Pests We Treat - Tracking Moles With the Help from Robins in Middletown, NJ

Recently, I received a call from a residential client of ours in Middletown, NJ who had an issue with moles. Most people have never seen a mole, however, they are well aware of the damage that moles cause to lawns and ornamental beds. When you see a series of 3- to 5-inch round, raised ridges breaking the surface of your lawn that is accompanied by tiny dirt volcanoes, you know you have moles tunneling below ground. Moles only become a problem when they invade lawns and gardens, tearing up expanses of green grass and uprooting plants. Because mole tunneling destroys grass roots, the ridges brown quickly. In order to properly track where the mole activity is, we’re going to do a different approach.

A moles favorite food is earthworms which also happens to be a robins favorite food. So anytime you have areas in your yard where you’re seeing an unusual amount of robin activity is where you want to start your search for moles. The robins essentially are going for the worms that are closer to the surface. This will attract the attention of moles. As I started inspecting a location where there was a high activity of robins, I came across two mole tunnels. There are two types of tunnels that moles dig. Travel tunnels and feeder tunnels. Travel tunnels are where you want to set-up your traps. They’re usually around a landscaped edge that’s long and relatively straight, which is how travel tunnels look on the surface of the lawn. Moles use them to travel from tunnel to tunnel as often as 3 times a day and they’re considered active tunnels. 

Feeder tunnels, on the other hand, look more like an above-ground spider web. They’re created as moles explore new feeding areas, and they’re often abandoned and inactive. So setting up a trap near a feeder tunnel would be useless. I placed a few traps near the beginning of a travel tunnel that goes from the edge of a landscape, across the yard, and ended at the edge of a shed. I placed a few traps near the end of the travel tunnel as well. 

I then followed another travel tunnel that goes along the fence line and placed a few traps there. You can always tell where a travel tunnel is because the disturbed soil will feel soft to the touch. I scheduled a follow-up appointment to check on the mole activity. This is how to track moles with help from robins. We can’t see the moles, but we can see the robins.