The 10 Best Burrowing Animal Repellents
Looking to chase moles, voles, and chipmunks out of your garden? These are the 10 best burrowing animal repellents that money can buy.
What are the 10 best burrowing animal repellents available that will effectively drive moles, voles, and/or chipmunks out of your garden?
Here’s my list, in no particular order. I’ve used every one of these products and I’m going to rank each one in five separate categories on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 the worst and 10 the best.
At the end, I’ll give you my winner.
There are four caveats. First, my opinion is based on my use of each product in my densely planted ornamental perennial garden only. Second, I can’t tell you how effective these products are on any animals other than moles, voles, and chipmunks. Third, this list is comprised of repellents in granular form only. No liquids. Fourth, if you do nothing else, READ AND FOLLOW ALL MANUFACTURER’S DIRECTIONS AND WARNINGS!!! Whichever product(s) you decide to use, you’ve gotta do exactly what the manufacturer(s) tells you to do. No joke.
MoleGo Burrowing Animal Repellent
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: 9
- Effectiveness against voles: 9
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: 9
- Duration of effectiveness: 8
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 8
- Average score: 8.6
Comments: Ferti-Lome’s MoleGo is a really excellent product for all-around mole, vole, chipmunk repelling. It seemed to do just a bit better against moles than voles and chipmunks. Its only active ingredient is castor oil. You can’t ever go wrong with that. It’s concentration is 10%. So it’s coverage and potential strength is a bit less than some of the other products with higher castor oil concentrations. Click the #advertisement link directly below to order it right here, from Amazon.
Repels-All Animal Repellent Granules
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: N/A
- Effectiveness against voles: 10
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: 10
- Duration of effectiveness: 8
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 9
- Average score: 9.2
Comments: Works great on voles and chipmunks. They hate it and stay away from it. I don’t think it worked on my moles at all. In Bonide’s (the manufacturer) defense, though, they don’t advertise this product as a mole repellent, so I didn’t include that category when scoring it. Excellent coverage and above average duration. Heavy watering will call for more frequent re-applications. If you’re looking to roust voles and chipmunks, this is perfect. Not good for mole repelling. Click the #advertisement link directly below to order it from Amazon.
Holy Moley Mole Repellent
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: 10
- Effectiveness against voles: 8
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: N/A
- Duration of effectiveness: 8
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 8
- Average score: 8.5
Comments: Works great on moles and, even though St. Gabriel Organics doesn’t advertise it as a vole repellent, it did seem to have a pretty good impact on driving them away from the area in question. Its active ingredient is castor oil at a 20% concentration. Good and good. Although at 20%, it’s coverage wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, and the duration of its effectiveness was not as long as I expected. Still a great product. Works especially well for moles. Click the #advertisement link directly below to order it here, from Amazon.
Shake-Away Rodent Repellent Granules
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: N/A
- Effectiveness against voles: 10
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: 10
- Duration of effectiveness: 6
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 5
- Average score: 7.75
Comments: Man, this stuff works great on voles and chipmunks. They hate it. And if you keep applying it (because you have to – it doesn’t last super long and it seems like water washes it away fairly quickly), it seems like its effectiveness stays good. I don’t think that voles or chipmunks ever get accustomed to it. The coverage is not great. It gets used up pretty quickly. But man, it works great. This product doesn’t repel moles, so I took that category out when scoring it. Click the #advertisement link directly below to order it.
Repellex Mole & Gopher Repellent
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: 10
- Effectiveness against voles: 10
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: 10
- Duration of effectiveness: 10
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 10
- Average score: 10
Comments: This product does everything it’s supposed to do and it behaves exactly as the manufacturer advertises. Excellent and immediate effect on moles, voles, and chipmunks. And watering it in only increases its effectiveness. It remains effective for a solid 4-6 weeks as advertised. High concentrations of castor oil (20%) and additional offensive goodies. I love the fact that it’s effective on all three pests. Put this stuff down and watch it go to work! Click the #advertisement link directly below to order it here, from Amazon.
Repellex Systemic Granular
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: N/A
- Effectiveness against voles: 10
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: 10
- Duration of effectiveness: 10
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 10
- Average score: 10
Comments: This product is a bit different than all of the other products on my list. It’s a systemic product which is absorbed into the roots and tissues of plants and protects them from consumption by grazing animals, like voles and chipmunks. I have used it to protect my plants from a vole infestation, and from the occassional chipmunk that wanders into my garden. Its use stopped voles from eating three different kinds of plant in a little over a week, and it’s prevented chipmunks from even thinking about eating my plants. Since voles and chipmunks are the only animals present in my garden capable of causing this specific damage, I can only score this product based on its success in repelling these two types of critter from the tissues of my plants. Excellent product! 2 ounces covers a square foot of soil, it lasts for a year, and because it’s systemic, it cannot be washed away by watering or rain. It performs 100% perfectly in its intended use as a systemic. And remember, this product IS a systemic: it works by being assimilated into and throughout the entire plant’s tissue structure. All of the other products on this list work by amending the soil and making it inhospitable to burrowing animals. Again, Repellex Systemic Granular works absolutely perfectly for my plants as a systemic repellent. Click the #advertisement link directly below to order it from Amazon.
MoleMax Mole & Vole Repellent Granules
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: 9
- Effectiveness against voles: 9
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: 9
- Duration of effectiveness: 8
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 8
- Average score: 8.6
Comments: Another excellent product. You just can’t go wrong with castor oil, especially when dealing with moles. Even at a concentration of 10%, Bonide’s MoleMax still delivered solid performance. Very similar in all ways to MoleGo at the beginning of my list. It didn’t last as long as I thought it might, but still, a great product and a solid repeller! Click the #advertisement link below to order it here, directly from Amazon.
Victor Mole & Gopher Repellent
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: 9
- Effectiveness against voles: 9
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: 9
- Duration of effectiveness: 8
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 8
- Average score: 8.6
Comments: Yet another excellent product. Again, castor oil at 10% and a heady aroma which is just offensive enough to make moles, voles, and chipmunks leave the area. Very effective. Click the #advertisement link directly below to order it from Amazon.
I Must Garden Mole & Vole Repellent
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: 10
- Effectiveness against voles: 10
- Effectiveness against chipmunks: 10
- Duration of effectiveness: 10
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 9
- Average score: 9.8
Comments: What a great product! Castor oil at 20% plus additional offensive botanical oils to take it’s repelling prowess to the next level. And it actually has a smell that we humans find pleasant! Works beautifully on all three pests – moles, voles, and chipmunks alike. The only problem I had with it was its tendency to form a light crust on top of the mulched areas where I applied it. So I had to stir it up a bit and add just a little more to my application – a very minor problem considering what an awesome product it is in all other respects. Click the #advertisement link directly below to order it here, from Amazon.
Mole Scram Granular Repellent
Rating by category
- Effectiveness against moles: 10
- Effectiveness against voles: 10
- Effectiveness against chipmunks:10
- Duration of effectiveness: 10
- Satisfaction with level of coverage: 9
- Average score: 9.8
Comments: Castor oil at a 15% and additional active ingredients like citronella oil and garlic oil make this one incredibly powerful and effective repellent. Even though the packaging says nothing about repelling voles and chipmunks, it’s done an awesome job of it. Like the I Must Garden product, it seems like it gets just a tiny bit crusty on the surface of my mulch. But again, this is such a minor problem, it’s almost not worth mentioning. A truly effective product. Although I’ve used (and continue to use) Mole Scram, it’s not a product I can offer for sale from Amazon through The Renaissance Garden Guy. I can, however provide you a photo of one of my own jugs of Mole Scram (see below), as well as an #advertisement link that will take you to an Amazon page that makes the product available to customers and provides a photo and information. Here’s the #advertisement link.
And the winner is...
Repellex Mole & Gopher Repellent!!! This stuff is terrific. Besides its potent ingredients at high concentration levels, its easy application and effective coverage made this stand out just a bit further than all of the other products I’ve reviewed here.
And while we’re on the subject of all the other products, I want to just mention that they’re all in my “10 Best” list for a reason. They are literally the 10 best burrowing animal repellents that I’ve used. If you follow me regularly here on The Renaissance Garden Guy, you’ll know of my profound relationship with moles, voles, and chipmunks alike. They are as much a reality on my land as the property taxes we pay, and even more annoying. So I’ve had the opportunity to try out a lot of different products. The ten listed here are my favorites. I readily and completely substitute any one for another (with the exception of the three that have a more limited scope of application – you can’t expect a product that doesn’t repel moles to repel moles) and I mix and combine all of them when I’m feeling adventurous. Of course, any one of them is an effective stand-alone repeller, and all richly deserve to be in my top ten. And again, if you find yourself using any of these products, please read and follow all of the directions!!!
Hope you’ve found this information helpful. Thanks for giving it a read. Your time, interest, and readership are all very much appreciated.
As always, Cheers, and Happy Gardening!
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Very informative