Best way to get rid of Moles

[DCP]

I planted grass next to the fence the dog has worn down. It was coming in nicely. And then, a mole make a 12 inch high mole hole. So I seeded again. I used a trap but they never seems use the same run twice.

What is Best way to get rid of Moles?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFyr49TwuiI

[Spoonerism]

A few smoke bombs down the hole and covered with a piece of wood can run moles off, plus it can show you were the other holes are. A water hose down the hole is a common solution I've seen. A bit more extreme method I've heard from some local rednecks is to take as many as 3 fireworks mortar shells tied together and dropped in the hole. I would imagine it would blow a good chunk of your yard away though. Most hardware stores have mole solutions with the other pesticides.

[375supermag]

The only way to be sure is to Nuke them from space.

[sparky45]

How about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDEira01c0Q

[Kraschenbirn]

A few smoke bombs down the hole and covered with a piece of wood can run moles off, plus it can show you were the other holes are. A water hose down the hole is a common solution I've seen. A bit more extreme method I've heard from some local rednecks is to take as many as 3 fireworks mortar shells tied together and dropped in the hole. I would imagine it would blow a good chunk of your yard away though. Most hardware stores have mole solutions with the other pesticides.

+1 on smoke bombs. Do a search for 'mole smoke bombs' and you'll find an assortment available online or through farm and lawn product outlets. They DO work...I put one down each of the holes I'd located, then sealed the hole with a sandbag...no more mole tunnels!!

Bill

[Stewbaby]

Best mole trap around. I killed 12 two years ago and 8 last year and haven't seen one this year. Buy two and double up on the runs. It will get them!

http://themoletrap.com/

[gwpercle]

I know this sounds like a scam , but my Dad's yard became infested with the pesky things. Dad tried traps...no good. Poision....not much better , never saw any dead moles and they were still tunneling all over yard. A salesman at the local Ace hardware sheepishly told me these Electronic Mole Repellers they sold did in fact work. They were battery powered , a cylindrical tube, it had a weatherproof cap to put in new batteries and were buried into the ground. They made a sound that evidently the moles didn't like. Dad installed them , changed the batteries on schedule and in 4-6 weeks they were all gone , packed up and left . No moles and that's been 7 years .
I know.....I didn't think they would work either...I was wrong !
If interested , he used the P3 International Vibrasound Molechaser #P7096. These are NOT wimpy solar powered but run on 4 D-cell batteries . I believe they also make a cheaper plastic model also. Dad only needed two for his back yard and they did the trick.
Gary

[Hannibal]

When I lived in town and had a small yard, I found that fertilizing regularly ran the earthworms off, and the moles went with 'em. No food, no pests.

Now that I live in the sticks and have too much yard to mow, let alone fertilize and mow even more, I sit back with a cool beverage and the .44 Mag and watch for the movements. 250 grains of hard cast lead at point blank range usually blows 'em clear out of the run.

And it certainly is more entertaining than pushin' a fertilizer spreader around.

[KMac]

I sit back with a cool beverage and the .44 Mag and watch for the movements. 250 grains of hard cast lead at point blank range usually blows 'em clear out of the run.This sounds like the best solution. Or at least the most fun

[blackthorn]

My Dad used to plug all the holes he could find and then run a hose into one hole and hook it up to the tail-pipe on the truck. He let it idle for an hour or so and we had no mole problems for some time after. That general type system also worked well on Rats.

[Larry Gibson]

Get rid of the grubs.

Larry Gibson

[facetious]

Get a big wooden mallet and when thy stick their heads out of the hole you wack them with the mallet!

[smilie=1:

[Iowa Fox]

Best mole trap around. I killed 12 two years ago and 8 last year and haven't seen one this year. Buy two and double up on the runs. It will get them!

http://themoletrap.com/

Any tips or pointers for using the traps? I've got 2 of them and just can't seem to catch much. I've read the directions and watched their vids, still no luck.

[Thumbcocker]

Rat terrier or mini schnauzer

[Stewbaby]

Any tips or pointers for using the traps? I've got 2 of them and just can't seem to catch much. I've read the directions and watched their vids, still no luck.

I'd just stomp down the runs to try and find the most active. Stomp the one I was setting it on down again. Insert and step on to set, then carefully pull it up just a hair (1/8" to 1/4") so it didn't give so much resistance.

[DCP]

Rat terrier or mini schnauzer

I have a Mini Schnauzer she is working on it. She fantastic on showing us where they have been

Angel was Mini Schnauze who has passed, did catch a mole ONCE. She brought it to me so proud squealing in her mouth.

And then

Silly me told her to drop it. She did and it ran away. That was the end of her mole hunting.

Sure miss that little dog. That's her on the left

[Hannibal]

Any tips or pointers for using the traps? I've got 2 of them and just can't seem to catch much. I've read the directions and watched their vids, still no luck.

In My Humble Opinion, based upon personal experience and observation, the majority of mole traps are designed to catch property owners, not moles. Kinda like fishing lures. Sometimes they work. Once in awhile, they work very well. But most days you'll go home empty handed.

Get rid of the food source, and I recommend regular granular chemical fertilizer should you choose that option, or be prepared to meet them 'head on'. A .44 Mag works nicely should you choose this option.

Other options might work, but I can not comment upon those. Traps, fertilizer and firearms are the extent of my personal experience.

[bubba.50]

drop a nice size black snake down each hole. or even better a king snake.

[MaryB]

Yup I just did this on some gopher holes! poured a quart of oil in the tailpipe so it also smoked big time so I saw other holes that I dropped a rock on.


My Dad used to plug all the holes he could find and then run a hose into one hole and hook it up to the tail-pipe on the truck. He let it idle for an hour or so and we had no mole problems for some time after. That general type system also worked well on Rats.

[Land Owner]

Post hole digger and a #5 metal can. This works...

1.) Dig a post hole through an active mole run.
2.) Shove the #5 metal can in the post hole and deeper than mole run.
3.) Wait for it. Tomorrow there will be a live mole in the can bottom.

[bbs70]

When I lived in town and had a small yard, I found that fertilizing regularly ran the earthworms off, and the moles went with 'em. No food, no pests.

Now that I live in the sticks and have too much yard to mow, let alone fertilize and mow even more, I sit back with a cool beverage and the .44 Mag and watch for the movements. 250 grains of hard cast lead at point blank range usually blows 'em clear out of the run.

And it certainly is more entertaining than pushin' a fertilizer spreader around.

Never had mole problems till I retired here in the country 6 months ago, dog loves to dig at them and pretty good at it too.
Problem is the dog holes in the yard, not good.
Found that a 45acp with CCI snake shot does a fine job of getting rid of them.
It also gives me an excuse to go sit in the swing in the front yard.

[wgr]

I have tried a lot of things , thinks I,ll just pave my yard

[Big Boomer]

Had the worst case of moles in any yard I have ever seen. Wife got some Tomcat Mole Killer either from a local farm supply or Lowes. Cut the "worms" in half to spread them around better and dug down into their mounds and placed the rubberish "worms" directly into the pathways of the moles. Used rubber gloves to eliminate human odor. Within one week - ONE WEEK - all mounds were inactive. Been two years now and nary a mole hill in my yard. Tomcat Mile Killer is the real deal. Big Boomer

[375RUGER]

My brother has been using this and swears by it.

http://molecat.com/

[popper]

Get rid of the grubs. Sevin is one of the few products that will eliminate active grubs. Also eliminates most everything. Wonder if the old 120 AC in the ground trick will work on them. Works on worms.

[Hannibal]

Get rid of the grubs. Sevin is one of the few products that will eliminate active grubs. Also eliminates most everything. Wonder if the old 120 AC in the ground trick will work on them. Works on worms.

It does, but the 'margin of error' carries too high a price. Thus, I did not mention it.

Also, moles will eat nearly any insect organism they cross paths with. This includes grubs and worms. You've gotta drive all food sources out if you choose to rid your yard of moles this way.

[Jeff R]

The OP says there was a 12 inch high [mound]. If this is the case, he is probably dealing with pocket gophers, not moles. I have been blessed with both. For pocket gophers, I use a trap called the "Death Clutch" trap. When set with care, I can get a 75% kill ratio. (25% traps sprung with no gopher) I have pretty good luck on moles with traps.
Good Luck!
Jeff

Rocketing toward 200 posts!

[RogerDat]

The classic arched trap with spikes on either side suffers from one issue we are all familiar with, recoil. Trick to getting these to work is making sure soil is loose under spikes and trap spring doesn't send the trap up as much as the spikes down. Old ones the arch forms much longer anchors but the "legs" on new ones are too short to hold against the recoil so I drilled a hole through one of the arch legs and ran a longish bolt through the leg with a nut all the way down to the trap leg. I set a brick on the bolt so the whole trap can't jump up with recoil. On sandy soil it made a huge difference, digging the soil a bit so the spikes could go in easy helped in the hard soil.

Those little flags used to mark underground utilities stuck through the middle of the tunnels can help show you both active tunnels since the flag base through the tunnel will get pushed aside by a mole OR for you folks into shock and awe with large caliber weapons (at least from mole perspective) the flag moves, set down cold beverage and shoot either side of the flag because there is a mole there. The little flags and watching is how some gulf courses kill moles, they pay students to sit there and watch the flags and stab with a pitchfork.

Highway flares make good gas attack, those work even on woodchucks if you can find all the openings and catch them inside.

We seldom have moles in the fenced back yard, standard schnauzer on patrol, when she was young and stupid she would dig up the whole tunnel looking for the mole, had trenches all around. Later she taught herself to dig a small hole and smell for the mole, she would dig small holes along different points in the tunnel until she could smell Mr. Mole was between two holes, she then parks waiting for a sound or movement, then attacks the tunnel digging fast and furios until she can grab the mole by it's back with her front teeth, flip it up in the air and catch it coming down. Crunching sounds sort of like someone stepping on a bag of Doritos about 3 times. A joy to watch her work the couple of times I saw her in action. Most of the time I only know she's killed one because she comes in with her hair in a mohawk held in place by gel applied by rolling in well aged dead mole. Which by the way smells worse than lawnmower hit snake, which I didn't think was possible.

[CIC]

Rat terrier or mini schnauzer
I had a Rat Terrier and all he did was pee all over the place when people came over to visit. I prefer a 12 gauge. Watch the run and when you see the soil heave up and down, let em' have it!

[RogerDat]

I had a Rat Terrier and all he did was pee all over the place when people came over to visit. I prefer a 12 gauge. Watch the run and when you see the soil heave up and down, let em' have it!

Well I guess a 12 gauge would do the job of shock and awe in mole land.... if you don't have a 30-06 or 300 win mag handy.

[darrondb]

We use to have a nasty old barn cat that loved to dig up moles. He would just sit and watch for one moving. Dogs did it too but they made quite a mess.

[15meter]

[QUOTE=RogerDat;4067339]Well I guess a 12 gauge would do the job of shock and awe in mole land.... if you don't have a 30

There used be a guy around here who was a Ruger #1 fan, had a custom 500 Nitro Express, would sit in a lawn chair next to the run, when he saw movement he let them have it in their general direction, claimed all you had to do was get close, the concussion killed them. He complained that the 500 drove the slug too deep, he would dig up the solids he was shooting and reload them for the next mole.

An unusual guy to say the least.

[bayjoe]

Weiner dog, they are killing machines

[marlin39a]

We call them Gophers here in Northern Arizona. I have a jaw trap that I use. Dig down between holes, and set. Grabs those SOB's dead every time.

[jonp]

Get a bulldozer and dig up the top 2 ft of the lawn and replace with fresh soil. I've been battling the moles since I bought the house with no luck and I've tried everything. At least I got rid of the Japanese Beetle problem. When they came out the first couple of years it sounded like hail hitting the side of the house

[osteodoc08]

I've seen a farmer take a LP container and inject LP into a hole, run a small bit of gas away and light it. Rather impressive but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Treetop]

We use to have a nasty old barn cat that loved to dig up moles. He would just sit and watch for one moving. Dogs did it too but they made quite a mess.

We have two "yard" cats here at the ranch in central Texas. Mole catching is their favorite hobby. Rarely a day goes by that they don't catch one either in the yard or out in the pasture. They will sit or lay near an active mound for as long as it takes, then pounce! TreeTop

[Hardcast416taylor]

The 2 methods I`ve heard about the most are either a good loose roaming yard dog or a scope sighted .22 and you on the back porch.Robert