  Are you and a mole having a turf war? Try not to sweat it: if you can live with a few tunnels, you'll be rewarded with fewer grubs in the lawn. Gophers, on the other hand, do plenty of damage.
 A mole hill is circular, its entrance hole in the center. Moles dig near the surface, so their tunnels are easy to spot.
 A gopher mound is fan-shaped and its hole is off-center. The gopher digs deeply, so their tunnels are rarely visible.
 One of the oldest mole repellents is a dilute spray of castor oil and water. "The oil produces an odor that drives moles crazy," says Paul James, "and the scent lingers a few weeks. So unless you've had a lot of rain, you need to apply it only every month or so."
 Bacterial sprays and select strains of microscopic worms called nematodes kill the grubs that moles eat while not harming other soil inhabitants. But such products also don't get rid of moles. Even when the grubs are gone, the moles will hang around to eat the earthworms.
 Place the trap on a main tunnel, not one of the many feeder tunnels. To find the main tunnel, depress the soil above the tunnel lightly with your foot without collapsing the tunnel entirely. Do that with several tunnels, then check them a day or two later. If you've found one that looks as if it's been repaired, you've located the main tunnel.
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Moles are one of the most maligned creatures on earth, says master gardener Paul James. "They get blamed for all kinds of damage they don't actually cause," he explains. "Sure, they dig tunnels that may dislodge a prize perennial or two or make an otherwise perfect lawn a little unsightly, but of the seven known species of moles in the United States, only one--the Townsend mole in the Northwest--occasionally nibbles on plants, and even that one prefers the usual mole fare--the grubs of Japanese beetles and June bugs, and other soil-dwelling critters."
Gophers, on the other hand, can cause a lot of damage--routinely lunching on seeds, bulbs and roots.
So although moles and gophers are both notorious tunnelers, the gopher is the far more harmful of the two, and good gardening requires a knowledge of the differences between these two critters. How can you tell whether a mole or a gopher is the guilty cavity creator? Since neither animal is usually seen above ground, you can identify which pest you have by looking at the characteristics of the tunnel itself.
Which is which?
Moles and gophers can be distinguished by the types of tunnels they create. Since the moles' tunnels are visible atop the ground, they are the easier to identify of the two. Mole hills are circular with an exit hole in the middle, while gopher mounds are fan-shaped with an off-center hole.
Converting mounds into empty mole holes:
Paul James coexists peacefully with moles. "I've got plenty of moles in my yard, but I choose to defend them rather than destroy them," he says. "They're cute little critters whose voracious appetite helps keep the insect population in check. And as they 'swim' through the soil, they actually improve it--aerating it--in ways that no machine can."
James may or may not convince you. Despite moles' many unseen attributes, many gardeners are determined to eliminate moles from their gardens. If this is your decided course of action, try one of these methods:
- A dilute solution of castor oil and water can be sprayed into the hole to encourage the mole to leave. A mixture of human urine and water works too.
- By using bacterial sprays (nematodes, or microscopic worms), the grubs that moles eat are eliminated. This may or may not eradicate their food source. Moles also eat earthworms, which are not destroyed by the sprays; thus nematodes don't provide a surefire solution.
- Harpoon traps are probably the most effective means of mole control and serve to kill off only the moles while the other occupants of the soil remain alive. Be sure to move traps frequently if no moles are caught, though; only traps set closest to the main tunnel usually prove effective. You can find all sorts of mole devices, traps and sprays at your local nursery or home-and-garden stores.
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