still having mole problems

[beenthere]

How do you know when the out-of-sight traps are tripped and have a mole? Or even remember where they were "planted" ?

 

[MossRoad]

GOT ONE last night, with the old victor spring loaded stabber type trap: first one this year with that thing...still looking forward to getting the new out of sight traps in..got a message monday that they have been shipped: i had put enough poison in the ground to kill a whole passel of mice, an it all disappeared...but this mole was fat an apparently healthy, till that spike stabbed him....
heehaw

Score one for the good guys! :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

How do you know when the out-of-sight traps are tripped and have a mole? Or even remember where they were "planted" ?

You can visibly tell when the trap is set or tripped. It is very obvious once you see the trap in both conditions.

As for marking them, I bought a bundle of 50 of those little orange flags on stiff wires for under $5.00, probably at Lowe's, 4-5 years ago.

 

[nebraskasparks]

Moles are carnivores...they eat grubs and worms. They are not vegetarians as some would think.
If you have a lawn with grub problems...treat the grubs and the moles disappear because the food source is gone.
Gardeners have an issue because worms are the secret to a great garden. Some growers make a compost pile where the worms will propagate pretty good and then trap/shoot etc all roads that lead to the compost pile. Works pretty good.
Most of the time it's a grub issue.

 

[heehaw]

i have been reading about everything i could find about moles: the Univ of Arkansas even has a site about moles: an i "think" it was there i read that treating for their food source, just makes them travel in wider areas: i have discovered, strickly from my own experience, if you don't get the mole in 24-48 hours, move your trap: i got this one within the 24 hour window...
heehaw

 

[hawkeye08]

A friend has been fighting them on his 11 acres for 10 years or more. He has trapped and trapped and trapped, but realized recently that he may have to plow and get rid of the tunnel system left intact when he traps one. More just move in from the surrounding area... he got a plow and will probably plow some of it this fall and more in the spring. He really does not want to, but the only way he can think of to destroy the tunnels (without explosives). I am thinking of getting him the caddie shack movie for Christmas. We have them some and use the vibrating stakes, a couple that take D cells, one that is solar. They keep them out of the yard for the most part.

 

[heehaw]

i dug up some of the mounds they make, an was really surprised to see runs coming into the bottom of the tunnel, an going almost straight down: so they go a lot deeper than what we see: i know plowing it up will make him feel better, but if they are going as deep as they are here, he won't get close to a lot of tunnels:
heehaw

 

[heehaw]

got the victor out of sight mole traps today: an i think you get what you pay for...these things are really heavy duty: i believe they would break a hand if a person were to let it go at the wrong time: i have looked on the internet at some of the ways people recommend installing this type trap, an its a little different than what victor puts on the instructions, but i think it will work as well if not better....we will see...
heehaw

 

[hawkeye08]

i dug up some of the mounds they make, an was really surprised to see runs coming into the bottom of the tunnel, an going almost straight down: so they go a lot deeper than what we see: i know plowing it up will make him feel better, but if they are going as deep as they are here, he won't get close to a lot of tunnels:
heehaw

Surface tunnels are close though and everything helps.

 

[heehaw]

i had no idea they went that deep: with as many surface tunnels as they dig, not sure when they find the time to go so deep: plus the ground is almost as hard as concrete lately.
heehaw

 

[MossRoad]

i had no idea they went that deep: with as many surface tunnels as they dig, not sure when they find the time to go so deep: plus the ground is almost as hard as concrete lately.
heehaw

Moles follow the food. If the food (usually earthworms, then grubs and insects) go deep, the moles go deep. Earthworms do not hibernate. If it gets cold, they go deep. Moles do not hibernate either. They just go deep in winter. If there is a drought, the earthworms go deep. So do the moles.

The nice thing about the out o sight traps is that as long as you find an active horizontal tunnel, you can set the trap, no matter how deep it is.

 

[buck12]

Moles follow the food. If the food (usually earthworms, then grubs and insects) go deep, the moles go deep. Earthworms do not hibernate. If it gets cold, they go deep. Moles do not hibernate either. They just go deep in winter. If there is a drought, the earthworms go deep. So do the moles.

The nice thing about the out o sight traps is that as long as you find an active horizontal tunnel, you can set the trap, no matter how deep it is.

I wish the moles in my neck of the woods knew they were suppose to go deep during a drought. We have experienced drought conditions for a few months and the moles are still making a mess of my yard.

 

[Johnbro]

I find the traps to be too much trouble. I've had good luck with the smoke bombs (brand name "Giant Destroyer"). I watch for them on sale at TruValue or HD and buy several packages.

the trick I've found to using them is to find the living tunnel (not a feeding tunnel). usually the home front is marked by a bigger excavation mound, since they dig out a platform down deep to sleep in. I open up all the mounds in the "system" connected to that sleeping tunnel and nuke them all at the same time with multiple smoke bombs. the idea is to force all the oxygen out of the tunnel system with the smoke, which I believe is heavier than air.

One of the things I'd LIKE to try is the Rodenator, a system to inject propane adn air into the tunnel (propane is heavier than air) and then explode it. Supposedly moles are sensitive to concussion so it kills humanely.

 

[MossRoad]

A friend has been fighting them on his 11 acres for 10 years or more. He has trapped and trapped and trapped, but realized recently that he may have to plow and get rid of the tunnel system left intact when he traps one. More just move in from the surrounding area... he got a plow and will probably plow some of it this fall and more in the spring. He really does not want to, but the only way he can think of to destroy the tunnels (without explosives). I am thinking of getting him the caddie shack movie for Christmas. We have them some and use the vibrating stakes, a couple that take D cells, one that is solar. They keep them out of the yard for the most part.

Just wondering why someone would fight 11 acres of moles? Large lawn?

 

[heehaw]

Rodenator, you bet...i'd like to try that too, but afraid i would move the house off the foundation?? has anyone bought/used one of these??
heehaw