# Do I have to kill them? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223 "2001-11-19T16:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MissBHaven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missbhaven/32/7170_2.png) [@MissBHaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBHaven)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/1 "2001-11-19T16:51:40Z")
Is there any way I can have a beautiful lawn without killing the pesky little moles turning it into a maze of raised tunnels? I’ve looked at dozens of sites & they all seem to contradict each other. Is there any way to co-exist or simply convince them to go live elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/2 "2001-11-19T17:24:51Z")
I have occasionally ordered all-natural yard and garden products from a company called Gardens Alive. They have some sort of pellets you can put on your lawn made from castor beans which apparently offend the noses of moles. They’ll leave but won’t be harmed (according to the claims of the product). I haven’t used it, so I can’t verify that claim. I’ve been happy with other stuff I’ve ordered from them though. They’ve got a website, just their name (no space) with www. on one side and .com on the other. ---
**Author:** ![MissBHaven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missbhaven/32/7170_2.png) [@MissBHaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBHaven)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/3 "2001-11-19T17:54:32Z")
Thank you! One of the sites laid claim to castor beans. I know they would scare me away! ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/4 "2001-11-19T18:14:45Z")
just for the record, Castor beans are EXTREMELY poisonous. Maybe moles are turned away by there smell, but dogs may not be. proceed with caution. you may save the moles, but cause harm to other pets. ---
**Author:** ![MissBHaven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missbhaven/32/7170_2.png) [@MissBHaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBHaven)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/5 "2001-11-19T18:23:04Z")
Are the beans poisonous or the plants? I have cats and the lady who lives behind me lets hers outside and I would hate to not only kill the moles but the cats too! I can’t use the “traps”—hah! Instruments of painful, brutal death more like it! ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/6 "2001-11-19T18:35:19Z")
[http://museum.gov.ns.ca/poison/castor.htm](http://museum.gov.ns.ca/poison/castor.htm) it’s the beans that are poisonous. ---
**Author:** ![MissBHaven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missbhaven/32/7170_2.png) [@MissBHaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBHaven)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/7 "2001-11-19T22:23:23Z")
Besides Castor beans… Has anyone had any success in getting rid of an increasing mole population? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/8 "2001-11-19T22:53:31Z")
Welllllll… if moles are in any way related to groundhogs, I’m sure we can think of one or two suggestions… ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/9 "2001-11-19T23:07:45Z")
Castor beans contain ricin, one of nature’s deadlier poisons. If any mammal eats the beans, you can probably kiss it goodbye. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/10 "2001-11-20T04:09:29Z")
Well, I don’t know the strict particulars, but the castor-bean based thing I saw in that catalog was some sort of fine material applied to the lawn. It was not intended to be ingested by the moles–just to repel them. Of course, that may not mean it’s safe for mammals which might somehow ingest it–I guess if your dog or cat ate grass or dirt, assuming this formulation is actually poisonous. As I said, I am not sure of how it was supposed to work exactly, but the scent was supposed to repel moles–not attract them to eat it and die from it. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/11 "2001-11-20T04:50:28Z")
The castor beans are not driving the mole away. They are killing or driving off the grubs and worms the moles eat. The moles disappear, probability migrating to the neighbor’s, because the eating at your place is not that good anymore. Yes, kill them. Kill them dead. Let me recommend my wife’s late grandmother’s method of mole hunting. The old lady would go out at sunrise on a damp morning, barefoot with three spades. She would look for movement in the lawn and then commence her stalk. Once she had figured where the vermin was and where it was going she would stab one spade into its path and the second behind it to cut off its retreat. Once the mole was fixed in its tunnel the third spade was plunged between the other two, usually with a shout of triumph. Blood thirsty old lady but a hell of a mole hunter. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/12 "2001-11-20T06:18:31Z")
My grandfather used a metal contraption that had three spring loaded spikes, which was placed over the end of a tunnel. While gruesome, it was not slow. I can’t remember the name of the thing, but I am sure if you ask at a garden supply store, they can tell you. * * * Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons! ~Can you be so warm? Can you know what I feel? -Better Than Ezra ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/13 "2001-11-20T06:39:50Z")
Get rid of the grubs in your lawn, the moles will leave if there’s no food. My dog kills moles, picks them up and breaks their necks. Gardens Alive should have a good selection of grub killing stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/14 "2001-11-20T08:17:25Z")
My thought is, “What happens when the grubs come back?” I say poison or gas the suckers. I bet a good BB gun would put a world of hurt on them, too. I assume that they come up in the morning to push out new dirt, like gophers. But try the stabby traps. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/15 "2001-11-20T10:42:43Z")
**Cranky** , I hope it didn’t sound like I was disupting you. I am sure that the product works as intended. I just wanted to let **MissBhaven** know how very poisonous that stuff is and to proceed with caution (not leave it laying around, wash hands, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/16 "2001-11-20T11:22:06Z")
Actually, the fun way to do it **Cardinal** is to take a highway flare, punch a hole about mid-tunnel, light the flare, and stick it in. Meanwhile, you sit back with a glass of iced tea, and a .22 rifle waiting for him to come out. But I think she was looking for a no-kill solution, in which case I suggest playing some Barry Manilow across the yard. Of course, it might cause them to commit suicide, but at least then the blood won’t be on your hands. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MissBHaven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missbhaven/32/7170_2.png) [@MissBHaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissBHaven)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/17 "2001-11-20T14:34:26Z")
Barry Manilow might just work! I thought of buying a bunch of grubs and dumping them in my neighbors yard in hopes that they will simply move! As much as I hate it, I think I’m going to get a combination of the product that **CrankyAsAnOldMan** suggested and the {shudder} traps. I’m just going to have to warn the cat lady and keep my own in the house. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/18 "2001-11-20T18:41:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bad News Baboon \* > \*\ ***Cranky** , > I hope it didn’t sound like I was disupting you. I am sure that the product works as intended. I just wanted to let **MissBhaven** know how very poisonous that stuff is and to proceed with caution (not leave it laying around, wash hands, etc). \*\* Thassokay. It’s nothing compared the emotional devastation just caused by the Barry Manilow crack… _sniffle_ ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/19 "2001-11-20T18:50:52Z")
:eek: not Barry Manilow!!! (Baboon calls the SPCA) ---
**Author:** ![mdc1823](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@mdc1823](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mdc1823)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223/20 "2001-11-21T07:28:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > > Thassokay. It’s nothing compared the emotional devastation just caused by the Barry Manilow crack… _sniffle_ \*\* Okay, okay…Neil Diamond then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-to-kill-them/94223.md?page=2)