Sound emitting device keeps moles away from doors safely

There’s a reason why there’s a popular arcade game where players try to hit toy moles as they repeatedly pop out of holes in the ground. These little mammals are actually known for repeatedly tunneling under and up open grassy areas like fields, golf courses, and even private gardens.

And while there are many solutions — some deadly, some merely deterrent — to moles and similar garden pests, none are permanent and require constant revisit as the burrowing creatures inevitably return. So much so that homeowners can begin to feel like they are, in fact, playing a never-ending game of Whac-a-Mole.

Israeli startup Molex is really digging into the problem, presenting a permanent solution in the form of an underground sound system that deters moles and other burrowing and underground animals by mimicking predators, without being a nuisance to humans.

“The idea is to keep rodents out of human infrastructure and to keep them safe in nature,” Ofir Mizrahi, co-founder of Molex, tells NoCamels. “We protect the plots without harming the animals.”

And moles, Mizrahi says, can be found in every corner of the world – fauna wreaking havoc on flora wherever it appears.

“It’s a global problem,” he explains. “There are very small areas of the world where there are no rodents – like some islands – but they are everywhere.”

The disc-shaped, Molex-powered device is placed underground in a garden or other outdoor area where it emits sounds that mimic those made by natural predators of moles and other burrowing and underground animals.

It needs to be installed by a technician who connects it to the mains or solar panels to power it. Molex has also ensured that it operates on low voltage to avoid any accidental electrical incidents in a living space where children are present. The presence of children also rules out standard pest control solutions such as poison.

The device, which Mizrahi calls the “engine,” was buried deep in tunnels dug by the animals. It was the result of extensive research and development to find the optimal combination of range and effectiveness.

The system works by using the communication method of the tunnelling animals against them, mimicking their habit of banging their heads against the tunnels as a form of echolocation.

“They just knock, and based on the sound they hear, they know where they are and if there is a predator in the area,” Mizrahi explains.

“We want to create tension so they feel like a certain area is not comfortable for them, and then they will leave.”

Moles don’t usually appear when people are around, he says, so the device simply needs to be activated via a simple app when the area is clear. The sound can only be heard when standing directly next to it, so it doesn’t cause any inconvenience when installed in a residential building.

The device has a range of about half an acre—an additional box would be needed to cover a larger area. And that’s why, Mizrahi says, the company recently decided to focus on smaller sites, such as private gardens and organic greenhouses that don’t use chemicals, rather than farmlands and golf courses, despite the demand in those areas.

“We understood that it would take some time to get (the device) to large fields,” he explains. “It’s not that our solution wouldn’t work, but it would be very expensive.”

The technology was developed by Mizrahi and co-founder Rama Benderman, a third-generation floriculturalist, after the latter discovered moles were decimating his plants two years ago.

“He started seeing mounds and he started seeing leaves in his fields drying up,” Mizrahi recalled. Benderman turned to advisers at the Ministry of Agriculture, who confirmed that there were moles in the area.

The two then began to research existing options to solve the problem of Benderman’s nevi, but found that none of them were effective in the long term.

“It was a surprise to us,” Mizrahi says. “We started by ordering all kinds of devices, ultrasound and a few others. Nothing was really working, and then we realized we had to find a solution.”

Benderman (Mizrahi’s “ideas man”) has extensive experience developing technological devices for Israel’s defense industry, having spent much of the 10 months since the war either in Gaza or on the northern border with Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has been relentlessly bombing swaths of the north.

To begin developing their product, Mizrahi and Benderman partnered with other Israeli farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture to refine their research and development efforts.

“Israel is not our market,” Mizrahi says, referring to the country’s limited size, “but it’s a very good place to run pilots.”

One Israeli farmer they work with says moles have eaten away at his passion fruit bushes and he was forced to redirect his workers to deal with the problem elsewhere.

Mizrahi compared it to hunting for land mines, adding that the process reinforces the belief that none of the solutions available on the market are permanent.

“It happens time and time again,” he says, emphasizing that pest control companies don’t guarantee they’ll solve the problem once and for all because they know they’ll likely have to come back within a few months.

The company recently completed MassChallenge Israel’s Early-Stage Accelerator Program, a four-month intensive program in Jerusalem that helps selected entrepreneurs grow their startup companies.

“The mass challenge almost saved the business,” Mizhrai says. “After October 7, we couldn’t do the projects we had. It was mole season in Israel—we had everything planned for the following week and we missed it.”

She was also previously part of the European Union’s EIT food entrepreneurship program, which supports agritech startups in the food sector. Although Molex was the only Israeli company among the 40-strong group, Mizrahi says, it taught them a lot about business opportunities in Europe.

Part of the funding for Molex came from an EU program and part from the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, which wants to end the use of environmentally unfriendly toxins as a solution to the problem of burrowing animals that destroy crops.

The rest of the funds came from their own pockets and from a small number of farmers they work with in Israel. They had a contract with a leading Israeli irrigation company, but it was suspended when the war broke out in October.

Molex is currently seeking a CEO/co-founder to expand the company’s operations overseas, including by working with irrigation companies whose underground infrastructure is also being ravaged by moles and other such creatures.

The company also plans to turn the device into a complete kit that anyone can install themselves, without the help of an expert. And, as a gesture to the moles they so effectively ward off, even create feeding stations where the banished beasts can recover from their encounter with the pseudo-predator.