Moles

[woodlandfarms]

Well, something has to be done that i haven't done....

Bought the traps, not much luck. Neighbor stopped by with the Molenator.. Not much luck. Wife does not want poison in the ground.. Looking at this cheap "hook a hose to your exhaust pipe) as a possible method.

Whats working for everyone...

 

[enterprisebbc]

Nothing works unless you sit down on a chair after you have flattened the lawn and wait for them to move for a few days and use a 12 ga when they do

 

[JerryK]

Ah, mole wars.... I remember them well... Stomp the trails down like Enterprisebbc states then get a comfortable chair, a pitch fork, a supply of cold barley pops, and something to prop your feet on whilst you sit quietly nearby in the shade. After a short while, the critters will start moving again. They actually make quite a racket tearing the sod when they are making new trails. Once you see or hear movement, walk over and prod the soil quickly with the pitch fork. This should result with the mole being impaled on one of the tines for you to pull up and admire. There are lots of types of traps, fumigating processes, and poisens to try, too. But sadly, none of them really work that well. Even if you get rid of all of them on your property, it quickly gets repopulated from next door. One thing, try not to have nightmares at night about plastic explosive or dynamite based traps .... Try to keep your 'mole problem' at arms lenght from your real life. TRY .... !!!!

 

[rrrkkk]

I take my lawn roller and roll the tunnels flat, later you can see what tunnels are active. I then set Victor sizzors mole traps they are very effective(never miss) they are somewhat costly and need a helper handle to set but are the best I have used.

 

[JerryK]

I had luck with the Victor 'prong' type traps, too. They come with 6 prongs, but tend to jump up upon firing and not impale the little beast most of the time. If you remove the four out board tines and leave the center two, then set the trap directly over the collapsed tunnel, they work pretty good. The Nash loop traps work OK, but my problem with them was that when the are set in the lawn, I tended to wipe them out with the mower when I forgot where they were [ brain dead, zooming around on the tractor mowing ]. Even after painting them bright yellow. Went to the grain elevator and got the industrial poisen stuff, poisen peanuts, poisen this and that, the smoke sticks, the exhaust in the tunnel, the flooding thing [ they are actually quite good swimmers and a PBS show years ago somehow had pictures of them swiming in the tunnels for long distances ], juicy fruit gum, and I forget all the other things.... Or, maybe, I am blessed by the memory loss of all the good times, the blessed good times, when I used the fight them moles.....

 

[JerryK]

It's coming back..... Milky Spore .... Go send away, spend a couple hundred dollars and get some Milky Spore to kill off all the grubs the moles like to eat. That's good for a summer or two, too.... !!!!!! Makes you sleep better for a while.... a little while.....

 

[JerryK]

I'd come show you how to fight them moles, but my doctor said it was too soon. Maybe in a few years, when they let me out, able to live again and walk amongst the normal folk.... I could help. But for now, my doctors said that it is better that I sit in a quiet corner, and try to wipe all memories of them moles from what little is left of my mind...... Someday......

 

[wedge40]

I've all the storied and the only real solution is to treat for the grubs. Get rid of the food supply and they will stay fat and happy in the neigbors yard.

Wedge

 

[woodlandfarms]

My wife just shot this idea down. She said they feed off or worms as much as grubs. Milky Grub is a grub killer... I don't know. Crazy...

 

[Bird]

My wife just shot this idea down. She said they feed off or worms as much as grubs. Milky Grub is a grub killer... I don't know. Crazy...

I'm afraid she's right. I've treated for the grubs, but I still have the moles.

 

[bcp]

The Dachshund (badger dog) has already been invented, but is too big for mole hunting.

We need the breeding to continue smaller and smaller until we have a Maulwurfhund (mole dog) that can go into the tunnels after them.

Bruce

 

[JerryK]

Maybe if you trained them moles to do something usefull, tried raising them for export to some third world countries [ or ours, if things don't start getting better ] for an exotic pet or food source...... if you made them actually worth good money..... I bet you wouldn't have one within a mile of your house then........

 

[s219]

Like others have said, I tamp the tunnels flat, and then watch for activity. I seem to think they are more active right after a rain. Last week I got one -- within minutes of tamping a tunnel flat, I saw movement and stomped right on that spot with my work boot. One down! I think I have 1-2 more to get.

Some years I catch them alive, stick them in a bucket, and then relocate them to the forest a few miles away.

We're building a new house in the woods, and the ground there is covered with mole tunnels. I can tell they will be tormenting me at the new place for sure. But, I don't plan to have a nice lawn there, so hopefully I won't care as much.

 

[Doloe]

Our two cats have done an amazing job around our place. I think that's why we rarely see garter snakes now. The moles and shrews are the snakes' main food supply.