# Do Castor Oil Granules get rid of moles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 10, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864 "2011-04-10T13:17:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/1 "2011-04-10T13:17:56Z")
I haven’t tried Castor Oil Granules before and have a couple questions for people that have used it. 1. Does it work well to discourage moles where applied? 2. Does the smell bother people? 3. Does it leave a residue that makes the soil disgusting to dig in for humans. 4. Does it hinder seedling germination or growth? The same questions plus number 5 apply to the Castor Oil spray on form. 1. Does it burn plant leaves if it gets on the leaves? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/2 "2011-04-10T15:43:51Z")
Until I got to number 3 I thought you meant moles, like, on human skin. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/3 "2011-04-10T16:25:26Z")
It doesn’t work. The only real solution is trapping. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/4 "2011-04-10T16:33:02Z")
unless they die they can move a few feet from any repellent even if it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/5 "2011-04-10T16:50:10Z")
I want them out of the flower beds. I don’t care that they are not dead. Any I kill are immediately replaced from the neighbors yard. I can’t kill them off. I am looking for people that have used it. Tell me if you’ve used it when you comment, so I know you tried it please. Obviously I don’t trust the company marketing pages on it’s effectiveness. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/6 "2011-04-10T17:34:35Z")
I have tried castor oil. I have also tried poison peanuts and the $2/worm newfangled rubbery worm poison. I have tried the little clicky windmill thing and the solar and/or battery powered sonic repellers (one of which was actually pushed out of the ground by a mole.) I have tried smoke bombs, flooding, and running a hose from the exhaust pipe of the car into the tunnels. It’s been a few years since I did the research so I don’t have links handy, but if you look around you will find two types of sites about getting rid of moles: those that are trying to sell you a gadget or gimmick, and those that tell you gadgets or gimmicks other than traps don’t work. The ones telling you that only trapping works tend to be university agricultural sites and professional exterminators and the like. [Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences PDF](http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh084.pdf) on moles. If you’re talking about a small flower bed or two and don’t care if the moles run through the rest of the yard the bit in that PDF about underground fencing might work for you. There is one more thing that works: [The Rodenator](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2umEFHeo6mw) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/7 "2011-04-10T17:42:12Z")
I have wire fencing under ground that reduces the moles getting into the beds. It doesn’t stop them from running into the bed above ground, digging in and starting a colony. It sounds like I’ll be doing what I’ve done for years. I’ll be dropping poison pellets in active tunnels and using my spike trap that gets them sometimes. I really don’t care about the lawn, just the garden beds. The Castor Oil Pellets is something I hadn’t seen before. ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/8 "2011-04-11T12:10:03Z")
How course they do. Those ricin pellets were quite effective against Gyorgi Markov. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/9 "2011-04-11T14:58:27Z")
use a barrier that is smooth above ground and something extending below. straight trails are reused transit trails. stomp a few inches flat and if it gets raised again it is active, place trap or poison there. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/10 "2011-04-11T17:21:28Z")
> [@Khaki\_Campbell](#): > > Those ricin pellets were quite effective against Gyorgi Markov. I think the OP is looking for something more specific, rather than an umbrella solution. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/11 "2011-04-11T21:06:07Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > use a barrier that is smooth above ground and something extending below. > > straight trails are reused transit trails. stomp a few inches flat and if it gets raised again it is active, place trap or poison there. I already have below ground barriers on many beds. I just wanted to know if the Castor Oil Granules work at keeping them out of the beds. ---
**Author:** ![Dufus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Dufus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dufus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-castor-oil-granules-get-rid-of-moles/577864/12 "2011-04-11T21:15:06Z")
I bought one of those vibrating mole repellent thingies that you stick in the ground and it scares the moles away. Believe it or not, it works!!