How to Get Rid of Moles & Gophers in Your Lawn

Quick answer: Moles push up volcano-shaped mounds and leave raised surface tunnels; they eat grubs and worms, not your plants. Gophers make crescent or fan-shaped mounds and eat roots, killing plants from below. Voles run in above-ground surface runways in the grass. The single most reliable fix for moles and gophers is trapping active tunnels. Ultrasonic stakes, poison gum, and most home remedies have little to no evidence behind them.

A lawn that was fine last week and is suddenly dotted with mounds of soil, spongy raised ridges, or dying plants almost always means a burrowing animal has moved in. The three usual suspects, moles, gophers, and voles, look similar in their damage but are completely different animals that need completely different fixes. Getting the ID right is the whole game: the method that clears a gopher will not touch a mole, and the money spent on gadgets that do nothing is money you will spend again. This guide covers how to tell them apart, why they showed up, what genuinely works, and when to call a licensed pest or wildlife pro.

Moles vs. gophers vs. voles: get the ID right first

Before you buy a single trap, figure out what you have. The clearest tell is the shape of the mounds and tunnels, and whether your plants are being eaten. Moles are insectivores (they eat grubs, worms, and insects), so they damage a lawn by tunneling, not by feeding on it. Gophers are herbivores that eat roots and will pull whole plants down into their burrow. Voles are small mice-like rodents that mostly stay above ground and chew stems and bark.

A fast field test: look at the hole. A mole mound is a symmetrical volcano with the soil pushed straight up from below, and the plug is in the center. A gopher mound is a fan or crescent with the plug off to one side, because the gopher pushes soil out sideways. If there are no mounds at all but you see little worn paths in the grass, you have voles. Getting this right in five minutes saves you weeks.

Why they showed up

Moles are following the food

Moles tunnel in search of earthworms and insect larvae, especially white grubs. A lawn with a healthy worm population will attract them even if there is no grub problem, so you cannot always "starve" a mole out. That said, a heavy grub infestation is a magnet, and reducing grubs can make your yard less appealing over time. Moles are largely solitary, so even extensive tunneling is often the work of just one or two animals, which is good news for trapping.

Gophers are after roots

Pocket gophers eat roots, tubers, and bulbs, and a single gopher can build an extensive tunnel system and do a surprising amount of damage to a garden, orchard, or lawn. They are drawn to soft, workable soil and lush root systems. Like moles, they are territorial and mostly solitary, so clearing the one animal in a given area usually solves the immediate problem, until a neighbor disperses in.

Voles boom in cover

Voles thrive where there is dense ground cover, mulch, tall grass, or snow to hide under. Their populations rise and fall dramatically from year to year. If you are seeing vole runways, thick mulch against plant stems and unmowed edges are usually part of the invitation.

Trapping: the method that actually works

For both moles and gophers, trapping is the most reliable control, full stop. It is what university extension programs and experienced pros recommend first because it directly removes the animal and lets you confirm success. The key is placing traps in an active tunnel, not an abandoned one.

Find an active tunnel

For moles, focus on the raised surface ridges that run in relatively straight lines (travel tunnels), not the wandering feeding tunnels. Tamp a short section down; if it is pushed back up within a day or two, it is active. For gophers, probe near a fresh fan-shaped mound to find the main lateral tunnel a few inches down, and open it to set the trap.

• Moles: use a dedicated mole trap (scissor, harpoon, or choker-loop type) set over or into an active straight travel runway. Follow the trap's instructions exactly.
• Gophers: place two pincer or box-style gopher traps in the main tunnel, one facing each direction, since you rarely know which way the gopher will come.
• Wear gloves and set traps as the manufacturer directs. Check daily. If nothing in 2–3 days, the tunnel was likely inactive, so move to a fresher one.
• Check local rules. A few states regulate certain body-gripping traps, and gophers or moles may be classified in ways that affect legal control methods.

Trapping works because it targets the animal directly and gives you proof. Poison baits (for gophers), fumigants, and "gopher gassers" are less consistent, carry risk to pets, children, and non-target wildlife, and can be restricted where you live. If you use any bait, follow the label to the letter — the label is the law.

Reduce the food source (moles especially)

You cannot trap your way to a permanent mole-free lawn if the buffet stays open, so pair trapping with habitat work where it makes sense. For moles, the food source is grubs and worms. You can't (and shouldn't) eliminate earthworms, but if you have a confirmed heavy grub population, treating grubs can reduce one of the mole's main attractions.

• Confirm grubs first: peel back a square foot of turf in a damaged area. More than about 5–10 grubs per square foot is worth addressing; a few is normal and not worth treating.
• Treat grubs only if confirmed, with a product labeled for your situation, at the right time of year. Blanket-spraying insecticide "for moles" with no grub problem is wasted money and needless chemical use.
• For gophers, the "food source" is your plants' roots. In vulnerable beds, plant into wire mesh baskets and line raised beds with hardware cloth to protect roots directly.
• For voles, cut the cover: mow edges, pull mulch back several inches from stems and trunks, and remove weedy ground cover where they hide.

Reducing grubs is a supporting move, not a standalone cure. Moles eat worms too, so a lawn can stay attractive to them even after grub control. Treat food reduction as a way to make trapping stick, not a replacement for it.

Exclusion and barriers

Physical barriers are the most dependable form of prevention, especially for protecting specific plants or beds rather than an entire lawn.

• Underground fencing: bury hardware cloth or ¼-inch wire mesh 18–24 inches deep (with a few inches bent outward at the bottom) around gardens or beds to block gophers and moles from tunneling in.
• Planting baskets: set the root balls of new trees, shrubs, and bulbs inside wire gopher baskets so roots are protected from the start.
• Raised beds: line the bottom of raised beds with hardware cloth before filling with soil.
• Trunk guards: wrap the base of young trees with hardware cloth to stop voles from girdling the bark.

Barriers are labor up front but they last for years and don't rely on catching every animal. For a prized garden, they are often the best long-term investment.

What doesn't work: myths and gadgets

This is where most homeowners waste time and money. Be honest with yourself about the evidence before you buy: the popular "easy" solutions are the ones with the least support.

• Ultrasonic and vibrating stakes: heavily marketed, but there is little credible evidence they drive moles, gophers, or voles out of a yard. Animals frequently tunnel right past them.
• Home remedies: castor-oil sprays may make a lawn temporarily less appealing to moles in some cases, but results are inconsistent. Chewing gum, broken glass, human or pet hair, mothballs, dish soap, and hot sauce down the hole are not reliable controls.
• Flooding tunnels with a hose: rarely reaches or drowns the animal, wastes water, and can damage your lawn and foundation.
• Car-exhaust and homemade "gassing": dangerous, often illegal, and ineffective. Do not attempt it.
• Repellent granules as a cure-all: at best they nudge activity elsewhere temporarily; they do not remove the animal.

If a product promises to "repel" burrowers with sound, vibration, or a sprinkle of granules and no removal, treat the claim with skepticism. The methods with real track records are trapping and physical exclusion.

Repairing and recovering the lawn

Once the animal is gone, the lawn will recover faster with a little help. Mole and gopher damage is mostly cosmetic and fixable.

• Knock down and spread mounds: rake fresh soil out thinly so it doesn't smother the grass, rather than leaving piles.
• Tamp raised mole ridges: press collapsed surface tunnels back down with your foot or a roller to restore an even surface and reconnect roots to soil.
• Reseed bare spots: loosen the surface, overseed with a matching grass, keep it moist, and it will fill back in over a few weeks in the growing season.
• Water and feed lightly: consistent watering helps stressed turf and heaved plants re-root.

Approximate costs

Professional mole and gopher control is usually priced by the visit or as a short trapping program, since it takes a few checks to clear a tunnel system. The ranges below are typical and approximate, meant to set expectations, not to quote a job. For a fuller breakdown, see our pest control cost guide.

DIY trapping is far cheaper if you have the patience to learn the technique and check traps daily. Paying a pro buys expertise in reading active tunnels and, for many people, simply getting it handled without the learning curve.

When to call a pro

Plenty of homeowners clear a single mole or gopher themselves with a trap and some patience. Call a licensed pest or wildlife professional when the problem is bigger than one animal or the DIY route has stalled.

Reach out when trapping hasn't worked after a couple of weeks of honest effort, when damage keeps recurring because you back onto open land or a neighbor's untreated yard, when you have an extensive system across a large property, when you want barriers professionally installed, or when you'd rather not handle traps and control methods yourself. Because gophers overlap with broader rodent control and voles are rodents, a general pest control company can often handle the whole picture. A pro reads active tunnels quickly, knows the legal control methods in your state, and can set an effective trapping line the first time.

Find a pro who handles moles and gophers

When you're ready, compare license-verified pest control companies near you and request a free quote. On PestPin your request goes only to the one company you choose, not a shared pool, and every listed pro has had its state license verified. If the real issue is broader burrowing rodents, start with rodent control, or check typical pricing first in our cost guide.