Moles Taking Over

[Egon]

Traps

Vacum Truck.:thumbsup:

 

[rrrkkk]

Well there is only one sure way. That is traps, I best i have used is Victor sizzor traps. They are expensive but unlike the spike traps these work. I use a lawn roller when I discover mole activity to roll the tunnels flat. That way i can see what tunnels are active, trap those tunnels, several moles can seem like a dozen.

 

[s219]

I have tried many methods, but the most successful is to catch them in the act. If I can spot the activity and narrow it down to a few square feet, I can catch the mole every time. Some tricks are:

Block the tunnel with a shovel on an angle, in which case they will climb right up out of the ground trying to dig past the shovel.

Use a water hose to flush them out (perhaps towards a shovel). The moles will doggy-paddle right up out of the ground.

Wait until you see them, position yourself over the tunnel and wait quietly for a couple minutes, and then stomp them or dig them out once you spot movement.

I do try to catch them alive and relocate them to the woods if I can. I have killed a few of them, and felt bad about it (despite the fact that the lawn damage pisses me off). They're just doing their job, so if I can relocate them, we're both happy.

I haven't had good luck with the spike traps, but will try DwightD123's approach next time.

An old timer told me you used to be able to buy traps that used a 12-gauge shell pointed into the ground. He said the good thing about that was that you always knew when you got one!

By the way, I read somewhere that moles can move about 80 feet a minute through a clear tunnel, and they can dig about 4-6 feet a minute when making a fresh tunnel. Those buggers can move. I believe it based on what I see when I release them -- within 15-20 seconds, they are in the ground and have tunneled a couple feet. It's pretty impressive.

 

[cdaigle430]

We have been fighting the moles for two years in our yard and garden. Tried everything from poison to vibrators. My daughter has a litle dog that we turned loose, all he did was till up the ground exposing tunnels, no moles. They have increased exponently rather than decrease. These are not gophers, there are none in the Puget Sound region. What have you had luck with? We will try anything once.

Ron

I use the spike trap, alonf with grub and worm killer. I've learned that it is impossible to get rid of them for good-only control them to some degree. Every spring they have several pups and every spring they claim another acre of land. Moles are very territorial and will accupy 1 per half- to - 1 acre. Some folks are unluck because their property lies in the middly of several mole territoires. They only possible way to be rid of them is to kill their food source.

I have some neighbors who keep them away by simply having free roaming chickens

 

[creekbend]

I'm wondering why the big increase in the number and/or activity of the moles. I tried everything I could think of for nearly 2 years and I guess you could say I've given up. Nothing worked. But it does appear their activity in my yard has finally decreased.

I have noticed the same thing in regards to the fluctuation in numbers. Some years the activity is more prevalent than others and sometimes none at all. Could the amount of rainfall received make a difference? This is in relation to the hardness or softer condition of the soil.

 

[JerryK]

The most fun if you have the time is the stomp/pitchfork method... Stomp down their runs and sit quietly sipping on barley pops. When things have been quiet long enough, they will start moving. They actually make a heck of a noise when they are tearing thru the grass roots and making tunnels. If you see movement, or repaired tunnel areas [ pushed back up ]...poke over the area with a pitch fork. They usually pop right up out of the ground impaired on the fork tine..... I used Nash traps [ the hoop kind ] and usually just ran over them with the mower and scrapped them. The 6 tine traps work pretty good if you cut the four outermost tines off, so you are left with just one tine on each side, and set the trap so the two tines line up with the stomped down tunnel. With only two tines, the traps do not tend to jump up when they are tripped....and in the long run, are way more fatal to the little critters. Tried the poisen bait, the chewing gum trick, the exaust trick, and lit my share of the poisen smoke things.... You can try flooding them out with a hose, that is worth an afternoon or so. Only thing is, I saw a program on PBS years ago, the little things are actually pretty good underwater swimmers.... Like was said above, the best way is to get rid of their food source...but that means killing all the grubs, earthworms, etc. and keep them killed. Great thing for the ground water you drink. And, if your neighbor has them, it's like beating your head against the wall... God, I miss those little beastards...... Have fun.... !!!!

PS- I always wanted to make some heavy concrete dome things, and place them around the yard with C4 under them with an electric trigger....but never got that far.. But, eventually, you will feel the same way..... [ ] And, don't forget to send away for some Milky Spore to spread around your property to kill off the grubs... It won't do much good, but it is part of the process that will get you to the C4.... [ again... ]

 

[Bird]

I have noticed the same thing in regards to the fluctuation in numbers. Some years the activity is more prevalent than others and sometimes none at all. Could the amount of rainfall received make a difference? This is in relation to the hardness or softer condition of the soil.

I never had any at all in my lifetime in my yard until the last couple of years. Don't know where they came from.

 

[samandmax]

We always used toy pinwheels and placed them around yard. They did work. We now have some outdoor cats that clean up on mice and moles.

 

[LWG]

All you need is a car, rag and garden hose. Find one of the tunnels, make a small opening, and put an end in the tunnel. Wrap the rag around the hose, and stuff it up the tailpipe. Start the engine, and get a cup of coffee. I just used this to close down a chipmunk den under the garage. I've used it for moles, too. I suspect it was easier before emission controls, when engines used to put out a lot of CO. Now you have to rely on the CO2 displacing the oxygen, but it will. It's a lot safer than using propane or gasoline. Of course, water won't work because the tunnels are built to sustains rains.

 

[lhfarm]

Don't mean to hijack the tread, but I've had a sudden reappearance of moles in December. I don't ever remember having problems with them in the winter. Maybe because we have had such a wet and mild fall/winter. Are they normally active in cold weather?