OK, new lawn rodent problem

[trader4]

Living in NJ, I thought I had seen everything. As far as rodents, I always have some moles and chipmunks. But now I just noticed a section of lawn where I have circular mounds of dirt on top of the grass. These mounds are about the size of a large saucer or small pie and stand several inches high. It's obvious fresh dirt from below. There is no hole, just a round pile of dirt. In the 30 X 30 ft section of lawn there are about 8 piles that stand out like a sore thumb.

The moles I've had for many years only dig surface tunnels, where they push up the turf from below, not producting any surface piles. The chipmunks just dig a nice perfect 1 1/2" round hole in the turf and leave no dirt, so they haven't ever been a problem. But what the hell is making this mess now? And how do I get rid of whatever it is?

[ds549]

moles do that.thet are making living quarters underground. not much you can do but move the dirt away. you can trap them in the pushed up tunnels though..lucas

[trader4]

Thanks for the input. I came to the conclusion that they must be moles today too. Upon closer inspection, I could find some typical mole tunnels in the area too. I guess those are the ones they run around in, but they have deeper structures that they live in. I guess the dirt for those has to go somewhere and that's what I'm seeing.

I put some of the mole killer bait stuff in the tunnels. We'll see what happens. I've had some success with it in the past.