Moles Taking Over

[Tractor Seabee]

We have been fighting the moles for two years in our yard and garden. Tried everything from poison to vibrators. My daughter has a litle dog that we turned loose, all he did was till up the ground exposing tunnels, no moles. They have increased exponently rather than decrease. These are not gophers, there are none in the Puget Sound region. What have you had luck with? We will try anything once.

Ron

 

[NoTrespassing]

We have been fighting the moles for two years in our yard and garden. Tried everything from poison to vibrators. My daughter has a litle dog that we turned loose, all he did was till up the ground exposing tunnels, no moles. They have increased exponently rather than decrease. These are not gophers, there are none in the Puget Sound region. What have you had luck with? We will try anything once.

Ron

Our dog got a couple. I've poision a few with some expensive poison, Motomco Mole Killer. We cut the poison worms in half. They're still tearing up the yard. I'm pretty sure if I was a little more persistant with that poison we could keep them at bay but I seem to find better things to do with my time instead. My grandmother used to stand over a mole hill with a potato fork and kill them when she saw the dirt move. Talk about patience!

Kevin

 

[Cap-n-Cray]

Ron, sure they are not voles? On Bainbridge we have voles that come from the forest. The voles keep digging up my grass areas. I can see the mounds coming from the forested areas. They eat grubs, not plants. Are you using the right poison? I use a pellet poison that you put in their tunnels with some good results. I got from HD an inserting device that you just stick in the ground, turn a handle and it puts the pellets in the tunnel. I have not eliminated them, but can control them.

Cary

 

[wsp617]

I've had luck using a heavy dose of grub-killing insecticide. Normally a granular product. If you kill the grubs/worms in the ground, the moles will leave as you've eliminated the food source. The problem is I have to put it down every year (and sometimes more).

Years ago I used Diazinon. That can no longer be purchased so I buy what ever they have at the store.

I've also had some luck with the garden hose. If I discover a "new" tunnel and I can get to it with a garden hose, I'll stick the hose in the tunnel and let the water run. Twice I've had moles come to the surface to avoid drowning.....they didn't make it back under.

They can be a major pain. I'd give the insecticide a try and see if that helps.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Ron, sure they are not voles? On Bainbridge we have voles that come from the forest. The voles keep digging up my grass areas. I can see the mounds coming from the forested areas. They eat grubs, not plants. Are you using the right poison? I use a pellet poison that you put in their tunnels with some good results. I got from HD an inserting device that you just stick in the ground, turn a handle and it puts the pellets in the tunnel. I have not eliminated them, but can control them.

Cary

Cary, pretty sure as they are a lot smaller, we have them in the forest also. they usually live under logs and brush. They do not leave the huge mounds like moles. Sometimes the mounds are over 12" diameter. We use the tunnel worms, pine-sol, and the vibrators. They all work for awhile but they seem to get used to all them and keep on going. I'll look for the insert device. Thanks



Ron

 

[DwightD123]

I watched a program where a local mole trapper was telling some of his tricks of the trade. I was interested because he used the same steel spring stake traps I used but I could never get them with it. Once he explained the proper way to use it I have been successful more often than not. Now my neighbors have moles and I don't. I keep telling them what I learned but they seem bent on doing it their way.
The trick is in the trap set. It's not as simple as pushing the tunnel down, planting the trap and setting the trip. The key is in the dirt preparation. If you pack the dirt when you collapse the tunnel you are making the trap ineffective most of the time. The spears cannot get through the packed dirt with enough force to kill the mole. Instead take a garden trowel and scoop off the top of the tunnel. Take that dirt and crumble it so it is loose. Replace that dirt then set your trap where the trigger just touches the top of the loose dirt. I have gone from unsuccesful trapping to significant success with this method. Of course if you are retired with nothing better to do you can sit around with a spade or .410. Happy Trapping!

 

[Pete Judd]

I have a whole herd digging around now. A friend must have 5 traps out now, the worst year ever. The cats bring them to the front door all the time, as well as pocket gophers. The worst are under the fruit trees. I tried the garden hose thing, and I think that they like that as well. But boy they sure till the soil. However, if they are eating the grubs, and worms, it means that my lawn is healthy.

 

[Cap-n-Cray]

Ron,

There is one other way.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgztUzqaL3E&feature=related"]Rodenator[/ame]

:confused2:

 

[creekbend]

A neighbor of mine when we lived in Florida would attach a section of Smurf Pvc Pipe to the exhaust of his lawn tractor. He would funnel the exhaust into the tunnel openings. It worked. Just a thought.

 

[Bird]

I'm wondering why the big increase in the number and/or activity of the moles. I tried everything I could think of for nearly 2 years and I guess you could say I've given up. Nothing worked. But it does appear their activity in my yard has finally decreased.

 

[Egon]

Traps

Vacum Truck.:thumbsup:

 

[rrrkkk]

Well there is only one sure way. That is traps, I best i have used is Victor sizzor traps. They are expensive but unlike the spike traps these work. I use a lawn roller when I discover mole activity to roll the tunnels flat. That way i can see what tunnels are active, trap those tunnels, several moles can seem like a dozen.

 

[s219]

I have tried many methods, but the most successful is to catch them in the act. If I can spot the activity and narrow it down to a few square feet, I can catch the mole every time. Some tricks are:

Block the tunnel with a shovel on an angle, in which case they will climb right up out of the ground trying to dig past the shovel.

Use a water hose to flush them out (perhaps towards a shovel). The moles will doggy-paddle right up out of the ground.

Wait until you see them, position yourself over the tunnel and wait quietly for a couple minutes, and then stomp them or dig them out once you spot movement.

I do try to catch them alive and relocate them to the woods if I can. I have killed a few of them, and felt bad about it (despite the fact that the lawn damage pisses me off). They're just doing their job, so if I can relocate them, we're both happy.

I haven't had good luck with the spike traps, but will try DwightD123's approach next time.

An old timer told me you used to be able to buy traps that used a 12-gauge shell pointed into the ground. He said the good thing about that was that you always knew when you got one!

By the way, I read somewhere that moles can move about 80 feet a minute through a clear tunnel, and they can dig about 4-6 feet a minute when making a fresh tunnel. Those buggers can move. I believe it based on what I see when I release them -- within 15-20 seconds, they are in the ground and have tunneled a couple feet. It's pretty impressive.

 

[cdaigle430]

We have been fighting the moles for two years in our yard and garden. Tried everything from poison to vibrators. My daughter has a litle dog that we turned loose, all he did was till up the ground exposing tunnels, no moles. They have increased exponently rather than decrease. These are not gophers, there are none in the Puget Sound region. What have you had luck with? We will try anything once.

Ron

I use the spike trap, alonf with grub and worm killer. I've learned that it is impossible to get rid of them for good-only control them to some degree. Every spring they have several pups and every spring they claim another acre of land. Moles are very territorial and will accupy 1 per half- to - 1 acre. Some folks are unluck because their property lies in the middly of several mole territoires. They only possible way to be rid of them is to kill their food source.

I have some neighbors who keep them away by simply having free roaming chickens

 

[creekbend]

I'm wondering why the big increase in the number and/or activity of the moles. I tried everything I could think of for nearly 2 years and I guess you could say I've given up. Nothing worked. But it does appear their activity in my yard has finally decreased.

I have noticed the same thing in regards to the fluctuation in numbers. Some years the activity is more prevalent than others and sometimes none at all. Could the amount of rainfall received make a difference? This is in relation to the hardness or softer condition of the soil.

 

[JerryK]

The most fun if you have the time is the stomp/pitchfork method... Stomp down their runs and sit quietly sipping on barley pops. When things have been quiet long enough, they will start moving. They actually make a heck of a noise when they are tearing thru the grass roots and making tunnels. If you see movement, or repaired tunnel areas [ pushed back up ]...poke over the area with a pitch fork. They usually pop right up out of the ground impaired on the fork tine..... I used Nash traps [ the hoop kind ] and usually just ran over them with the mower and scrapped them. The 6 tine traps work pretty good if you cut the four outermost tines off, so you are left with just one tine on each side, and set the trap so the two tines line up with the stomped down tunnel. With only two tines, the traps do not tend to jump up when they are tripped....and in the long run, are way more fatal to the little critters. Tried the poisen bait, the chewing gum trick, the exaust trick, and lit my share of the poisen smoke things.... You can try flooding them out with a hose, that is worth an afternoon or so. Only thing is, I saw a program on PBS years ago, the little things are actually pretty good underwater swimmers.... Like was said above, the best way is to get rid of their food source...but that means killing all the grubs, earthworms, etc. and keep them killed. Great thing for the ground water you drink. And, if your neighbor has them, it's like beating your head against the wall... God, I miss those little beastards...... Have fun.... !!!!

PS- I always wanted to make some heavy concrete dome things, and place them around the yard with C4 under them with an electric trigger....but never got that far.. But, eventually, you will feel the same way..... [ ] And, don't forget to send away for some Milky Spore to spread around your property to kill off the grubs... It won't do much good, but it is part of the process that will get you to the C4.... [ again... ]

 

[Bird]

I have noticed the same thing in regards to the fluctuation in numbers. Some years the activity is more prevalent than others and sometimes none at all. Could the amount of rainfall received make a difference? This is in relation to the hardness or softer condition of the soil.

I never had any at all in my lifetime in my yard until the last couple of years. Don't know where they came from.

 

[samandmax]

We always used toy pinwheels and placed them around yard. They did work. We now have some outdoor cats that clean up on mice and moles.

 

[LWG]

All you need is a car, rag and garden hose. Find one of the tunnels, make a small opening, and put an end in the tunnel. Wrap the rag around the hose, and stuff it up the tailpipe. Start the engine, and get a cup of coffee. I just used this to close down a chipmunk den under the garage. I've used it for moles, too. I suspect it was easier before emission controls, when engines used to put out a lot of CO. Now you have to rely on the CO2 displacing the oxygen, but it will. It's a lot safer than using propane or gasoline. Of course, water won't work because the tunnels are built to sustains rains.

 

[lhfarm]

Don't mean to hijack the tread, but I've had a sudden reappearance of moles in December. I don't ever remember having problems with them in the winter. Maybe because we have had such a wet and mild fall/winter. Are they normally active in cold weather?