Eradicating moles

[JasperFrank]

Why, exactly do we hate moles?

 

[MossRoad]

Why, exactly do we hate moles?

They undermined my above ground pool, popped the liner, and sent 12,500 gallons of water through my garage.

That was the start. Before that, I didn't have too much concern for them. That year, I killed 29 of them before winter.

For the next 5-6 years I stopped counting at 50 each year. So there's a tad over 300 on 1 acre in 6-7 years. Then they just stopped. I only got about a dozen for the next few years, and now I get 1 or 2 a year, so I haven't set a trap in about 5 years, unless they get near the pool area.

They are fascinating critters. Something like twice the red blood cells as humans per CC. That's why they can breath in the tunnels. If a mole was the size of a human, they could stand between parked cars and push them apart. They are beneficial to the environment, aerating the soil, providing channels for oxygen, water and nutrients. Nature's little tillers. They don't eat vegetables, so they don't harm garden plants or landscape plants.

They undermine asphalt driveways (like mine), creating cracks all the way across. They do the same for concrete sidewalks at joints, causing slabs to sink (like mine). They undermine swimming pools, creating paths under the liners that can cause weak spots and collapse (like mine). They create paths for voles and mice. If you see nickel-size holes in mole tunnels, that's a sign of voles. Voles eat vegetable and ornamental roots. Mole tunnels can create paths for water along foundations, never a good thing.

So, just like all wildlife, I don't hate them. I don't go out in the woods looking for them. I let them have the backyard. But once they cross the perimeter I've set up, they have to be dealt with and that's that.

 

[JasperFrank]

Mossroad, I see that you have your reasons.
it is entirely different from my situation.
I love the moles and have come to respect them in this rocky world we live in.
If I need a bucket or two, of finely screened dirt... moles fill the bill.
The moles do that for me.
The more moles I have, the more i see how they earn their way. I'm not getting to grt id of therm.

 

[groundcover]

Obviously need one of these !

Has to be better than plutonium , my other choice !

 

[jjeff]

I got a pull behind spike aerator Not the plug type, supposedly it kills the grubs which moles eat. Since the mole population has went elsewhere plus the grass grows and looks better.

 

[arits74]

if any of you are friends with a farmer and they have grain bins ask them if they have any phostoxin.its a pellet that gives off gas when taken out of the container.place a few of them into the ground where the mole has been.you will have a dead mole shortly.guaranteed.phostoxin is used to treat grain bins for bugs

 

[CalG]

I wonder if moles might be the solution to the jumping worm invasion in my area?

 

[jyoutz]

I don’t know about moles, but this works well for gophers.

Answer Pocket Gopher Control – 16oz Rodenticide Bait for Pocket Gophers - J.T. Eaton

Effectively eliminate pocket gophers with JT Eaton 276 Answer Bait. Moisture-resistant, diphacinone-based formula targets gophers deep in burrows for lasting garden and lawn protection.

www.jteaton.com

 

[ultrarunner]

I don’t know about moles, but this works well for gophers.

Answer Pocket Gopher Control – 16oz Rodenticide Bait for Pocket Gophers - J.T. Eaton

Effectively eliminate pocket gophers with JT Eaton 276 Answer Bait. Moisture-resistant, diphacinone-based formula targets gophers deep in burrows for lasting garden and lawn protection.

www.jteaton.com

This is what I use and the minefield I bought into with home purchase is no more.

Now it is simple... at first sighting of activity my answer is Answer.

The tree farm just got a Rodenator so more to follow.

That place was over run with in ground squirrels... worst ever seen.

 

[jyoutz]

This is what I use and the minefield I bought into with home purchase is no more.

Now it is simple... at first sighting of activity my answer is Answer.

The tree farm just got a Rodenator so more to follow.

That place was over run with in ground squirrels... worst ever seen.

I have had a lot of ground squirrels the past few years. After live trapping and removing almost 20, I decided to get tough and now use Eaton’s Answer. They can cause a lot of damage.

 

[jjeff]

My neighbor feeds a litter of ferrel cats last summer I saw one batting a mole around the yard I'm assuming that has something to do with the depleted mole population.

 

[CADplans]

Possibly, the same thing that got RID of a groundhog under my deck would work,,
I have NEVER seen this method mentioned.

The groundhog was happily living under the deck, coming out each evening, munching the grass for his evening meal.

Well, I decided his food did not need to be so appealing,,
I sprayed the grass with 2-4D,,

That did it, one application, he did not want to travel past the 2-4D for food, so he simply moved.

My concept was to get him further away from the deck, to give me time to take a shot.
No need to shoot, trap,, anything,,

He just left,,,

I could imagine the same thing could work for a mole,,
spray something that "treats" the lawn, but, the mole dislikes for some reason.

My application was a WIN-WIN !!
I got rid of the groundhog,, and the clover/broadleaf weeds were gone,, also.

 

[tstex]

Do you have any friends that are Owls or foxes?

Used of have some fox type friends in college and 10 yrs post college, but wife put them all on the endangered species list

 

[tstex]

I have tried traps, poison worms, etc. I am killing them, bit it’s a constant fight in my otherwise perfect back yard.

in the spring, I am going to put some of this down every 4-6 months for two years.

Milky Spore Lawn Spreader Mix

Milky Spore Lawn Spreader Mix

www.domyown.com

Texas is on the "do not sell to State list" :-(

 

[tstex]

Possibly, the same thing that got RID of a groundhog under my deck would work,,
I have NEVER seen this method mentioned.

The groundhog was happily living under the deck, coming out each evening, munching the grass for his evening meal.

Well, I decided his food did not need to be so appealing,,
I sprayed the grass with 2-4D,,

That did it, one application, he did not want to travel past the 2-4D for food, so he simply moved.

My concept was to get him further away from the deck, to give me time to take a shot.
No need to shoot, trap,, anything,,

He just left,,,

I could imagine the same thing could work for a mole,,
spray something that "treats" the lawn, but, the mole dislikes for some reason.

My application was a WIN-WIN !!
I got rid of the groundhog,, and the clover/broadleaf weeds were gone,, also.

Thanks CAD / 2-4-D would kill my st augustine grass...being in Va, you have a colder grade grass that les broad leaves. Im also looking into nematodes bc they kill grub larvae...someone mentioned, get rid of the grubs, and the moles will leave...

 

[JDZ735M]

Mole hills are where moles push dirt up out of their tunnel, so the dirt sets off the trap as they push it up and trip it before the mole gets there.

I believe that is pocket gophers.

 

[JDZ735M]

I wonder if moles might be the solution to the jumping worm invasion in my area?

I doubt moles would be a solution to anything.

 

[JDZ735M]

Thank you guys, very good advice & suggestions. I’m going to do my research and come up with a plan…

Good luck! Let us know how it goes, please.

 

[tstex]

I believe that is pocket gophers.

JD, moles push up very small amts of dirt, but their main MO is raised or pushed up sod. Gophers are 100% mounds of dirt usually every 4-6ft. I have both gophers and moles. The gophers I easily control w Cinch traps. This thread will hopefully help me to find a permanent solution to eradicating these pests. If I do, I will certainly post my findings....thanks

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks CAD / 2-4-D would kill my st augustine grass...being in Va, you have a colder grade grass that les broad leaves. Im also looking into nematodes bc they kill grub larvae...someone mentioned, get rid of the grubs, and the moles will leave...

You can get rid of all the grubs you want, but if you have earthworms, that's their primary food. You can spray all the weed killer you want, but moles eat meat. It won't change a thing. The only way to eliminate the mole's food source (worms and insect larvae) is to make your lawn a sterile growing medium for grass. And that means chemicals that kill every worm and insect. Trapping is still the best way. I don't care for poisoning animals.