Eradicating moles

[MossRoad]

I believe that is pocket gophers.

The saying is 'Making a mountain out of a mole hill." not "Making a mountain out of a pocket gopher hill."

While pocket gophers may do something similar, moles make mole hills when they can no longer push the dirt aside in their tunnels. They push it up and onto the surface to clear the tunnel.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a timelapse video of a mole forming a hill. It clearly illustrates why trapping a mole hill is almost always futile. Spike traps will be triggered before the mole comes up shallow enough, and pincher-type and choker loop-type traps require the mole to come in from the side.

Trap the active tunnels.

 

[CADplans]

You can spray all the weed killer you want, but moles eat meat. It won't change a thing.

My intent with the weed killer was not to harm the animal,,
I simply wanted them to be unhappy living where they were,, it was time for them to move away.

The groundhog ate the grass,, I would bet the 2-4D tasted horrible.
I KNOW is smells bad,,

The groundhog moved in, because it was a comfortable location.
It moved out because it was no longer a comfortable location.
Sorta like how slum lords turn off the heat to an apartment of someone that does not pay the rent.

Possibly, something like cayenne pepper spray might work.
That will keep squirrels out of bird feeders.
Birds do not even know the cayenne pepper is on the food.
BUT, the squirrels will be gone!!

It would be interesting to spray cayenne pepper spray right in the mole runs,,,

On a similar situation, we opened our pool last spring, and EVERY frog moved in,,,
There was a LOT of small tree frogs.
EVERY night there was relentless croaking,,

Well, I had heard that frogs breathe through their skin,,,,
the next night, I went out with a $2 spray bottle filled with vinegar.
I sprayed EVERY frog that I saw,,
I then sprayed the perimeter of the pool area with vinegar.

THAT ended that,, no more frog eggs,, the remainder of the summer,, PERIOD!
And the cost was a $2 spray bottle, and about $2 worth of vinegar.
The frogs must have really hated vinegar,, they moved.

There is a wet spot about 300 yards from our home,,
After our frogs were gone, we could hear frogs in that wet spot.
I do not know if ours moved there, but, our frogs were GONE!!

 

[Petman]

My son catches moles and he charges $50 per mole and provides the dead mole to the customer as proof. He has been trained and uses the old school traps that he puts underground in the tunnel. I have also heard that heavy doses of fish emulsion will drive them away. Perhaps soaking an area that has current activity will give you some indication if that works or is an old wives tale. I think trapping is really the only way to really make a dent and poison may create collateral damage. It is really hard to get rid of them. Gophers are easy and I took over 20 out of my half acre lot one year and since then I have only had one or two. I think you need to make a really big push to eradicate the breeding stock. Good luck

 

[Torvy]

My son catches moles and he charges $50 per mole and provides the dead mole to the customer as proof. He has been trained and uses the old school traps that he puts underground in the tunnel. I have also heard that heavy doses of fish emulsion will drive them away. Perhaps soaking an area that has current activity will give you some indication if that works or is an old wives tale. I think trapping is really the only way to really make a dent and poison may create collateral damage. It is really hard to get rid of them. Gophers are easy and I took over 20 out of my half acre lot one year and since then I have only had one or two. I think you need to make a really big push to eradicate the breeding stock. Good luck

Good thing it was the whole animal. There is an example of poor incentives we teach in Economics. In Hanoi, years ago, they offered a bounty on rat tails. Clever capitalist catchers cut off the tails and left the rats alive to breed more money.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Don't have time to read the whole thread but here is some ideas that may not have been covered.

My wife is pretty successful of chasing them off using Pine-sol. She opens open mounds and pours a cupful in each hole. They soon run off to the neighbors or back into then woods.

the best solution I have encountered is a "Varmint Getter". They use propane and oxy in a patented mixing and tunnel insert system to provide a mild explosion through the tunnel system that ruins their lungs and killing them. Due to cost such a system is not homeowner feasible. several years ago they were $1500 w/o the tanks and regulators. Most users would have that common welding items. Great tool for the large property owner plagued with ground burrowing critters. Several companies make them and I cannot place their names right now. Here is a business waiting to happen,

Ron

 

[kalkid]

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/wisdom-lawn-granular

Spread it wherever you don’t want the moles. They’ll move to wherever u don’t spread it but yes there is residual damage to anything that lived in the area where you spread it (worms, grubs, larvae, etc.).

 

[kalkid]

Oh and yes it kills fire ants to

 

[Gord Baker]

In Ontario Canada at TSC (Peavy) stores you can buy packages of 'Shots" 5 per pack. Like a large fire cracker.
Cover over most of the holes and put one in the hole First, then light it and cover quickly. It produces a deadly chemical reaction and the gas may be seen coming out other holes. Works.

 

[motormike]

I've had moles for years, tried a lot of different ways to kill them with no luck. Then I thought I was dealing with an animal so I started putting water down the hole thinking if it gets wet it is going to investigate where the water is coming from and run right into the trap. Well thus method has work for me. Only takes 24hrs and the mole is trapped.

 

[oldballs]

I have twelve of the old fashion spiked metal traps. Since I live on my property it is easy to keep and eye on the traps from day to day. Usually I catch the mole/moles in a day or two. Just push down with your heel on what appears to be an active tunnel. Set the trap. Since I cleared out the invasion, there is just an occasional need for the traps. Trapped 35 one year the first time around.

 

[Dwilson540]

I use some of the smoke bomb things. They look like a big firecracker. Typically when I see a large run I use two or three. I think there is some psychological satisfaction as well.

 

[STAYSAFE]

Moles eat grubs. Treat for grubs and theirs no food. No food and they go away.....

there’s

 

[STAYSAFE]

Moles eat grubs. Treat for grubs and theirs no food. No food and they go away.....

Treat for grubs and there’s no food.

 

[mk2133]

If you want to keep the moles out of your yard, treat it with Diazinon. That will kill the food moles like to eat, like crane fly larvae, etc. As far as trapping them, I have a trap that is 100% effective. It's a shotgun shell aimed downward attached to a pressure plate. I set it over a hill after I push some of the soil back down. When the mole comes back to clean out his run, BOOM!

 

[fishdrivel]

Treat for grubs and there’s no food.

I typed that while dealing with Covid.
There must be better things to do in NY than play "spelling police?"

 

[Tony H]

Garlic. I've done the spike traps, I've done the poison, tried caster oil. No good. We grow many types of garlic anyway so chopping up a hundred bulbs and sprinkling it around the perimeter of the garden worked.

 

[mkendrix]

I’ve used milky spore with great success. You could see a line where it was applied and no mole runs. Don’t know how long it lasted but was simple to apply over a large yard.

 

[CADplans]

I’ve used milky spore with great success.
Don’t know how long it lasted but was simple to apply over a large yard.

The state of Virginia applied milky spore to my sisters farm back in the early 1960's for free,,
her farm alone was 1,000 acres, several farms were done at the time.

I was a pre-teen then,, when the wheat was harvested,
the Japanize beetles were harvested right along with the wheat berries.
The 400 bushel truckload of wheat had thousands of beetles in it,,

The crop dryer would kill the beetles.

The control of Japanize beetles is STILL working to this day.

 

[newbury]

In Ontario Canada at TSC (Peavy) stores you can buy packages of 'Shots" 5 per pack. Like a large fire cracker.
Cover over most of the holes and put one in the hole First, then light it and cover quickly. It produces a deadly chemical reaction and the gas may be seen coming out other holes. Works.

I use some of the smoke bomb things. They look like a big firecracker. Typically when I see a large run I use two or three. I think there is some psychological satisfaction as well.

I have fond memories of my Dad eliminating moles in Northern Vermont.
He'd use M-80 sized firecrackers. He was a smoker.
He'd go out on the lawn in late spring, early summer wearing a pair of thick soled, heavy boots. When he found an active mole run he'd light an M-80 with his cigarette, drop it in the run, cover it with his boot, wait for the "THUMP". Repeat as often as necessary.
Definitely a fun way.
/edit - probably don't need a cigarette