Ta da! 2 dead moles!

[bigdeano]

I tried pumping the tunnels full of propane. Don't think I killed even one. Went thru five gallons of propane. I poison them now, which seems to work almost every time. I use my homemade mole poison concoction.

 

[teejk]

I tried pumping the tunnels full of propane. Don't think I killed even one. Went thru five gallons of propane. I poison them now, which seems to work almost every time. I use my homemade mole poison concoction.

Their tunnels are pretty extensive and I've never seen one without an "exit". I guess if you have an active mound you can step down the path and gas would work...otherwise I think it's like "water down a rat hole".

 

[dickfoster]

Would probably only work with older cars. Newer cars have cleaner exhaust.

I think even new cars still make carbon monoxide. The cat doesn't do anything with that stuff. Less smog maybe but I'm not interested in their air quality anyway. If I wanted to make it smell bad for em and sting their eyes, I'd plumb the tractor up and shoot some diesel exhaust their way.

 

[MossRoad]

I tried pumping the tunnels full of propane. Don't think I killed even one. Went thru five gallons of propane. I poison them now, which seems to work almost every time. I use my homemade mole poison concoction.

Unless you have bodies, there is no proof.

 

[dragoneggs]

Well, I'm glad they are working for you... but no body, no homicide! :laughing:

I don't like traps that an animal can pull away, or that wounds animals and lets them escape, or kills them slowly. That's why I won't use Nash choker loop traps or Victor spike/pluger type traps. Having killed well over a bazillion moles with Victor Out O Sight traps, I'm pretty sure you aren't setting them correctly. No offense meant. You just aren't setting them correctly.

Got 29 my first year. Stopped counting at 50 the next 4-5 years after that. Then less than 10 every year for the past 10 years. So, over 300 in our 1 acre yard. Very few misses. Several dig/under/arounds, but that can be solved with a piece of sod or a stick lain under the trigger perpendicular to the tunnel.

I have a couple Victor's or close facsimiles and have varied success. Surely not as much as I yearn so I much need some education. I see on youtube I am probably not doing it right? I clear out a mound and place there. Now thinking you are supposed to put it mid run? Problem is I can see where the 'runs' are... only the mounds.

 

[MossRoad]

Exactly. Trapping the mounds is usually fruitless. Mounds are where moles put excess dirt, so the tunnel under a mound is usually vertical. If you trap a mound, the mole rarely goes under the scissors part of the trap. It comes straight up under the trigger, and the slug of dirt trips the trap well before the mole gets anywhere near it. You want to trap on horizontal runs only.

 

[MossRoad]

And that's the beauty of the Out O Sight trap. Once you've located an active, vertical run, no matter what the depth, you can set the Out O Sight trap parallel to the run so a mole coming from either direction in the tunnel will have to go in between the scissors on either end of the trap, and then trigger the pan, pinching it and killing it.

 

[dragoneggs]

And that's the beauty of the Out O Sight trap. Once you've located an active, vertical run, no matter what the depth, you can set the Out O Sight trap parallel to the run so a mole coming from either direction in the tunnel will have to go in between the scissors on either end of the trap, and then trigger the pan, pinching it and killing it.

I feel I am reinvigorated... can't wait to get at 'em again!

 

[MossRoad]

I find active runs quite often along fences, driveways, sidewalks... anything with an edge. If you find a mound, sometimes its easier to just scoop up the dirt, pack down the area and walk away from it rather than getting frustrated trying to trap the mound. When you do see a run, step on it with your heel to press it closed. If its an active run, the mole will come back within a day or two and re-open the tunnel where your heel pressed it closed. THAT'S where you want to set your trap.

Lay the trap parallel to the tunnel to gauge how wide to make your hole. With a trowel or shovel, cut down across the tunnel on both ends of the trap so the hole is just a spec longer than the trap. Pull out the sod plug between the cuts and set aside. Now dig down on each end of the hole until you find the tunnel holes on each end of your fresh hole. Don't dig down farther than the bottom of the tunnel if you can help it. You want firm dirt at the bottom. So now you should have a rectangular hole the width of your trap, with a tunnel entrance on each end, and a piece of sod that is the exact same size as the hole. Set the sod piece down in the bottom of your hole, so that there is no air space under the sod plug. Then set your trap and push the scissors points into the dirt so that each set of scissors straddles a tunnel entrance on either end, but the top of the scissors gap is not lower than the top of the tunnel entrances. That way the mole won't feel the steel on its head when it comes to going under the scissors. Make sure the trigger pan is set firmly against the sod plug.

So, it works like this... the mole comes down the tunnel and finds it blocked by the sod plug. The mole won't go up, because moles don't like sun. So when it finds a blocked tunnel, it will instinctively push under the blockage, which is your sod plug. As it noses forward, it passes through one of the sets of scissors, while pushing the sod plug up against the bottom of the trigger. If the sod plug is solid, and the dirt under the plug is firm, the trigger will trip the trap and pinch the mole usually right behind its front legs. And that's that.

If your soil is sandy, sometimes this doesn't work, as the sand will fall away from the sod plug. If your sod plug is weak, it may not trip the trigger. You can pop-rivet a canning jar lid to the trigger to increase the surface area of the trigger. That works well. And you can firm up the sand with some sticks or leaves. That works well too.

Good luck. Its a learning process.

 

[k0ua]

Good luck. Its a learning process.

Mole killer...