MoleMax Repels Pests
The other day, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t sprinkled MoleMax on our front flower bed. This wonderful repellent keeps gophers and voles from destroying our plants during the winter.
When our landscape is covered by snow, lots of nefarious activity goes on underneath. Gophers chew on and eat plant roots. Voles chew mostly at the base of plant stems. When the snow melts in the spring, I’m “greeted” by dead and dying plants. It’s SO annoying!
Voles also tunnel throughout our lawn when it’s covered by snow. (see top photo) They know they’re safe from hawks and owls and really cause a lot of damage. I’m not so worried about the lawn, but I do take issue with what they do to my perennials.
How MoleMax works
Fortunately, I take a preventive step each fall. (Or, at least, I normally do but had forgotten this year.) I sprinkle a repellent called MoleMax on the soil surface of the bed. The granules are coated with castor oil, which works great.
It’s important to note that this product is a repellent, not a poison. Rodents rely on their sense of smell to detect danger, find food and find their way home. Repellents overpower their sense of smell and that makes them very uncomfortable. That’s why they leave the area.
Poison bait, which I think should be outlawed, contains blood thinners that slowly kill whatever eats it. If a predator or neighbor’s pet discovers a rodent killed with poison bait and eats it, they’ll also be poisoned. We have a lot of hawks and owls in this area and would never use anything that would harm our allies in the war against gophers and voles!
Our experience with MoleMax
The first year I discovered MoleMax, it was a complete game-changer. We were getting ready to plant 300 lavender plants next to our driveway. The only problem was that there was a lot of gopher activity in that spot. (We used to call it “Gopher Town!”) Two weeks before planting day, I sprinkled it in the area and the gophers apparently went elsewhere!
About two weeks ago, I made a dash to our garden center and bought a new bag. After I sprinkled it on the flower bed, I knew my plants should be safe throughout the winter.
The label indicates it repels gophers, moles, armadillos (!), ground squirrels and rabbits. We’re not so sure it bothers our local cottontail (“Mr. Buns”), however.
We don’t get moles here but I want to clarify something important. Moles are carnivores so they don’t chew on our plants, although they can disturb them with their tunneling. They’re actually after worms and grubs. And we definitely don’t have armadillos! But if you live where any of these critters are a problem, this is a great solution.
I want to add that you shouldn’t use it on or around edible plants due to the castor oil. But I thought you should know about this product.
Product source
I’ve added MoleMax to my Amazon Store, under the “Gardener’s Must-Haves” category, if you can’t find it locally. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. However, that will not impact the price you pay in the least.)