Moles!

[wch]

I just had a friend ask me if I had an answer to his problem with moles in his yard; outside of adopting a cat, I had none.
How about you fellas? Any suggestions?

[FISH4BUGS]

Try five cats....haven't seen a mole, vole, mouse, chipmunk, or squirrel in quite a while.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDEira01c0Q

[tomme boy]

Get rid of the grubs in your yard and they will leave. Otherwise, find a dog that hunts and digs.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

fall!

[starmac]

Target practice.....

[km101]

A .22 rifle works well if you can catch them burrowing. Use CB caps and no one will even notice.

[Mal Paso]

There are wicked looking traps that plunge spikes into the "run" when tripped.

Ag Dept. and local farm supply are good resources.

[1Shirt]

This year I am trying an ACE Mole repellent that you spread, and so far it seems to be working.
1Shirt!

[Marvin S]

Harpoon type traps. They have to be old ones as all of the new ones are junk with dull spikes and short legs that wont hold into the ground. I sort of collect the old traps by Reddick and some Victors untill they cheaped out. The scissor type are junk also.

[dbosman]

A lawn chair, some easy listening music, one adult beverage and a shotgun loaded with buckshot.
Tamp down the tunnels so you can see them move. Evening is best.
That's how my father took care of them.

I live in an area where that would be illegal, so I just bought a bunch of the plunger traps.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

, too ...

[Jailer]

Spike traps. I got 3 of them last fall using this type and dug one out with a shovel.

[Charley]

Jack Russell Terror (Terrier!)

There are some microscopic bugs that burro into the ground that are a parasite to the grubs and kill them, no grubs, no moles or skunks come fall!

Beneficial nematodes. You can buy them at most natural/organic gardening stores, or mail order. They are freeze dried, come on a small sponge. Soak the sponge in water, wring it out, and mix with water in a hose end sprayer. Hook up your hose and apply to turf area. Works well against beetle larva (june beetles), flea larva, and most other insects that develop in the soil.

As for the moles, try Talpirid. Decent mole bait, not too expensive.

[nhrifle]

1 - Stag Arms carbine, or a similar variant.
1 - Slide Fire stock.
10 or more loaded magazines with green-tip ammo.
Large adult beverage and understanding neighbors.

Mix all ingredients liberally and apply to problem areas.

[xs11jack]

I hate to wee on the kill the grubs people's parade, but I did some on line research and found that the University of Penn. and University of Ca. have studies that say that the moles eat more worms than anything else by a wide margin. That's why mole bait and grub killer doesn't usually work. I kill them with the spring powered spike traps and they work well. You have to find the long straight tunnels that they use the most and set the traps on them. The short curved tunnels are only used once or twice. Good luck.
Jack

[BSalty]

Go to IFA (I assume that is a national chain, farm supply place anyway) and buy some strychnine, put it on a carrot. Stick the carrot down the hole and cover it with a plywood board. After a couple days check to see if the carrot is gone. If it is, the sucker is dead and buried. If not, find the next hole and do the same thing.

Works better than anything else I have found.

[10-x]

Had some luck with those propeller/flower windmill moles chasers. Vibration is suppose to run them off.

[Charley]

I hate to wee on the kill the grubs people's parade, but I did some on line research and found that the University of Penn. and University of Ca. have studies that say that the moles eat more worms than anything else by a wide margin. That's why mole bait and grub killer doesn't usually work. I kill them with the spring powered spike traps and they work well. You have to find the long straight tunnels that they use the most and set the traps on them. The short curved tunnels are only used once or twice. Good luck.
Jack
You are correct, moles feed mostly on earthworms, not grubs. Nematodes work well on grubs, and do cut down on the amount of animals that forage for grubs...Armadillos, skunks, and possums. They go elsewhere, because the food supply in the treated areas is considerably less. Talpirid actually is formed into wormlike strands to take advantage of the mole's predisposition to feed on earthworms.

[blackthorn]

Run a pipe/hose from your tail pipe into the tunnel and let the truck idle for a half hour or so. It wont get them all but it sure cuts them down. My Dad did that every so often when the little pests got too prolific in our alfalfa field. Oh-yeh---it don't disturb the ground like the propane dose.

[376Steyr]

I've never tried it, but for years I've heard of using Juicy Fruit chewing gum to kill moles. Theory is the mole eats the gum, which crates intestinal blockage, and mole dies.

[bangerjim]

We have always used the guillotine-type spike traps that work almost 100%. Impales the little bustards as the burrow under the trigger plate. Not a pretty site, but neither is a mouse/rat in a trap! But you KNOW FOR SURE they are gone! Poisons, talepipes, flooding, etc.....you really NEVER know. And you do not have to worry about violating any laws discharging firearms in town as suggested above. The adult beverages are still necessary and required!

[Ed Barrett]

Trapping works, but long term easy way it to get some castor oil. Mix it 1 part castor oil to 20 parts water with a little detergent. Spray area once, after two weeks they will be gone. Then apply around the perimeter every 3 months. The worms will ingest the castor oil, which doesn't hurt invertebrates, but when the moles eat them they either dehydrate from diarrhea and die, or decide to move to greener pastures. The left over pure castor oil is the best case lube I have found, just a little goes a long way. Some people grow caster bean plants to keep moles away, but you have to grow them all along the the property line to keep your yard mole free.

[GaryN]

I kinda liked the Rodenator. It looked like fun. Might as well have fun while taking care of the problem.

[TES]

The golf course at my old house used two jack russles and with in a two day period they were gone. Those dogs knew why they were there.

[deep creek]

use a good fertilzer on your lawn then water it burns both moles and pocket gophers and they leave.

[Johnch]

Find a mole hole
Take 1 60 min flare and light it ( 2 or 3 30 min flares also work )
Insert in the hole
Plug the hole and any others you can find

Burns all the breathable air up and kills the moles

John

[smokemjoe]

Get the mole eliminator sold in Ohio, it has the underground killing finger, I was Ace in no time, my friend is pass a triple Ace with his.

[xs11jack]

I have to admit that the spike traps work, they are so boring, now the propane is a literal blast. Just think, blow up your lawn, the neighbors, even the guy across the the street by gasing the storm sewer. Wow the possibilities are endless, and about the time you run out of propane, you get a free summer vacation in jail!! WooHoo!

[Jim]

I hear coyotes like them, owls too!

Of course you could go the propane route too ...

You might wanna rethink that.

Coupla' years back, a guy around these parts discovered a ground hog community in his 100+ acre hay pasture. He decided that he would propane them. So, he got a full tank, attached a hose to it, ran the hose down in one of the holes and had a cold one while the gas was flowing.

"That oughta' do it!" He pitched a lit kitchen match in the hole. Not only did he come real close to getting blown off the planet, he set the pasture afire. Took three brush trucks and a few hours to get it out.

My 'coon huntin' buddy told me that story out at the club house one day. The fella was there. "Watch this" says Jeff. He hollered at the guy "Hey, Ronald, wanna go ground hog huntin'?" "You go t' h311!!"

:bigsmyl2:

[Mal Paso]

Mole "Runs" aren't holes like gophers make. The ground collapses behind them enough that gas won't work.

My mom was the real expert.

[TXGunNut]

Mothballs. Poke a hole in the tunnel, drop in a mothball. Repeat until you run out of tunnels or mothballs.

[jblee10]

I had one in the yard for two years. I tried lots of different things. Traps (scissor style), poison, smoke bombs. I've caught them with the scissor traps before, but couldn't get this one. He was pretty large and pushed enough dirt ahead of himself to spring the traps before he got there. I finally dug into a mound and cleared out the opening to his tunnel, taking note of which way the tunnel ran. About twenty minutes later he came to the mouth of his tunnel and started pushing dirt up to close the opening. I stabbed into the earth with a shovel about 16 inches back from the mouth and cut him in half. I expected to seal off the tunnel behind him with the shovel, and then stomp him to death. But cutting him in two worked just as well. If you get a chance, watch the discovery channel program on moles. They really are an amazing animal. And they actually forage above ground at night, locating and pulling earth worms out of the ground. The footage of a mole running across the ground was shocking. They move pretty fast.

[zidave]

I stabbed into the earth with a shovel about 16 inches back from the mouth and cut him in half. I expected to seal off the tunnel behind him with the shovel, and then stomp him to death. But cutting him in two worked just as well.

Haha wow! Could you feel the shovel hit him?

[Marvin S]

They are a ball of muscle with the paws of a grizzley bear the teeth of a vampire bat and they have some of the finest fur of any animal.