Getting rid of Moles/Voles

[MossRoad]

Can anyone tell I'm obsessed with moles yet? :laughing:

 

[jerrybob]

What do you get when you have a bunch of moles acting like idiots? A bunch of Moleasses!!!!!:laughing:

 

[dragoneggs]

The most effective deterrent is eliminating their food source. We got rid of the grubs and the moles moved out.

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Yes, putting a chemical on my lawn to kill the grubs was my most effective way of getting rid of moles. Kind of hate to do that because of birds but the moles piss me off! Trapping with the clamshells is a losing battle for me.

 

[dragoneggs]

WHAT??? the 'pinchers' are illegal here in WA state? Is the pincher the same thing as a four pronged kind of scissor type I am using?

 

[dragoneggs]

Can anyone tell I'm obsessed with moles yet? :laughing:

You are not alone

 

[MossRoad]

WHAT??? the 'pinchers' are illegal here in WA state? Is the pincher the same thing as a four pronged kind of scissor type I am using?
View attachment 445423

From reading the state website I posted a link to, I would assume so.

 

[MossRoad]

You are not alone

As I've mentioned before here.... many times.... I didn't mind them going through the lawn. They're good for the soil. However, one day I was standing in my kitchen and was looking at the swale between my driveway and my neighbor's driveway. There was a huge puddle of water. Then I though to myself, man, we must have had a lot of rain! Then I noticed the driveway was dry... and the puddle was moving rapidly towards the street.... MY POOL!!!!! I ran outside to see the last 4" of water gush out of a hole in the bottom of the 12,500 gallon 24' round above ground pool, go through back garage door, out the overhead door, down between the driveways and out to the street. The moles had undermined the pool.

That was it. I bought several mole traps and started reading. It was late August. I trapped 29 before winter. The next 4-5 years I stopped counting at 50 each year. So I know I've taken over 229 in 5 years on a 1 acre lot! Then, just like that, the next year I only had a dozen. Then maybe 5-6 a year for 5 or so years. Now, I only get maybe two per year.

Anyhow, I've tried the Nash choker loop, the Victor Out O sight, the Victor 0645 plunger-type, the new ones that you step on to set. The Out O Sight works the best. Rarely gets a false trip. You can set it in any depth tunnel. It survived being run-over (I've got a couple Nash choker loops that are mangled by relatives that can't seem to back out of the driveway).

I also tried several of those "mole chasers" that you put batteries in and stick in the ground.... a mole actually came up and dug around it and it fell over!

Have you ever been over to The Moleman.com site? TONS of good information.

Mole control, biology and trapping help, 1986, professional, author, tom schmidt | The Mole Man

 

[woodlandfarms]

Anyone have any thoughts on carbon monoxide (gas fumes from engine). I have a clunker lawn mower engine and if that device does work (5 minutes pumping fumes in the ground), might be a plan.

Seems to me that the finding the active tunnel is most of the battle...

 

[dragoneggs]

Anyone have any thoughts on carbon monoxide (gas fumes from engine). I have a clunker lawn mower engine and if that device does work (5 minutes pumping fumes in the ground), might be a plan.

Seems to me that the finding the active tunnel is most of the battle...

You know... I have always wanted to try that. I think it can't hurt... well not me anyways! Maybe a little guilt... :ashamed: but these dang moles! :mur: My 80+ year old neighbor has a different take. He has grown to accept them! We laugh about our different philosophy and approach over an afternoon beer.

Usually it starts like this... I am working hard on my property (second job!) and he is retired. Around 4pm on a sunny day after I have broken a serious sweat but not ready to quit, he walks over with two bottles of beer. I stop my laboring and listen to him. A wise man. My troubles are postponed to another day. It seems to be working for him. :confused3: I will miss my neighbor if he kicks before me.

 

[MossRoad]

Shortly after we moved into our current house, I looked over at the neighbor's yard and he was standing there, leaning on a shovel, a beer in one hand and a smoke in the other. All of a sudden, I see him put the smoke in his mouth, the beer on the ground, the shovel in both hands over his head and WHAM!!! he slams if flatside to the ground as hard as he can! Then he shoves the point of the shovel into the ground and starts hopping up and down on it like a pogo stick!!! I'm thinking "What the heck is he doing?" So I can't take it anymore. I walk over to ask just as he pops a mole out of the ground. He says "They're only active between 10 and 2" (some old wives tale I've heard from several people of the same nationality in our town ). Anyhow, he actually has the time to stand in his yard and wait for moles to move, then whack the shovel over them, which he says stuns them. Then he digs them out and does the pogo dance on them with the shovel. I don't have that kind of time. Wish I did!