Lawn Diseases
Best Mole Killer: Why Most Mole Poisons Cannot Work
Moles are not rodents, so the grain baits sold for them cannot poison them — and grub control will not remove them either. What extension services do recommend.
Castor Oil Repellent Granules
Bonide MOLEMAX Mole & Vole Repellent Granules (10 lb) Review
★★☆☆☆ 2/5
our editor rating how we score3.8/5 from 6,179 shoppers at Amazon — their number, not ours.
$13–$18
Typical price · 10 lb broadcast over the affected area, reapplied after rain and on a schedule
Affiliate links — see our disclosure. Commissions never influence verdicts.
A best-seller in a category extension services are unusually blunt about. Castor oil repellents are on the list of things that do not control moles.
Our Verdict
Popular, harmless, and not supported by the extension literature for the job it is sold for. Castor-oil granules are the most-bought mole product in America and the reason is understandable: they are cheap, they are safe around people and pets, and a mole that moves on for its own reasons looks like a success. But Purdue Extension groups the home-remedy and repellent approaches together and says 'the reality is that these just do not work', and WSU Extension's ineffective list names mothballs, vibrating windmills, electronic devices and human hair in the same breath. Two stars rather than one because it is genuinely non-toxic and because it needs reapplying after rain, which at least is honest about being a temporary barrier rather than a fix. If you want the animal gone, extension guidance points at trapping first, or a worm-form bromethalin bait placed in an active tunnel.
✅ Pros
- Non-toxic and safe to handle around children and pets
- Cheap and simple to broadcast — no tools, no placement skill
- No re-entry interval or poison hazard of any kind
- Will not harm the animal, if that matters to you
⚠️ Cons
- Extension services do not support repellents for mole control — Purdue: 'these just do not work'
- Needs reapplication after rain and on a schedule, indefinitely
- Even where a mole leaves, nothing stops it or another one returning
- Treats the whole lawn to address an animal that lives in specific runs
- The category's popularity reflects marketing, not measured results
Product type
Castor Oil Repellent Granules
Active ingredient
Castor oil 10%
Price range
$13–$18
Coverage
10 lb broadcast over the affected area, reapplied after rain and on a schedule
Best for
Buyers who want a non-toxic option and accept it may do nothing
our editor rating
2 out of 5
Where our facts come from
Correctly carries no EPA registration
Adjuvants, dyes, devices and minimum-risk products are not registered pesticides, so an empty registration number here is right rather than missing.
What we found when we read it
Correctly carries NO EPA registration number: castor oil products of this kind are exempt from federal registration under FIFRA section 25(b), the minimum-risk pesticide exemption. That is a different thing from a device — a 25(b) product IS a pesticide and does make a pest claim, but EPA has not reviewed or approved its label or its efficacy. So there is no label to read and no approved claim to check, which is exactly why our review of this category leans on extension trial evidence rather than on label text. Confirmed for the Bonide product specifically: its own documentation states it is exempt from registration under FIFRA 25(b) and is not registered with EPA. WSU FIELD TEST recorded 2026-08-20. The same WSU Extension newsletter field-tested a granular castor-oil-plus-Fullers-earth mole repellent through February, applied repeatedly to the active parts of a mole territory: "Throughout the test there was no change in activity. The mole kept returning to the application holes and plugging them up!" The mole did not avoid treated ground — it returned to the treated holes and closed them. Same limits apply (limited test, western species, 2007), but it is consistent with the customer ratings this product already carries.
Where this page and the container disagree, the container wins — the label is the legal authority on rates and restrictions. How to read one yourself.
Where This Product Matters
Matched against each state's actual disease, weed and pest pressure.
Arizona
Arizona hub →⚖️ Do not buy this for an Arizona yard. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension states it plainly: “We do not have moles in Arizona.” Soil being pushed up here is almost certainly a pocket gopher — a rodent that does eat plant material and therefore CAN be baited, which is the opposite of a mole. Identify by mound shape: a gopher approaches the surface at an angle so its mound is a fan or tear drop with the plug off to one side; a mole pushes soil straight up, so its mound is round and conical.
Colorado
Colorado hub →⚖️ Almost certainly the wrong animal here. CSU Extension fact sheet 6.521 records moles as “rarely found in Colorado, and only on the eastern plains” — the Lower South Platte counties (Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Morgan, Washington, Yuma) plus Baca in the south-east. Denver, the Front Range and the Western Slope are all outside mole range, where CSU points instead at voles, pocket gophers, prairie dogs or Wyoming ground squirrels.
Iowa
Iowa hub →Moles along field edges
Oregon
Oregon hub →Moles (heavy in soft, damp valley soil)
Common questions
Common Questions
How much does Bonide MOLEMAX Mole & Vole Repellent Granules (10 lb) cost?
Bonide MOLEMAX Mole & Vole Repellent Granules (10 lb) typically runs $13–$18, covering 10 lb broadcast over the affected area, reapplied after rain and on a schedule.
What does Bonide MOLEMAX Mole & Vole Repellent Granules (10 lb) treat?
Bonide MOLEMAX Mole & Vole Repellent Granules (10 lb) targets Moles.
What is the active ingredient in Bonide MOLEMAX Mole & Vole Repellent Granules (10 lb)?
Castor oil 10%.
What is the biggest downside of Bonide MOLEMAX Mole & Vole Repellent Granules (10 lb)?
Extension services do not support repellents for mole control — Purdue: 'these just do not work'
Real feedback
Customer Reviews
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