Mole Control Patrol

[Diggin It]

Doesn't everybody have them?

I see runs dug up here and there. Sometimes they wash out in a heavy train and act like drains that cause problems down hill. But I have some areas that see like they got lost and went around in a maze pattern tearing up several square yards of lawn. If you step on that area, it almost all soft and you sink in.

I've run over those areas with a mover dragging a yard roller. That flattens it out for a while, but they come back. I've tried pellets (yellow cone/tube) and general insect control granules that are supposed to kill the grubs they go after. Stuff works for a while, but not very long.

Sonic things are fully useless. Snap/plunge traps are less than useless.

Other ideas?

 

[jyoutz]

Doesn't everybody have them?

I see runs dug up here and there. Sometimes they wash out in a heavy train and act like drains that cause problems down hill. But I have some areas that see like they got lost and went around in a maze pattern tearing up several square yards of lawn. If you step on that area, it almost all soft and you sink in.

I've run over those areas with a mover dragging a yard roller. That flattens it out for a while, but they come back. I've tried pellets (yellow cone/tube) and general insect control granules that are supposed to kill the grubs they go after. Stuff works for a while, but not very long.

Sonic things are fully useless. Snap/plunge traps are less than useless.

Other ideas?

We don’t have moles, but we do have gophers. This spring I got tired of chasing them and called a local service named Gopher Guys. They came and set about 100 traps, and checked them every 3 days. Within a month they cleaned out the gophers and I haven’t seen any activity since April.

 

[MossRoad]

Doesn't everybody have them?

I see runs dug up here and there. Sometimes they wash out in a heavy train and act like drains that cause problems down hill. But I have some areas that see like they got lost and went around in a maze pattern tearing up several square yards of lawn. If you step on that area, it almost all soft and you sink in.

I've run over those areas with a mover dragging a yard roller. That flattens it out for a while, but they come back. I've tried pellets (yellow cone/tube) and general insect control granules that are supposed to kill the grubs they go after. Stuff works for a while, but not very long.

Sonic things are fully useless. Snap/plunge traps are less than useless.

Other ideas?

Having dispatched over 400 on my one acre, the best way is to trap them. You have to locate the main runs, the long tunnels, and trap those. You can't trap the hills, and you can't trap the areas that look like wrinkled carpet. It's fruitless.

Use your heel to stomp in across long tunnels and mark them with little marker flags. Check the heel marks daily. The one's that get popped back up are the active runs. Trap those.

Good luck.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Yeah, what Moss said...

Gophers are easy, Cinch traps or the ol shotgun treatment work wonders, moles are way more difficult especially when they aren't very active like the ones I have... I'm about to start attacking them... I've caught/shot like 60 gophers and they are now eliminated from my property but I think I have caught one mole since I moved here 10 years ago...

 

[CalG]

We have voles in the garden. Pulling down the beans. Wifey is not happy.
I put out a mouse trap with peanutbutter. The dog carried it out of the garden/ 9:_(

 

[Willman]

Mole poison, Not the repellent the big box stores sell
Can find it at certain agricultural stores
A little bit down the most used holes usually does the trick

 

[ericm979]

Snap/plunge traps are less than useless.

I've done pretty well with cinch traps but it takes some persistence. Gophers are easier to trap.

 

[Diggin It]

Use your heel to stomp in across long tunnels and mark them with little marker flags. Check the heel marks daily. The one's that get popped back up are the active runs. Trap those.

Those are the ones I use the yellow cone pellets on. Sometimes it works.

Weird thing. I saw two hawks (falcons?) in the yard one day recently jumping up and down on the ground, then picking at something with their beaks. Watched for 10 or 15 minutes. Once they left, I checked the ground, but couldn't get a hint of what they were after.


But that's why I can't use indiscriminate methods. Too many 'other' things out there.

 

[oosik]

I have pocket gophers. I would suppose - about the same problem as moles. I've trapped them - it's a real PITA.

Then I got a tub of gopher poison granules - at the local AG supply store. A spoon full at every mound site. This has definitely cut down on the PG population. I will be starting up this procedure again in July.

Nice thing about this. It's all happening under ground and stays there - underground. My little Cocker Spaniel - Brownie - is not a digger. So no problem there.

 

[brewdog]

Yes, I had them everywhere with little mole hills I would hit with the mowers. Fixed them totally with this little device along with the mice. Peanut butter scent worked the best. Gone!!

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[drssg]

Yes, I had them everywhere with little mole hills I would hit with the mowers. Fixed them totally with this little device along with the mice. Peanut butter scent worked the best. Gone!!

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I'm surprised that you get moles with it. The product says that it is for rats and mice.

I'm also paranoid with poisons in general, due to the risk of a pet eating a poisoned rodent.

 

[the old grind]

Why moles are something I no longer trap. Secondary/pet kills are unlikely as what bromethalin can kill a mole is unlikely to be enough to harm an animal much larger than a cat. That said, the dumb dobe next door that likes my yard for a bathroom digs up tunnels but seems to focus on active runs where I don't trap or treat. Apparently he's drawn to movement vs scent and has never been sick.

TOMCAT Mole Killerₐ, Mimics Natural Food Source, Poison Kills in a Single Feeding, 10 Worms 372310 - The Home Depot

Moles spend the majority of their lives tunneling underground in search of food, causing unsightly damage to your lawn and garden. Tomcat puts a stop to their search. Tomcat Mole Killerₐ is designed to

www.homedepot.com

Motomco has a similar product and I find it a TSC.

I have several types of mole traps, and none are as effective or as easy to use as the worms.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

Good outdoor cat takes care of them.

Really if you kill the food source (grubs) they go away

Flooding in the bottom of my pasture pushes them up by the house.

 

[the old grind]

Moles like earthworms and often stick around after grub killer is applied. (milky spore etc, BTDT, annual app, may kill beneficials too) If they've been there they'll always try to repopulate, and they do their damage when searching for food. Less forage means more tunnels.

Soil density and moisture, field vs lawn, etc demand different methods/approaches. I'm on high & dry sand that perks like no tomorrow so worms/crawlers are uncommon in the lawn. (2 ac) YMMV

btw, for digging them up nothing beats a spading fork vs a shovel but you'd spend a lot of time scouting where stomp-downs show movement. Use the worms or trap several feet away from mole-hills. That dirt pile is from where they went deep for food or for Winter.

 

[ponytug]

Around here, there have been predator deaths from ingesting bromethalin, presumably from poisoned rodents.
Here is a recent paper;

New study is first to find exposure to neurotoxic rodenticide bromethalin in birds of prey

In 2020, Tufts Wildlife Clinic Director Maureen Murray, V03, published a study that showed 100% of red-tailed hawks tested at the clinic were positive for exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). Such exposure occurs when these chemicals are used to kill mice or rats, which eat the poison...

phys.org

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749123010783?via%3Dihub

The author had previously published that 100% of the red tailed hawks that were tested were positive for anticoagulant rodent poisons.

We stick to outdoor cats, which are admittedly imperfect. I used to roll lawns, but it never seemed to deter moles much, but that was on some sandy, shady, damp soil that was pretty much perfect for moles. I eventually got to the "live and let live" page.

All the best,

Peter

 

[tradosaurus]

Around here, there have been predator deaths from ingesting bromethalin, presumably from poisoned rodents.
Here is a recent paper;

New study is first to find exposure to neurotoxic rodenticide bromethalin in birds of prey

In 2020, Tufts Wildlife Clinic Director Maureen Murray, V03, published a study that showed 100% of red-tailed hawks tested at the clinic were positive for exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs). Such exposure occurs when these chemicals are used to kill mice or rats, which eat the poison...

phys.org

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749123010783?via%3Dihub

The author had previously published that 100% of the red tailed hawks that were tested were positive for anticoagulant rodent poisons.

We stick to outdoor cats, which are admittedly imperfect. I used to roll lawns, but it never seemed to deter moles much, but that was on some sandy, shady, damp soil that was pretty much perfect for moles. I eventually got to the "live and let live" page.

All the best,

Peter

I have one outdoor cat left (others have been killed or eaten by wildlife) that I feed with an automatic feeder. I make sure I feed the cat just enough to want to still hunt. Every now and then the cat brings us a mole on the porch. I think it enjoys the "wack a mole" game.

 

[Oaktree]

Good outdoor cat takes care of them.

Don't think I've ever had a cat that will touch moles, even ones that are otherwise good hunters. No idea why, maybe they taste bad?

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

Don't think I've ever had a cat that will touch moles, even ones that are otherwise good hunters. No idea why, maybe they taste bad?

I got 1 who loves digging them up.

The second I find a mound or trail, she's already got it dead in the driveway to show off

 

[John0829]

I got 1 who loves digging them up.

The second I find a mound or trail, she's already got it dead in the driveway to show off

I WANT THAT CAT!!!

 

[oosik]

I've had cats - several times. The cats are PURE death on my mice and chipmunks. Never seem to be interested in the pocket gophers. I've never had rats. Too far from the civilized world for rats.

Hawks by day - owls/coyotes by night. The cats never seem to learn. Slowly but surely - the cat population will terminate at zero.

About fifteen years ago - lost seven cats over two nights. It was a loss to a prowling cougar.