Moles Driving me crazzzzzy

[MossRoad]

You know, that always amazes me how many people say their cats get moles when I have never seen a mole above ground. I can see a dog digging it up, but have never, ever seen a cat dig in the dirt except to poop.

 

[cowboy357]

You know, that always amazes me how many people say their cats get moles when I have never seen a mole above ground. I can see a dog digging it up, but have never, ever seen a cat dig in the dirt except to poop.

Moss , Its quite impressive actually , to watch All my cats surround the mounds & tunnels & I have a whole lot of cats . They can sense the movement underground , Then Theyll kind of pounce on the top of the tunnel making the moles come closer to the top elsewere where another couple of cats just sitting there waiting .

As soon as the dirt moves , One Quick dig by one as another swats the mole out of the hole & its play time for all but the mole . What amazes Me the cats dont do more damage & dont dig the trenches up except for where he comes closest to the surface. The more cats the better because they dont cause further damage that way .

They then use the loose dirt for their restroom , cover & level it neatlly . I,ve never seen a mole return to the same area after that . If I had a clue of how to video tape it I would . If nothing else its entertaining watching them work together . A dog will tear up more ground then the moles in my Experience . Bob

 

[Highbeam]

The last time I killed a mole, the cat also killed one the same day and left it on my doorstep as a present. I had to find the mole I killed to be sure she didn't steal it. Darn good cat that kills moles. During the day too.

 

[Pilot]

I find 1 or 2 dead moles on the surface every year. None of them has any obvious cause of death--they look like they died from a heart attack for all I can tell. Our cat is an indoor cat (ever since the coyote incident and since he is the best cat we ever had, my wife said, "From now on, he stays inside and I'll clean the sandbox!" She cleans the sandbox and he curls up on my lap.) No dogs around, no outdoor cats. Rarely see skunks or raccoons, maybe once a year.

Why they ever came to the surface, I don't know.

 

[Dargo]

You know, that always amazes me how many people say their cats get moles when I have never seen a mole above ground. I can see a dog digging it up, but have never, ever seen a cat dig in the dirt except to poop.

LOL! My wife and I are spending most of our time now with her mother with Hospice care helping. We got her mother talking for a bit last night and I mentioned moles (knowing she has lived in the country all her life and has had to deal with them) and she said the exact same thing as MossRoad! We all laughed and heartily agreed. I told her that, other than after doing number 2, I have never seen a cat dig but have heard numerous stories about proud cats bringing their mole kill to their owner's front porch for a gift. LOL! Maybe someone somewhere can actually view a cat getting a mole. I am convinced they do get them, but I sure don't know of anyone talking about seeing their cat get one.

For what it's worth, the lovable but completely stupid black lab stray my son brought home a few months ago seems to want to get moles but his methods aren't that great. This last weekend I had to fuss at him (I'm one who will never strike an animal) because he had already dug a hole about 18" deep and was still furiously digging in an attempt to get a mole. You could clearly see a perfectly round hole from the mole run about an inch below ground, but way up at the top of his crater, yet the lab was still digging more depth. I mean, what do you do? I was frustrated with the HUGE hole in my yard and the dang dog seemed so proud of his deed.

 

[Dargo]

As soon as the dirt moves , One Quick dig by one as another swats the mole out of the hole & its play time for all but the mole . What amazes Me the cats dont do more damage & dont dig the trenches up except for where he comes closest to the surface. The more cats the better because they dont cause further damage that way .

They then use the loose dirt for their restroom , cover & level it neatlly . I,ve never seen a mole return to the same area after that . If I had a clue of how to video tape it I would . If nothing else its entertaining watching them work together . A dog will tear up more ground then the moles in my Experience . Bob

Boy, do I ever know that a dog will tear up some ground. You ought to see what two large German Shepherd Dogs and that dang lab can do in one day! Are you sure you've seen a cat get a mole? I thought doing so was a top secret of theirs that they don't want humans to see.

Oh, another thing, this kitten/cat can walk directly into the automatic dog feeder when any of my dogs are eating and they don't pay any attention to it, even as it rubs against their face while they are eating. Such disrespect! The kitten/cat has them all on it's side and seems to like to rub that fact in our faces. Dang dogs look like sissies now!!

 

[PBinWA]

Moles typically come out of their holes at night. You probably aren't going to see them unless you have your night vision on. (Dargo - I bet you have some fancy night vision ).

I've seen cats watching the mole mounds/holes but never seen a catch being made. However, the neigbors with lots of cats don't seem to have many moles.

Triazide bug/grub killer works well as a mole repellent - or just because it kills all the grubs. But it only lasts for a month or two.

I've got two neigbors with Rodenators but they don't seem to work - although they are fun.

I like the confirmed kill that the traps get you. It's kind of challenge finding a good location and very rewarding to get the kill.

 

[scotty088]

I guess it all depends on where you're at on the food chain.I lost 2 of my best cats to coyotes I assume? last week.It seems all my good cats dissappear.My Golden Retrievers of witch I have 3 will listen intently to the ground and dig like crazy and sometimes get a mole.I have purchased 2 Victor scissor traps.I have them set now.This is going to be my project to irradicate the mole population in Warren,Oregon.Thanks for all the excellent feedback on this matter.Scotty

 

[Pilot]

Dargo: You bought a cat? Who buys a cat?

I thought they all came for free.

 

[MossRoad]

O.K. I think what is really going on here is the dogs are catching the moles and the cats are stealing the kill!

I never had seen a mole until we moved to our current home. I looked out the window one day and saw the neighbor, a retired guy, standing in his back yard with a beer in one hand down by his left side and a smoke in his right hand with his right arm resting on a long handled shovel. He was just standing there. Smoke. Sip. Smoke Sip. All of a sudden he drops the beer, flings the smoke, runs halfway across his yard and starts smacking the ground pancake style with the flat of the shovel. I'm talking over the head handle swings like he pounding the hammer/bell thing at the fair. After about three huge whacks, he jams the shovel point into the ground and hops up on it with both feet. He does this in a circle around the point where he whacked the ground. Then he pops up a huge plug of dirt and slams it down on the ground next to the hole and starts stabbing the shovel and something. After several minutes of this, I see him scoop up some limp little creature and head back to the woods where he tosses it. Goes back, fills in the hole, grabs his beer, stomps out his smoke and resumes his position with arm on shovel standing there, sip, sip sip. Well, that got the best of me, so I go out, be nosy and ask him "What the heck are you doing?". He's hunting moles. He says they come out at 2:20 every day or something like that.