You flatten the mounds on Saturday. By Monday there are six new ones, a line of them heading for the vegetable bed. That's a molerat at work, and it isn't going to move on by itself.
The mounds and tunnels ruining most Garden Route lawns are made by molerats, and the only reliable way to stop them is to find the active tunnel and treat it with a registered product placed into the run. Water down the hole, mothballs, windmills, vibrating stakes and broken glass are the remedies everyone's neighbour swears by, and the molerats carry on regardless. They live underground almost their entire lives, they're used to vibration from the surface, and they simply block off and tunnel around anything they don't like.
We control moles and molerats in home gardens, estates, golf courses, sports fields, schools and smallholdings across the Garden Route.
Mole or molerat?
Most people call everything a mole, but in our area there are two very different animals.
- Molerats are rodents. They have big front teeth that stick out past the lips, and they eat roots, bulbs, tubers and the bottoms of plants. They push up mounds of loose soil, and they're the ones that kill roses, eat bulbs from underneath and leave a lawn lumpy and soft. The large dune molerat is common in the sandy coastal soils around places like Sedgefield, Dana Bay and parts of Mossel Bay. Smaller molerat species live in heavier soil further inland
- Golden moles aren't rodents at all. They're small, blind, shiny-furred insect eaters that tunnel just below the surface, leaving raised ridges in the lawn rather than big mounds. They eat grubs and earthworms, not plants
Our moles and molerats profile has more detail, and a photo of the mound or ridge on WhatsApp usually tells us which one you have.
Signs it's a molerat
- Fresh mounds of loose soil, often in a line, with no open hole on top
- Plants that wilt suddenly and pull out of the ground with no roots
- Bulbs that disappear over winter
- Soft, spongy patches in the lawn where the tunnels run
- In sandy coastal gardens, mounds the size of a bucket
How we treat moles and molerats
- Find the active runs We probe around fresh mounds to locate the main tunnel. An old tunnel is a waste of time, so we test which runs are in use, sometimes by opening a section and checking whether it's sealed again the next day.
- Treat the tunnel A registered product is placed into the active run and the opening is sealed, so it stays underground where the animal lives. Children and pets are kept off the treated area as we explain on the day.
- Check and follow up Molerat systems can be long, with more than one animal. We come back to check for fresh mounds and retreat runs that are still active.
- Border advice Molerats move in from next door and from open ground. On large properties and sports fields, regular checks along the boundary stop the next one from taking over.
What doesn't work, honestly
The garden remedies fail for a reason. Molerats are sealed into their tunnel system and close off flooded or smelly sections within minutes. Solar-powered vibrating stakes may push an animal a few metres away, which is fine if it moves to the neighbour's and not if it moves under your roses. Flattening mounds with the roller makes the lawn look better for a day and has no effect on the animal.
Wire mesh does work for one thing: lining a new raised bed or a bulb bed with buried mesh keeps molerats out of that particular bed. It's worth doing for the vegetable garden.
Lawns, estates and sports fields
On a golf course, a cricket outfield or a school's rugby field, molerat mounds aren't only ugly, they're a safety hazard. Soft tunnels collapse under a player's foot and twist ankles. These sites do best on a regular programme with a set route around the edges where animals come in. Estates and complexes often share the problem across many gardens, and treating one garden at a time just moves the animals around. We can work with the body corporate to treat the estate as a whole.
We have local pages for mole control in George, Sedgefield and Dana Bay, where the sandy soil makes molerats a constant issue. Mole work is often booked alongside farm pest control on smallholdings, where molerats get into vegetable plots and orchards.
When it's best to treat
Molerats are most active after rain, when the soil is soft and easy to dig. That's when you see the most fresh mounds, and it's also the best time to find active tunnels and treat them. In dry, hard summer soil they go deeper and quieter, and a lawn can look clear for months before the first winter rain brings a new line of mounds. That's why a single treatment in summer sometimes seems to fail in June.
What it costs
Mole and molerat work is priced on the size of the lawn or field, the number of active tunnel systems, how many follow-up visits are needed and whether it's a once-off or a regular programme for a sports field or estate. A suburban lawn with one molerat is a short job. A golf course is a programme. We'll look at the mounds and give you a straight quote.
Ring 044 012 5011 or contact us online, and attach a photo of the mounds if you can.
Frequently asked questions
Do home remedies like water or mothballs get rid of molerats?
No. Molerats seal off flooded or smelly tunnels and dig around them. Treating the active tunnel is the only reliable way to deal with them.
How do I know if it's a mole or a molerat?
Molerats leave mounds of loose soil and eat roots and bulbs. Golden moles leave raised ridges just under the lawn and eat grubs, not plants.
Is mole treatment safe for my pets?
The product goes into the tunnel, underground, and the hole is sealed. We'll tell you how long to keep pets and children off the treated area.
Why do the molerats keep coming back?
Molerats move in from neighbouring gardens, empty plots and open veld. Regular checks along the boundary help, especially on large properties and estates.
When are molerats most active?
After rain, when the soil is soft. That's when fresh mounds appear and the best time to treat.
Can I protect my vegetable garden from molerats?
Yes. Burying wire mesh under a raised bed or a bulb bed keeps molerats out of that bed for good.