rekees4300
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Moles! How to find the runs?
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MossRoad
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Moles don't hibernate. They just go down as deep as the worms and bugs do in winter.
Don't try and trap the mounds. Mole traps are designed to go vertically across a tunnel, catching the mole as it moves from one side of the trap towards another, not UP towards the trap. A mole mound or mole hill (mountain out of a mole hill) is formed by the mole pushing dirt UP and out of its tunnels. It will trigger the trap well before the mole gets anywhere near it.
So, if you see mounds, but no tunnels, that means the tunnels are deep and the only way to find them is to dig down. You CAN trap the mound areas, but it takes some digging.
First, scrape the mound off and into a bucket.
Then, take a spade and dig a cone out around the tunnel, kind of a hole like a tree spade would dig. Pop the whole plug out in one piece if you can. Make sense?
With any luck, you should see a tunnel or two coming UP somewhere around the edge of the hole you just dug. If not, gently probe around till you find it.
Once you find it, think vertical...
Get yourself a Victor Out O Sight mole trap.
These things are meant to be set horizontally over a tunnel so that if the mole comes from either direction, it will pass through the open scissors, push a dirt plug UP under the trigger pan, trigger the pan and catch itself between one of the two scissor jaws. But they can be set vertically if you're careful, and think about how it would look if the tunnel were vertical, and use a sod plug under the trigger pan.
If you're not familiar with this type of trap, you can search TBN and there's a write-up I did on how to set these traps.
I've trapped several hundred moles on our one (yes 1) acre.
Another good source of information is Mole control, biology and trapping help, 1986, professional, author, tom schmidt | The Mole Man
LOTS of good information.
Don't try and trap the mounds. Mole traps are designed to go vertically across a tunnel, catching the mole as it moves from one side of the trap towards another, not UP towards the trap. A mole mound or mole hill (mountain out of a mole hill) is formed by the mole pushing dirt UP and out of its tunnels. It will trigger the trap well before the mole gets anywhere near it.
So, if you see mounds, but no tunnels, that means the tunnels are deep and the only way to find them is to dig down. You CAN trap the mound areas, but it takes some digging.
First, scrape the mound off and into a bucket.
Then, take a spade and dig a cone out around the tunnel, kind of a hole like a tree spade would dig. Pop the whole plug out in one piece if you can. Make sense?
With any luck, you should see a tunnel or two coming UP somewhere around the edge of the hole you just dug. If not, gently probe around till you find it.
Once you find it, think vertical...
Get yourself a Victor Out O Sight mole trap.
These things are meant to be set horizontally over a tunnel so that if the mole comes from either direction, it will pass through the open scissors, push a dirt plug UP under the trigger pan, trigger the pan and catch itself between one of the two scissor jaws. But they can be set vertically if you're careful, and think about how it would look if the tunnel were vertical, and use a sod plug under the trigger pan.
If you're not familiar with this type of trap, you can search TBN and there's a write-up I did on how to set these traps.
I've trapped several hundred moles on our one (yes 1) acre.
Another good source of information is Mole control, biology and trapping help, 1986, professional, author, tom schmidt | The Mole Man
LOTS of good information.
ultrarunner
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I miss my Siberian Husky... no mole or gopher was safe... wound not move for days until the prey was caught... even the most docile Australian Shepard got it's fair share.
No dogs now and the yard is starting to look like a mine field... bad year for sure.
I have the concussion trap which has worked and sets off an audible when "Fired"
No dogs now and the yard is starting to look like a mine field... bad year for sure.
I have the concussion trap which has worked and sets off an audible when "Fired"
rekees4300
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Redlands Okie
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Long ago i had a pest control guy tell me that he had no problem getting rid of moles. I was not so sure he knew what he was talking about. Seems that he did. Get rid of the moles food such as the grubs by treating your lawn. Moles will become a lot more rare in your yard. It was interesting to see yards next door to the treated yards with moles and you could almost make the boundary of the yards where the moles digging stopped. No food therefore not much digging. Moles are smart enough to not waste a lot of time digging for nothing.
MossRoad
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While grubs are certainly on the mole's menu, its primary food source is earthworms.
Sodo
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If you want to know if a tunnel is active, feel for the soft “ roof” & poke a hole in it with your finger. Like a skylight. If the tunnel is active the mole will pack the hole closed with dirt. Then set your trap at that “skylight”, the mole just told you he likes that tunnel.
MossRoad
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If you can see the tunnels on the surface, the easiest way to see if its an active tunnel is to just push your heel into the tunnel to dent it down. If its active, the mole will come along and open it back up again, pushing your heel mark back up.
I bought a bundle of marker flags from Lowe's... those little orange flags on wires... for a couple bucks. I use them to mark where I put my heel marks. Pretty easy to go back and find them later. Also good for marking the traps so you don't mow over them accidentally.
I bought a bundle of marker flags from Lowe's... those little orange flags on wires... for a couple bucks. I use them to mark where I put my heel marks. Pretty easy to go back and find them later. Also good for marking the traps so you don't mow over them accidentally.
check
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We just ignore them up North. They dig up the lawn in Spring for a bit after the thaw, then we see no further signs of them.
MossRoad
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The beauty of the Victor Out O Sight mole traps is that you can set them at any level of depth, provided you can locate a tunnel.
