Winter will be especially effective in taking control before spring breeding season. The only way of getting rid of the pest is to have them removed by a trusted professional like LandCare. After we have eliminated the problem, you can help prevent them from coming back with the following guide.

Attractants

Moles and Gophers are attracted to different things that bring them into your lawn. Gophers feed on garden crops and native weeds like poppies, plantains, and clovers. Moles are insectivores and they like to feed on worms, snails and grubs underneath the soil.  Both like fertile, moist soil that is well maintained.

Prevention:

If you identify signs of a Gopher or Mole, there are many low impact approaches to removing them. First, you can start by removing the attractants where possible:

  • Removing plants that Gophers feed on and replacing them with neutral plants such as Daffodils, Sage or Marigolds is a great start.
  • Reduce the amount you water your lawn. Moles love a moist, fertile lawn with lots of worms. By reducing the amount of watering the soil begins to dry up underneath and decreases the Moles food supply.
  • Construct barriers: Choose a stainless steel wire that will accommodate the root system as your plant grows.
  • To protect trees, vines and ornamentals from girdling by using wire mesh cylinders that surround their trunks. Bury the cylinder below the soil surface and make sure it is wide enough to accommodate new growth.
  • Promote Natural Predators: snakes, hawks and owls can help to control rodent populations. Owls can eat as many as a 1,000 Gophers per year. To encourage owls to stay in your area, consider installing nesting boxes.
  • Monitor your site: Re-occupancy rate of burrows can be rapid. Continue to be proactive in clearing garden debris, packing down soil, and knocking down soil mounds so you are able to identify if they have returned to your lawn.

Once you have identified that Moles and Gophers are in your yard and the preventative measures that you made are not working, call us and we will humanely remove these bothersome pests for you.