The picture shows our garden a few days after the mole activity started. We tried a few products. So how about the so-called sonic repellers, do ultrasonic mole repellers work? Keep reading.
I remember the day when the first molehill appeared in our garden, and it was a sign for me that we had a problem. I was born in a village and I know that getting rid of these animals is next to impossible. The top picture above shows how it looked just a couple of days later. The mole seems to be active mainly during the night. In the morning we would always see a few more molehills.
So I started looking around, there are some really big shops for home and garden. It turns out that in the country where we live the mol is more or less protected. So there were no chemicals or any other tools that would kill the animal. But there are plenty of mole repellers, some products that are supposed to force the animal to leave.
This looks fine, there may be no harm in dealing with the mole in a “human way”. So our natural choice was some of those numerous ultrasonic or sonic mole repellers. I use the words sonic and ultrasonic because it is not clear to me how they really work. This because you can hear it. Every couple of minutes you can hear it buzzing, and this is so even when it is in the ground. The picture below shows how it looks:
They did not have a solar repeller, so the model in the picture uses 4 huge batteries, yet another useless investment. Later I realized there was a solar version in a shop that is literally 500 meters from our house, and it was even more affordable.
Anyway, in the specifications of our ultrasonic mole repeller, it says that, with respect to moles, it covers an area of up to 1250 square meters. This sounds incredible and I did not believe it for a moment, but our affected area is much smaller in any case.
Note that only the ball-shaped top remains above the ground when you put it outside to work, the picture below shows it in our garden, buzzing uselessly. The area around looks ugly, this is all due to the mole activity.
They also say that you have to give it time to act. Apparently, the sound that the gadget emits annoys the mole and it should eventually leave. Sounds good to me. So we left it there for several weeks, and I could see new and new molehills appearing directly around the gadget.
The irony is that at one moment I decided to put the repeller in another position in front of the house, and the next day there was a molehill exactly on the spot where the repeller was before that.
All in all, this thing did not work for us. But let’s be fair, there are so many models around, see what you have on Amazon, and some may work. If you follow the link you will realize that some have thousands of reports by users. I simply cannot confirm that this thing works from my own experience, no more no less.
Alternatives to sonic mole repellents?
There are also some physical mole traps, but in my view, this is useless unless you have something that can attract the animal to get in. From what I see, there is nothing that would go together with such traps.
But there may be some solutions, though do not take my words for granted, at least not yet. I was reading about moles, and it appears that they are sensitive to smells. So naturally, there is a number of products that are designed to repel moles due to the smell that the animal dislikes.
We tried a few and there may be something that really works. In the mentioned nearby home/garden shop I found capsules that are 100% garlic oil. I paid around 17 Euro for a package, do not remember how many capsules were inside, probably 50 or so. You simply make a narrow 10-20 cm deep hole and place a capsule inside. I covered the whole area in front of the house, putting capsules roughly half a meter distance from each other.
The capsules look like those with fish oil that we give kids, so my guess is that the wall of the capsule slowly disintegrates because of the moisture in the ground, and the smell spreads around. So this is yet another “human way” of dealing with moles. Apparently, this should work for up to 3 months or so.
What surprises me is that after placing the capsules in the ground, I have not seen any single molehill in front of the house. This was several days ago, so far so good. I shall add a few lines later, so stay in touch and bookmark this text. So I was joking that this was scientific proof that the moles belong to the family of devils, both appear to react negatively to garlic.
Addition after a couple of months of useless attempts to get rid of the mole
The picture below shows what is happening after several of the products against moles were used. The mentioned ultrasonic buzzer is still there, you can see it on the right in the snow.
As you see, the animal is still there, active as usual. We had minus 10 degrees Celsius these days, this did not affect the mole. I could see occasionally how a new molehill appears and it is shaking. Then I run outside with a spade trying to dig it out. Well, you see the result.
It is fair to say that nothing works against this animal. We can only hope it will leave voluntarily. If you want to waste your money on various products that offer an easy solution, go ahead, but it will be useless. I just wonder how manufacturers are allowed to sell the stuff that clearly does not work. Having a dog in the garden or a cat might help.
Note that I am adding texts here about tools for the house, these are items that I use myself so have a look in the category Home & Garden. Read also what I was doing with rats. Thank you for reading and have a nice day.