I am getting these mounds of dirt in my yard. Something must be digging. Do I have moles, and if so, how do I get rid of them? LS

Pocket gophers leave mounds of dirt and moles leave raised dirt above their underground tunnels. The mounds tell you that your issue is pocket gophers. More often than not, people have both moles and gophers which can make it confusing. But let’s talk about what you can do for both.

Most of the time we just call them gophers, but specifically, they are called pocket gophers. Pocket gophers have little fur-lined pouches on each side of their cheeks. While they are out scavenging, they fill these pockets with food to take back home to their burrow. Pocket gophers feed mostly on the roots of trees and grasses but will also eat seeds, leaves, tender stems, tubers, and bulbs.

As pocket gophers dig their tunnels, they have to do something with the soil they are excavating, so they push it out via holes in their tunnel to form mounds. These mounds vary in shape from round to semi-circular and can be as large as 2 feet in diameter. Irrespective of the diameter, they tend to be about 6 inches high. Active gophers can make as many as 200 mounds a year, so a gopher that calls your landscape home can do some damage to not only your lawn but also to plants in your landscape.

In open fields this can serve to loosen up compacted soils, so we typically don’t recommend taking action, but most people are not comfortable sitting by and watching a gopher tear up their landscape. As for me, I don’t mind a few of their mounds and prefer to just live and let live. However, not everyone has the same pocket gopher pain threshold.

Poison grain is available to help get rid of pocket gophers. You simply pour some of this grain into their tunnel and hope for the best. However, if you have pets, this isn’t a good option for you since you don’t want your pets to inadvertently stumble across this poison. In this case, traps would be a better choice.

There are several varieties of traps available, but the standard spring-loaded trap works pretty well. Be sure to wear gloves when working with these traps because they have strong springs which can be painful on the unsuspecting hand.

Once you have your trap and your gloves, look for a fresh mound of dirt. Fresh mounds tend to be darker in color because the soil hasn’t dried out yet.

When you find a fresh mound, poke the soil with some type of probe until you find the tunnel, then dig a hole to reveal the tunnel. Once you have access to the tunnel, set your trap or traps. It’s actually a good idea to use two traps placed appropriately because you can’t be sure which direction the pocket gopher will be coming from.

Also be sure to tie your traps to something like a concrete block or stake so that the gopher can’t take off with your trap. I have lost traps this way before. Once the traps are in place, cover the hole with a rock or a piece of wood so that light doesn’t get in there. Then you’ll need to wait.

Fresh air in the tunnel lets the gopher know there is a tunnel breach somewhere and they will look for it to make repairs. If you don’t have any luck in a couple of days, your pocket gopher has probably moved on, so keep on the lookout for a fresh mound of dirt and repeat this process until you solve your problem.

Moles don’t make the mounds of dirt. Instead, their tunneling causes the soil at the surface to raise up, revealing the tunnel’s location.

I mentioned that pocket gophers eat roots, but moles eat worms. If you have mole tunnels visible in your yard, this is a good indicator that you have healthy soil because you have a good number of worms. Moles can eat their weight in worms every single day, so there’s is a lot of tunneling and hunting for worms to meet those needs.

Traps can be used on moles, but since they are looking for worms, poison worms work pretty well. You can find these poison worms at most garden centers. They look kind of like the most boring gummy worms ever.

Again, I just try to let the moles do their thing, but not everyone can do that. If that is you, look for some mole tunnels and pack that raised tunnel down. Then come back the next day to see if any are raised back up. This tells you that this is an active mole tunnel. Once found, punch a hole in the top of the tunnel and drop in one of the poison worms. Be sure to wear latex gloves when doing this for a couple of reason. First you don’t want to get the poison on your hands, and secondly, you don’t want to leave your scent on the poison worms.

Unfortunately, when using this method there’s no trapped animal to let you know you have been successful. You’ll just need to keep your eyes out for fresh tunnels to give you the confirmation that your quest is ongoing. 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. Photo by Tom Ingram