GarthH said:
Finally got possession of our acreage.
There is alfalfa on most of the land. One friend of mine seemed to inidicate that alfalfa and moles seem to go together. I have certainly notice quite a few along our 1/2 mile driveway.
Any thoughts of how to get rid of the moles?
I have heard cats are good and others seem to say the only way is to trap them.
Thanks
Garth
Here goes....
First, in defense of the moles, I would not kill them if they did not damage my pool and undermine my sidewalks and create paths for water next to my house foundation. They are fascinating little creatures and are great for lawn aeration. Contrary to popular myth, they do not eat your vegetable root crops, nor do they eat plant bulbs. Moles are carnivores, that is, they eat meat... primarily, worm meat, suplemented with bug meat. Moles have twice the red blood cells per unit as humans. That's why they can breathe in tunnels. If a mole was the size of a human, they could stand between parked cars and shove them aside. That's how strong they are.
Now for the bad news... Four years ago, on my one acre, after replacing the second liner in my pool that was undermined and ruined by moles, I took up war with them. I killed 29 that summer. The next two years, I stopped counting at 50+ dead moles each year. Last year, some lawn company mistook my house for the house across the street and dosed my lawn with insecticide. It killed every living thing in my soil, including the worms (I turned them in to the health department and they were fined heavily). I killed one mole last year and had a crummy lawn due to no worms aerating it for me.
In the fall and again this spring, I aerated the heck out of it and when the rains came the worms came back. So did the moles. I killed #7 this morning. All of them came from within 20 feet of my pool this year. I could kill many more if I trapped out by the woods.
So, the best way to eliminate them is elminate their food source. Unfortunately, that means you will create a sterile growing medium for grass and that is no good. Too many chemicals and artificial fertilizers to keep the lawn going.
Second best way is to trap them out. Use the Victor Out-O-Sight mole traps. They cost about ten bucks. I have five of them set out at all times and check them daily.
Here's a link to a post I made on Country By Net back in August of 2003 that shows about a dozen pictures of how to set the Victor Out-O-Sight mole trap.
CountryByNet.com Forums :: Moles and Mole Traps
There are also some picturs of the Nash choker loop trap. The Nash is also a very effective trap, but I find it less humane than the Victor. Many times I have found live moles in the Nash. I've even found a mole that carried it ten feet from the tunnel. Very few moles survive the Victor. And the Victor can be set at any depth of any tunnel. Both traps have a trigger rod that can flip up and damage a dog's nose, so cover it with a bucket if needed. There are also pictures of what I like to call, "Grandpa's mole trap". I also call it the "
victor Plunger O Death trap". I has the spikes that shoot down. I have yet to have it work and gave up on it after a year or so.
I'd say, if the moles are just mounding up dirt and unsightly, level the mounds down and be done with them. They are really bennificial animals. But trap any tunnels within a hundred feet of your home if you have a pool or expensive cement works.
