How do we get rid of moles and pocket gophers tearing up our HOA's common turf?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 29, 2026

How an HOA board stops moles and pocket gophers in common turf: telling the mounds apart, trapping, bait and license rules in TX, FL and CO, and drip line damage.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Find out which animal you have first, because the fix is different for each one. Moles eat insects and earthworms and leave ridges and round, volcano-shaped mounds. Pocket gophers eat roots, chew irrigation tubing and leave fan-shaped mounds with the hole plugged off to one side. For both animals, trapping in an active tunnel is the method extension services rate most reliable. Poison baits are legal for some uses, but only as the label allows and, when you pay someone to apply them, only through a licensed business. The board's job is to name the animal, decide whether the damage is worth paying to fix, and put the work in a contract. Rules vary by state, by city and by your governing documents. This guide is general education, not legal advice.

Tell the mounds apart

Pocket gopher. UC IPM, the University of California's pest management program, describes gopher mounds as crescent or horseshoe shaped from above, with a plugged hole off to one side. Colorado State University Extension adds two clues for Colorado lawns: solid tubes of soil called eskers that appear on top of the grass as snow melts, and plants that wilt suddenly because the roots were eaten. Mole. UC IPM says mole mounds are more circular, with the plug in the middle, and look like small volcanoes from the side. Moles also push up raised ridges just under the turf as they hunt for food. Vole. CSU says voles leave 1 to 2 inch runways through matted grass with open holes. That is a different problem with a different fix. The state you are in narrows it down. Texas A&M AgriLife says the eastern mole is the only mole found in Texas. UF/IFAS says the eastern mole occurs throughout Florida. In Colorado, CSU says moles live only in a few northeastern plains counties (Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Morgan, Washington and Yuma) and in Baca County, and that damage blamed on moles elsewhere in the state is most likely another animal. A Front Range board with mounds in the park almost certainly has pocket gophers.

Decide whether the damage is worth fixing

Mole damage is mostly about looks. UF/IFAS calls mole damage almost entirely cosmetic and points out that moles eat mole crickets, white grubs, cutworms and other turf pests. Texas A&M AgriLife puts a high mole population at three to five per acre, so a field full of ridges may hold only one or two. Gophers are harder to live with. UC IPM says they gnaw flexible plastic water lines, drip systems in particular, divert irrigation water through their tunnels, and leave mounds that get in the way of mowing. In irrigated turf they can raise up to three litters a year of about five or six young each, so a few mounds in spring can become a whole slope by fall. A workable board policy: tolerate moles in open turf and natural areas, press the ridges back down after mowing, and act on moles only around entry beds, the pool lawn or a sports field where the surface matters. Act on gophers early wherever there is irrigation, landscaping or a mowed slope.

Trapping is the main tool

Mole traps and gopher traps are different tools, and UC IPM says few traps work well on both. Moles. Find the runways that are in use. Texas A&M AgriLife says to press down short sections of tunnel in the evening and check the next morning; the sections pushed back up are active. UC IPM says to set traps at least 18 inches from a mound, in the main tunnels, which usually run 8 to 12 inches deep. Scissor-jaw traps go in the main tunnel. Harpoon and choker-loop traps sit over a short section of runway you press down by foot, and the mole trips them when it pushes the soil back up. UF/IFAS says to move a trap that has not sprung within three days. Gophers. UC IPM says to use a probe to find the main tunnel, usually 6 to 12 inches down, where you feel the probe drop about 2 inches. Set traps in pairs facing each other in the tunnel, cover the opening to block light, and wire each trap to a stake. No bait is needed. If nothing is caught within 1 to 2 days, move the traps. On common ground, flag every set, cover traps near paths and play areas, and keep a log of trap locations and catches.

Baits, fumigants and who can apply them

Gopher baits. UC IPM says gopher bait goes only in the main tunnel, never on the surface, where it is both illegal and ineffective. Smoke and gas cartridges do not work well on gophers because the animals seal off their burrows. Aluminum phosphide fumigant is limited to licensed applicators, and UC IPM notes it cannot be used in burrows within 100 feet of buildings where people or domestic animals live, and that in residential areas it is limited to parks and athletic fields. Mole baits. Grain baits rarely work on moles because moles eat insects and worms, according to UC IPM. Worm-shaped gel baits with bromethalin go directly in the tunnel, but UC IPM calls the evidence for them limited. Texas. Under Tex. Occ. Code 1951.003, a business paid to identify or control rodents, or pests of plantings in a park or next to a residence, with rodenticides, fumigants or mechanical devices is doing structural pest control. Section 1951.301 requires a structural pest control business license for that work. That language reaches traps as well as bait, so ask the landscape company for its license number before adding gopher work to the contract. Florida. Fla. Stat. 482.071 makes it unlawful to run a pest control business without a state license. UF/IFAS says a lawn or pest technician hired to use pesticides on nuisance animals needs a license in Lawn and Ornamental pest control, and only mole and gopher products registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services may be used, and only by the label. UF/IFAS says homeowners, renters and employees of the property owner may trap moles without a permit. Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says a landowner or the landowner's agent on private property with damage may trap or take pocket gophers without a permit, including with poisons and toxicants, and that a poison may be used only for the species on its label. CPW also says live traps must be checked at least once a day.

Protect irrigation and new plantings

Gophers cost an HOA more in irrigation repairs than in lost grass. Gravel around lines. UC IPM suggests 6 to 8 inches of coarse gravel, 1 inch or larger, around sprinkler lines and buried cables where gophers are active. Wire under beds and around new trees. UC IPM says to bury 1/2 to 3/4 inch mesh at least 2 feet deep, with an extra 6 inches bent outward at a right angle, around a high-value bed. For moles, UC IPM calls for 1/4 inch mesh in a similar trench and warns that a determined mole can still dig around the barrier. Use wire baskets for new shrubs and trees in gopher areas. Call 811 before anyone digs. The national before-you-dig service is free and says every digging project, whatever the depth, needs a call a few business days ahead. If a gopher-chewed drip zone keeps leaking, our guide on cutting an HOA water bill with an irrigation audit covers how to find and fix losses across the system.

Contract wording and an owner notice

Most landscape contracts say nothing about burrowing animals, so mounds get raked flat and nobody traps. A clause to adapt: 'Contractor will inspect common turf and beds for pocket gopher and mole activity at each visit and report fresh mounds by location. Contractor will trap active tunnels in [areas] using kill traps set below ground, check traps on each service day, keep a log of trap locations and captures, and repair irrigation lines damaged by burrowing animals at [rate]. Any toxicant will be applied only below ground, according to its label, by a business licensed for that work in this state.' A motion you can adapt: 'Move to add pocket gopher and mole control to the landscape contract for [areas] at [price] per month, trapping first, with bait used only by a licensed applicator and only below ground.' An owner notice: 'The association's landscape contractor is trapping pocket gophers in [area]. Traps are set below ground and marked with flags. Please keep children and pets away from flagged spots and do not pull flags or traps. Please do not set out bait or gas cartridges yourself on common ground.'

Mistakes boards make

Buying sonic stakes. UC IPM says vibrating and ultrasonic devices failed in research trials, and UF/IFAS points to the mole tunnels along busy highways as evidence they do not work. Treating grubs to starve out moles. Texas A&M AgriLife and UF/IFAS both warn that moles may dig more as their food runs short, and UC IPM says the grub-control link has not been confirmed by research. Treat grubs if the grubs are the problem, not as mole control. Flooding tunnels. UC IPM calls it typically ineffective and wasteful for moles, and UF/IFAS says it rarely works in Florida's deep sandy soils. Letting owners bait the commons. Surface baits poison pets and wildlife, and in Florida UF/IFAS says misuse violates both federal pesticide law and FWC rule 68A-9.010. Waiting until fall. In irrigated turf gophers can have several litters a year. Start trapping when the first fresh mounds appear in spring. For bigger holes and torn-up beds from a different digger, see our guide on stopping armadillos digging up HOA common areas.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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