Will applying insecticides to kill grubs help control moles?

Question:

Will applying insecticides to kill grubs help control moles?

Answer:

One of our biggest frustrations with moles is the perennial misinformation that an insecticide application to kill grubs will solve the mole problem.  This is the “lie that will not die.”  Forty years ago, it might have been true that an insecticide application would discourage moles because back then, the insecticide ingredients being used were highly toxic to people, pets, and wildlife, but they were especially toxic to the “Mole Main Meal” – earthworms.

All pesticides that were highly toxic to earthworms were discontinued or banned long ago.  Insecticides available today do not kill earthworms; therefore, the white grub treatment does NOT remove the mole food source

The over-simplistic, bad advice to use an insecticide for mole control often comes at the wrong time of the year.  For example, when there are no grubs in the lawn.  Further, springtime, when moles are first noticed, is NOT the time to apply grub control insecticides as white grubs are still deep in the soil and they are fully grown, two conditions that will make them nearly impossible to kill.  An unnecessary application of pesticides wastes time and money without doing anything to solve the original problem. 

Learn more in this article: Moles in the Lawn, Control.

Guest Answered by
Donald Lewis
Last updated on
March 11, 2024