Must be fall ... the Moles are back

[SARG]

Brought out my trusty orange pail of assorted Mole traps today to combat the critters because a few fresh dirt mounds appeared over night. I have convinced myself that this year will be successful in their termination .... because we have become more patient and finally understand that taking great pains in setting the traps is the critical part of the equation.

While everyone else is out hunting down Bambi I shall focus on the lawn renegades.

 

[beenthere]

Seems our moles are diving deeper down in preparation for winter hibernation. I've seen less above ground evidence lately. They are harder to catch when this time of year comes around...at least in my experience.
Will be interested in what you find. Go get'um.

 

[MoKelly]

Good luck.

In my opinion, the only good mole is a dead mole.

MoKelly

 

[SARG]

Hopefully tomorrow I can post photographic evidence that the war has started.

 

[kf4uda]

The best defense against moles that I have ever seen is a Jack Russell terrier.

 

[SARG]

Success over the first night. Two sets and two moles.

The campaign has begun.

 

[Slimpickens]

Hey Sarge

Have you tried throwing out grub worm killer? grub worms are a major source of food for moles. Kill their source of food and the moles go over to the neighbor's yard!

maybe it will help....

 

[SARG]

I've got two acres around the house of nasty clay soil and I do remember once I tried the "weed and feed" deal .......... turned out the grass was rare and the weeds plentiful .........meaning I had a very brown lawn for awhile ....... all to say I'm too cheap to try and kill off the grubs.

I suspect the only real remedy to Moles is trap them one at a time and continue doing it.

Today the traps were empty. I imagine that when each Mole arrives on scene somewhere on the lawn he will leave his telltale mound of mud and I will pounce with the trapsets in his tunnel.

 

[Bird]

We've got our share of the moles in our yard this year, too, and I haven't done anything yet to get rid of them.

 

[LoPresti Lawnscape]

Go to Lowes or HD....actually go to HD, I own stock...lol

But get a box of a product called Tomcat. It has fake worms in it that are impregnated with Bromethalin.

Read the instructions on the box and you'll be very happy with the results.

Trust me on this.

The other option is to google a product called Talparid.....same stuff in larger quantities and maybe cheaper overall.

 

[Bird]

We have more than our share of moles in the yard, even now. A few months ago, I bought a Victor Mole Trap and tried setting it in about 3 locations, leaving it for several days each time, and have never caught a one. Just haven't had Sarg's luck. Today I learned of a Harbor Freight store not far from us that I didn't know existed, so I went to see it, actually was looking for something like a farm jack, but smaller and lighter. But my wife went with me, and she saw these Windmill Mole Chasers. I told her I'd be very surprised if they worked, but she asked an employee at the store and he said he'd had customers drive down from Oklahoma just to buy them because the stores up there were out. So as you might expect, I had to buy one, assemble it, and put it in the yard this afternoon.

 

[Western]

Now all you need to do now Bird is put a generator on it and you'll be "Green"

 

[Ridgewalker]

I had a friend tell me that he uses his 4 wheeler to gas moles. He runs a tube from the exhaust down into a tunnel that is getting traffic. He says it works...

That got me to thinking about using a "2 minute smoke bomb".
Once my guys wake up I hope to put them back to sleep by planting a couple in their runs to see what happens. If that doesn't work I will try my 4 wheeler.

 

[Bill Barrett]

I have never had luck with the trap Bird used.
I tried the CO with vehicles, just seemed to PO'ed the mole off.
Now I have had great luck with this Victor trap:

Twin Set Victorｮ OUT O'SIGHTｮ Mole Trap, Model B0631-2

 

[Bill Barrett]

But now I really want one of these!!!!:
Gophers Pest Control | Moles Burrowing Rodents @ Rodenator

 

[Bird]

Bill, I've never seen one of those twin set Victors, don't quite understand just how they work, but they're definitely too expensive. And the Rodenator? That looks like it might do more damage to my yard that the moles are doing.:laughing: I have two new mounds in the yard this morning; one less than 6 feet from the new Windmill.:laughing: So I set the trap again, too, and we'll see what happens.

 

[sixdogs]

What about just flooding the holes with the hose?

 

[Bird]

What about just flooding the holes with the hose?

I've tried that with no luck, although maybe I didn't leave the water running long enough.

 

[SARG]

Well gang.........here we go again.

Two photos just taken out the window showing a very small section of damaged lawn. This is about one tenth of the total area so far.

The other picture shows the "Mole trap Bucket" I created last year with the trap on top that I have had the most success with so far.

It'll be a busy spring and once again ..... the best method I have found is taking great care in the setting of each trap ..... and just being more tenacious than the little critters are.

First thing after the frost is gone is rolling it all down with the 900 pound roller and then pouncing on every new sign of active moles with trapsets.

 

[sixdogs]

SARG--that is shocking to see.
We are new to this area and I have not seen any moles--do you even see them?---but we do have small holes near some newer trees. Not in the lawn.
Maybe mice but I don't know.
Then again, I have dogs as a deterrent.
We have, however, found some dead critters occasionally that look like 3 inch long lobsters--no kidding-- and people tell me they live in holes around the yard.
I have no idea.