We live on the Delmar of a peninsula in Delaware. We have found a lot of tunnels underground tunnels in our yard and recently have been spotting these giant hills of sand that look like a giant ant hill. Are they from moles or bowls? There's no sign of ants when you stop on the mound so it must be something from underground. Thanks in advance as always.
Gophers?
Carefully scrape away the soil and see if you can find a tunnel.
Moles generally do not form mounds like these. They tunnel under the soil but just a little below. Usually they make a running ridge sort of mound.
Voles do not usually dig under the soil so much as tunnel under leaf litter, though they can dig in really loose soil.
Gophers make a volcano- like mound, that can collapse when it gets wet. They tunnel under the ground, but usually so deep it does not form ridges.
Ground squirrels make a larger volcano-like mound.
They appear to be mounds made by moles that feed primarily on grubs that are likely in your lawn. The mole tunnels are under the lawn so you do not see evidence of them, only the mound of dirt at various areas on your lawn.
There are a number of methods to get rid of moles:
1. Mole traps (placed in the mound of an active mole run), the mole goes through The trap and is killed. I was not successful in getting rid of moles using a trap.
2. Grub control products, such as milky spore virus, act by killing the Grubs the primary food supply of the mole; the moles move to another location to find food (your neighbors lawn perhaps?) I had great success with the milky spore virus. By the following summer, the mounds were gone - no more moles.
3. Old wives tale methods: Juicy Fruit chewing gum placed in the tunnel. The mole supposedly eats the gum and dies. A whirligig on a stake placed in the mole tunnel. The vibrations irritate the mole and they allegedly leave your lawn. I can attest that neither of these methods are effective.
Thanks for all the info. We have seen many tunnels and tried the trap, but didn't work. Will be trying the milky spore virus grub control. Fingers crossed.
