Something is digging in my yard because I have these mounds of dirt showing up everywhere. Do I have moles? JD

You definitely have something working underground but it’s not moles, it’s likely pocket gophers. Pocket gophers leave the dirt mounds. While moles also tunnel in the ground, they leave a raised trail you can follow on the surface of the ground. Let’s talk about the differences between the two and how to best control them.

Gophers tend to get busy in the spring and fall. The dirt mounds we are seeing around town in open areas or perhaps our yards confirm this.

While we tend to just call them gophers, technically they are pocket gophers. They get this name because they have fur-lined pouches on each of their cheeks they use to carry food back to their burrow. Favorite foods include roots of trees, grass, seeds, leaves, tender stems, tubers, and bulbs.

The mounds appear in areas where the gophers are digging. They push this dirt to the surface to get it out or the way as they tunnel through the soil looking for something to eat. These mounds can vary in shape from round to semi-circular and in size from 1 to 2 feet in diameter and are usually about 6 inches high. When active, a single gopher can make as many as 200 mounds in a year so you can see how they could do some damage to your lawn.

In fields we typically don’t recommend taking any action because their digging can help loosen up compacted soils and provide a food source for larger predators. However, if they are tearing up your lawn that can be a different story. Personally, I tend to just live and let live as long as they play nice. A mound here or there doesn’t really bother me, but to each his own.

Poison grain works well in eliminating pocket gophers, but if you have pets, this is not a good solution because you don’t want your pets getting ahold of poison grain. In this case, traps would be a better choice.

There are several varieties of traps available, but I have had better luck with the standard snapping gopher traps. When you get your trap be sure to read the instructions and I would suggest wearing leather gloves because those traps are not particular about who sets them off.

When you have your trap and gloves, you’ll need to locate a fresh mound of dirt. I say fresh because gophers are always on the move and a fresh mound indicates they are nearby. Fresh mounds tend to be darker in color because they soil hasn’t dried yet.

Once you find your fresh mound, poke the soil with some type of probe on the indented side to try and find the tunnel. When you find it, dig a hole to give you access to the tunnel. Once you have your hole dug, place your trap in the tunnel. For better results you can place two traps in the tunnel; one facing each direction because it’s difficult to know which way they are moving.

One key thing to remember is to secure your trap with some cord tied to a brick or stake on the surface because gophers can take off with your traps. Once your trap is set and secured, you need to cover the hole with a rock or piece of wood so that light doesn’t get into the exposed tunnel. Then you just need to wait.

Gophers will sense pretty quick that something is up with their tunnel and head that direction to make repairs. If within a couple of days, you don’t catch your gopher, they have moved on and it’s time to start the process again at a fresh mound of dirt. Patience is your friend when trying to trap gophers.

Moles don’t make those visible pies of dirt, instead they are tunneling below the surface of the soil causing it to raise up as they tunnel along. These raised tunnels help you know you have moles and not gophers.

One of the big differences between moles and gophers is what they eat. Gophers are after roots, essentially, they are vegetarians. But moles are after worms; meat eaters if you will. The presence of moles usually means that you have good soil because you have a lot of worms. They say a mole can eat its weight in worms every day. Just imagine if we had to eat our weight in food every day, that would be a lot of work.

Traps can be used on moles, but we recommend poison worms. These poison worms are available at most garden centers and look kind of like boring gummy worms. This way they mimic the mole’s primary food source.

Personally, I tend not to worry about the moles. Their digging can loosen up compacted soil and it’s pretty easy to walk along on top of those raised tunnels to pat them back down.

If you just can’t deal with that, here’s what you can do. First of all, pack down the tunnel when you find it. If it’s back up the next day, you know you have an active tunnel. Then just punch a hole in the top of the tunnel and drop in one of the poison worms. Be sure to wear latex gloves or something when doing this because you don’t want to get the poison on your hands, and you don’t want to leave your scent on the poison worm. The downside to this is that it’s sometimes difficult to know if you’ve been successful in eliminating the mole or if you’ve just been successful if keeping the poison worm company in business. Whether you try to rid your space of these critters or decide to live and let live, I’ll see you in the garden.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Phot: Tom Ingram