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.
Bromethalin Mole Bait (artificial earthworm form)
Tomcat Mole Killer, 12 Worm Baits Review
★★★★☆ 4.2/5
our editor rating how we score4.2/5 from 210 shoppers at Amazon — their number, not ours.
$17–$22
Typical price · 12 worm baits; one bait placed into each active tunnel
Affiliate links — see our disclosure. Commissions never influence verdicts.
The only bait category on this shelf built for what a mole actually eats — and the reason it works is exactly why it deserves care around a dog.
Our Verdict
This is the bait that answers the question the grain baits cannot. Purdue Extension is explicit that moles are not rodents, do not feed on seeds, and cannot be baited with rodent foods — so poison peanuts and pellets fail on diet alone. A moulded, scented artificial earthworm carrying bromethalin sidesteps that by presenting as the food moles hunt, which is why it is the form extension coverage treats as legitimate. Two things decide whether it works and whether it is safe. Placement: it goes down into an ACTIVE tunnel, never scattered on the surface — press a section of ridge flat and check in a day, and if it is pushed back up, that run is in use. And the hazard: NPIC states rodenticides have the same effect when eaten by any mammal, bromethalin has no antidote, and signs may appear 8 to 12 hours after ingestion or several days later. In a yard with a digging dog, a trap has a hazard you can see and site; this one is on a delayed timer.
✅ Pros
- Built as an artificial earthworm, so it matches the mole's actual diet
- Works where grain and pellet baits cannot — moles do not eat seed (Purdue)
- Single feeding, no trap setting or mechanical skill needed
- Twelve baits cover a typical suburban tunnel network
- EPA registered, with a label that specifies tunnel placement
⚠️ Cons
- Bromethalin has no antidote and NPIC states rodenticides affect any mammal the same way
- Signs of pet ingestion can be delayed 8–12 hours or several days — a dog that seems fine is not proof
- NPIC: keep out of reach of children and pets in use AND in storage
- Useless on an abandoned tunnel, which is how most people conclude it failed
- Does nothing to stop a new mole moving into the same runs later
Product type
Bromethalin Mole Bait (artificial earthworm form)
Active ingredient
Bromethalin 0.025% — EPA Reg. No. 12455-101-3240
Price range
$17–$22
Coverage
12 worm baits; one bait placed into each active tunnel
Best for
Killing moles in confirmed active tunnels where a trap is impractical
our editor rating
4.2 out of 5
Where our facts come from
Registration confirmed, label text not read
EPA Reg. No. 12455-101-3240
The registration exists and we confirmed it, but no label document was available to read. Treat the concentration and general use pattern as sound and take rates from the container itself.
What we found when we read it
DISCREPANCY, recorded rather than resolved, 2026-08-02. The number already in this record, 12455-101-3240, does resolve in EPA PPLS — as a distributor product of Talpirid (base 12455-101, distributor 3240) — but its registered name is 'MOTOMCO MOLE KILLER GRUB FORMULA', with alternate brand names MOTOMCO GRUB FORMULA, TOMCAT GRUB FORMULA, TOMCAT MOLE KILLER and TOMCAT MOLE KILLER GRUB FORMULA. Our product is sold as twelve WORM baits. EPA hosts no label PDF for this registration, so the bait form cannot be confirmed from a label. THIS MATTERS MORE THAN USUAL: best-mole-killer.mdx rests on Purdue's finding that moles feed on earthworms and that grain and grub baits do not work, so a grub-formula bait would be the wrong shape by our own argument. Either the number is right and the shelf pack differs from the registered name, or the worm baits sit on another registration. Resolve before the next quarterly review; until then no bait-form claim on this product may cite a label. WSU FIELD TEST recorded 2026-08-20. WSU Extension Snohomish County (Dave Pehling, Mole-Hill Gazette 04/07) ran a limited field test of the Talpirid worm-bait format, staking baits in daily-use runs to recover them: "In every instance I could find no sign of feeding, though the baits were consistently walked over, buried, pressed into the tunnel walls or just pushed out of the run." Smearing earthworms on two baits did not change it, and the mole continued to occupy the runs. He also records the manufacturer stating the bait "had been thoroughly tested on our western moles and was proven effective", so the refusal was on the species the claim named. LIMITS, which matter: his own word is limited — one site, one mole, not a trial — the animal is a WESTERN mole (Scapanus), where most of the country has the eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus), and it dates from 2007. Kept in the catalogue with the rating unchanged, because one limited test on a different species is not grounds to overturn a format extension publications otherwise recommend. But the honest expectation is an attempt to verify by probing the run afterwards, not a certainty.
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 Tomcat Mole Killer, 12 Worm Baits cost?
Tomcat Mole Killer, 12 Worm Baits typically runs $17–$22, covering 12 worm baits; one bait placed into each active tunnel.
What does Tomcat Mole Killer, 12 Worm Baits treat?
Tomcat Mole Killer, 12 Worm Baits targets Moles.
What is the active ingredient in Tomcat Mole Killer, 12 Worm Baits?
Bromethalin 0.025% — EPA Reg. No. 12455-101-3240, registered under EPA Reg. No. 12455-101-3240.
What is the biggest downside of Tomcat Mole Killer, 12 Worm Baits?
Bromethalin has no antidote and NPIC states rodenticides affect any mammal the same way
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