mole problem

As the snow has melted now and we have begun working and playing out and around in our yard now I have noticed we have a very bad mole problem. Our yard looks like a set of hiways for moles. I just got done looking online for remedies and there are all kinds from traps, poisons, baits, electronics, and chemicals. Where does a guy start? We live in the country and our yard is about 2.5 acres, with kids and dogs both in the household. Anyone have any ideas? thanks

I’ve had some luck sticking a garden hose into their tunnel and letting it run for awhile. I don’t know if it kills them or just makes them move on. I also bought some granules ( can’t remember the product) that kills the grubs that the moles are after. That worked pretty good and also got rid of ants also.

I had a similar problem and we live in the country. I had heard that if you lime your yard that this will make them leave. My lawn needed to be limed and I bought the granulated and spread that on our main lawn around the house. Ironically my moles did leave the area that I put down lime. The areas that I didn’t lime still has moles but those are fringe areas and I’m not as concerned about those. We cut about 3 acres around the house. You can try it, putting down some lime is good for the yard anyway and it’s not that expensive.

Best way is to drink a cold beer while holding a spade. Simply watch for the ground to move when they dig, and get them with the spade. My neighbor is a master at this. Other than that I have put both bubblegum and Exlax in their tunnels. It did decrease my problem, but did not alleviate it.

Get a couple of the ‘spike’ style mole traps. You need to skim off about 2″ of dirt from the top of the tunnel. Pack the dirt down. Jam trap into the ground. Operate the spikes so they go into the ground easily. Have the pan/trigger of the trap about 1/2″ above the dirt when you are done. Slide a piece of cardboard under the pan so that the dirt does not bubble up around the pan w/o triggering it. Having the pan 1/2″ above the dirt allows the mole to get well under the spikes before he triggers it. In the late ’80s I caught 18 in one season, and 7 in one spot. Gregory

Take a couple of trips around your yard perimeter with spreader full of a product like diazanon or a similar insecticide . The moles do not go where the living is sparce. You do not need to cover your whole yard.GOOD LUCK

Carl Spackler????? Sure his specialty is gophers, but he might dabble in moles a little.

If you decide to use traps, you first want to flatten all of their runways by simply stepping on them. The next day, look where the moles reopened their main routes and where they intersect. That is where you want to place the traps and not on a dead end.

It takes some time to figure them out but you can trap them. Be the mole…

A home remedy is Big League Chew gum. Put some in their runs. They eat it and cannot digest it so it “plugs them up”.

The way that me and my cousin did it, is we stuck the garden hose down there and waited for them to come out of the holes, then we had some fun with the shotguns

use grubb killer and I have used those spring traps, they work great!! find there run, flaten it out and set trap so when they runn through again, they hit trigger and thats it!! and with grubb killer-get rid of grubs, get rid of moles

I have been killing moles for many years. I have killed as many as 3 in one afternoon.

Pat down all of the runs. As you are patting them down make sure to take note of the most recent ones. After they are all patted down go away from the area for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes go back to the spot with a 12 or 20 guage shotgun. Walk very softly around the runs. If they hear you they will stop moving. Look for the runs that are pushed up. Almost 100% of the time there will be runs pushed up and you will see the ground moving at one end of the run. Stand back about 10 feet and fire right on the spot where it is moving. Sometimes we use 2 guns and fire at the same time. Grab the shovel and dig up your prize. One time last summer I did this and actually missed the mole. However when I dug down to him he was so dazed and confused that I was able to pull him up and kill him with the spade.

It is very rewarding and comforting to know that they are dead. Kill them with the shotgun if you live out of the city limits. Best way to be sure they are DEAD!

I hate moles!

I needed a laugh, very good post.
Between ticks, skeeters, and moles, I would kill them all if only given one wish from a genie. I actually am pleased with myself after I bash in a moles skull with a shovel. very demented, but I would never do this to any other animal unless it was harming me or my dogs. Crazy how such a small mole can cause so much hatred, but consider the time we spend on maintianing our lawns only to have them destroy it.

PS. to PETA I will not apologize for the skull bashing comment!

well if you did not live so far away and have a have a fenced yard you can borrow my dog for about 3 days. whe will get every single one. in the spring I leave her out over night and she sleeps ove rhte runs then gets them then. and for everyone she gets she received 5 bones. so I think she hides some and shows up later with them for more bones. 2 falls ago she was outside a lot . and in the spring there were about 10 dead moles and no problems. neighbors on both sides have borrowed her for a night or 2 also.

Broncs

My old lab used to dig them up. The lawn looked like a battle field but the moles were gone and the dog enjoyed throwing them up in air and catching them.

Try A trap called the Mole Eliminator made by WIRE-TEC INC VERY Easy and very efective

You need to rent that pooch out, could probably buy a new boat after only one summer!

Molasses.

What you see when you look down a mole hole

I know a guy in my neighborhood that actually chose to move just to get away from the moles. They are hard to exterminate…….

Regards,

Scott Mueller

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I’ve had some luck sticking a garden hose into their tunnel and letting it run for awhile. I don’t know if it kills them or just makes them move on. I also bought some granules ( can’t remember the product) that kills the grubs that the moles are after. That worked pretty good and also got rid of ants also.

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Diazinon does a great job at getting rid of the grubs – not sure if it toxic to kids or pets though – read the label carefully

Farm and Fleet has a product that looks like a worm and you just put one in the run and bye bye mole. Can’t remember the name of it but 3 guys tried it and all three said no more moles.

Talprid is the poison worms. They have soso results, cut them in 3 pcs for better results, but talprid makes a trap now so kind of shows the effectiveness of their bait. I trap moles professionally and use either molinator traps or victor out of site traps. https://www.moleexterminators.com is one of my websites that has mole information.

I dont think I’ll have to worry about them til June, but it’s a refreshing thread

I’m not sure of the life expectancy of a mole, but 11 years later I would think they have died of old age by now.

Mole money, Mole problem.

Moles eat grubs and bugs….Kill the grubs and bugs and you won’t have any moles. There’s some Scotts fertilizers and pellet mixes that will take care of them for you.

We have the same size yard, 2.5 acres. If you start buying the grub and bug killers and spreading it you best have some deep pockets. Last Summer I decided to figure out how to trap them. The first thing is get a good trap.

Out of Sight by Victor is what you want. They are a heavy duty trap that will break fingers if you stick them in it. Fleet Farm right now has them in. They only cost about $9 and they are the proverbial ticket. For some reason the seem to just get one shipment a season. On Amazon they wanted $20 a trap.

Do what the others have said and stomp down all the tunnels you can see. Then watch to see which ones they are using. My yard was full of runways and the best tip I got was to look at them like a tree. There is a main run (trunk) and it will have a bunch of off shoots (limbs) If you just look at it as one you won’t have a clue where to put the trap. If you look at it like a tree with branches it will become clear where to set. Keep the traps on the trunk part.

Last summer I had 4 traps. I used 2 in each area that was active.I ended the season in November with 21 moles. One thing to keep in mind is if your adjoining neighbors don’t eliminate their moles, when you catch one, others will move in and take over the tunnels. I had a few 2 and one 3 mole day. It got to the point I was hoping I didn’t wipe them all out as it is a fun pastime.

Good luck with them, they are a bugger.

WS

Thanks Guy’s –
I was enjoying my winter until this topic came up.

Traps? I ain’t using no stinkin traps!

I’m thinking of hiring iowaboy1 to come up here and use a little C4.

Outdraft wrote:

I dont think I’ll have to worry about them til June, but it’s a refreshing thread

Had some in the yard 2 months ago. Not cool because we have a puppy and he loves running with the other dogs.

The weird thing is the mole was making holes like a gopher which was dangerous. I spent a lot of mornings filling them in.

He seems to have vacated the yard. Must have run out of grubs to eat.

Make a little napalm. Make it dry thick and send it down the tunnel every 10 ft. Light it and smoke them out. Works in my yard every year.