The European mole (Talpa europaea) spends almost its whole life underground, so most people never see one. What they see is the damage: fresh molehills and raised ridges across a lawn, sports pitch or paddock. A single mole can do all of it on its own.
Size
11 to 16 cm long
Weight
70 to 130 g
Fur
Short, velvety, dark grey to black
Diet
Earthworms and soil insects
Most molehills
Late winter and spring
Mole Facts
- Moles have a cylinder-shaped body, a pink pointed snout, tiny eyes and large, spade-like front feet for digging.
- They are not rodents and do not eat plants. They feed on earthworms, grubs and other soil animals that fall into their tunnels.
- A mole can dig up to 20 metres of tunnel in a day.
- Moles live alone and defend their tunnel system. When one is removed, a neighbouring mole often moves in.
- They are active day and night, all year, in cycles of about four hours.
How Do I Know If I Have Moles?
- Molehills: cone-shaped heaps of fine, loose soil with no visible hole, pushed up from below.
- Raised ridges: lines of lifted turf where a tunnel runs just under the surface.
- Soft, sinking ground where tunnels have collapsed.
- Wilting plants whose roots have been disturbed by tunnelling.
Molehills are sometimes confused with ant nests or worm casts. A molehill is much larger, usually 20 to 30 cm across, and several appear in a line or cluster.
How Serious Are Moles?
Moles are not a health risk to people, but they can spoil a lawn within days. The mounds smother grass, the tunnels leave ground uneven and unsafe on sports fields and paddocks, and soil in mown grass damages mower blades and contaminates silage on farms. Tunnels can also disturb the roots of young plants and seedlings.
How to Keep Moles Away
There is no reliable way to stop a mole moving into a garden that has plenty of worms. A few points worth knowing:
- Remove molehills with a spade and use the fine soil elsewhere. Flattening them leaves bare patches.
- Sonic spikes and repellents give mixed results and often just move the mole to another part of the garden.
- Buried mesh barriers work for small, high-value areas but are costly to install.
- Trapping by a trained operator is the most effective and widely used method of control. Traps must be humane and checked regularly.
Moles damaging your lawn or grounds?
Call our office for advice, or see our mole control page for the current status of the service.
See Mole ControlCall 020 8106 5666Frequently Asked Questions
How many moles are in my garden?
Usually just one. Moles are solitary, and one mole can produce a large number of molehills in a short time.
Do moles eat plant roots and bulbs?
No. Moles eat earthworms and insects. Plants are damaged because tunnelling disturbs their roots, not because the mole feeds on them.
When are moles most active?
Moles are active all year. Molehills are most noticeable in late winter and spring, when they dig new tunnels and the breeding season begins.
