Getting Rid of Moles???

A friend of mine lives next to the woods & is having a devil of a time with MOLES. They are tunneling all over his lawn & eating roots of the perennials I've planted for him. :(

He has a couple of spring traps out, but no luck. Does anyone have any good methods of getting rid of these destructive beasts???

I had a mole problem when I moved here a year ago. They were so bad that was one of the reasons I only do container gardening. BUT.....my two minature Dachshunds took care of the problem and I havent seen but one mole "trail" in several months. Of course they dug up the yard pretty badly, but it was due to be reworked this year anyway.

Dog Power. The same solution I've used. They make a minefield out of your yard, but no moles.

My Sheltie, Carly has made it her life's mission to rid the property of the critters..she gets voles too. I've had to fix the trenches she's dug, but haven't seen a mole in months.

Traps and predators are really the best and pretty much only ways to get rid of moles.

Mel, you could rent Carly out!

I've had offers. And when they see her in action...there's no question.

I can say "Get Moles!" and she runs into the yard, barks and scratches the ground. She's telling me to go find her some....they're all gone!

Castor beans, garlic in the flower & veggie beds, fireworks down the holes or real guns shot down into the tunnel causes concussions which then result in death, loud music with a pounding bass beat right over the holes and tunnels, run the lawnmower right over the runs and holes daily and over the general area often, anything to disrupt their peace and quiet. They will leave rather quickly if they can't sleep a lot during the day. Let a smoke detector go off for a long time over the opening to a run. Smoke bombs thrown into the runs and the top covered over with something heavy to keep most of the smoke in the runs. Just a few of the things we have done. We have very few moles left around here.

EvaMae, I think I'd rather have moles! ;)

Actually, it probably isn't the moles that are eating the plants. It could be mice running through the mole tunnels, or you could have voles - a MUCH worse proposition. And if I could get rid of ours, I would be a very happy gardener.

Very true. Moles have tiny mouths and are insectivores.
http://www.themoleman.com/index.html

Melody,

Carly has got to be one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen!!

Anne

I've been told to put Juicy fruit chewing gum in their tunnels. I bought a package once with the intenetion of doing that, the kids got hold of the gum, and it never made it to the mole tunnels.

If there are a lot of grubs when you dig, you might try treating the lawn for the grubs, that is what we did. It helped.

My mom had a mole problem and we tried everything. Juicy Fruit...chewed and unchewed..as per the instructions of different people. Dog hair,human hair in the runs. Poison peanuts and pellets. Mole traps (these helped to some degree) The electronic pest zapper thingys that you were supposed to bury in the ground. Spectracide to kill the grubs(this made a small dent) Water hose down the runs to flood 'em out. Car exhaust down the runs to gas 'em. Some kind of 'mole bomb' things in areosol cans. We didn't have Carly at the time,or I'd have let her take care of them.

The only things that even made a difference are the ones that I indicated.

My Mom solved her problem.....sold the place and moved to a condo.

Moles are not capable of chewing gum. They have teeny little mouths made for eating insects and small worms. For some reason I'm thinking about the killer rabbit in that Monty Python movie, "with big, nasty teeth!". LOL

I don't know how it works, but do know it worked for my uncle. If there was one sure fire way to get rid of them, someone would have made a mint by now. I googled Juicy Fruit and moles and several hits came up of different people saying they had tried it and it worked for them. I don't think the idea is for them to chew the gum. But from what I've read they ingest it just like they ingest their food, I'm assuming, if what GW says is correct, without chewing. I'm sure there are just as many out there who say it doesn't work... just like everything, what works for some, won't work for all.

We have the traps, they don't do a whole lot for the population, though they will kill a solitary mole if it uses the run more than once.

For what it's worth, we have four dogs, and none of them are the least bit interested in digging for moles. My suggestion would be to try a variety of different things until you find something that works for you.

This is the thing with anecdotal evidence, though; someone might try out a remedy, and the problem go away, but there's nothing scientific linking the action to the reaction. People used to believe flies were spontaneously created from raw meat, too, you know? I know, everyone's a critic. ;)

Some cats have the 'mole hunting gene',and they are much neater than dogs. A cat will sit right on top of a run and wait all day...when the mole comes along,it simply reaches in and grabs it...one little hole and no fuss.

Our mole hunting troubles at Mom's lasted over 10 years....so we tried everything at least 4 or 5 times each. She had about 10 spring loaded traps that were set at all times. My Uncle Joe had a 'spear' he'd fashioned out of an old flathoe,and he got several dozen that way.

The problem was that when the neighborhood was full of kids, dogs and cats, with horses and ponies, bicycles and red wagons, the moles weren't inclined to hang around. As the neighborhood aged, the yards were no longer playgrounds and little activity was happening. The moles multiplied and the area became infested with them.

I often wonder if the young couple with the children who bought the place have had a problem.

I am loving this thread. We fought moles for many years in an almost fruitless effort until we got our little begal mix dog. She had been our salvation as far as ridding the yard of those pesky creatures. She is getting very old now and I am dreading losing her. One of the results of losing her will be that our yard will be infested with those pesky critters again. When that does happen, maybe I can rent Carly by the hour and she can continue where my doggie left off. She is my "adopted grand-doggie" anyway so she shouldn't mind visiting Grandma for a while occasionally. Love that beautiful dog!!!!

Our Darcy who was supposedly a pocket beagle-these were the original Beagle of the 1300-1400s and no longer exist and certainly are not recognized by any registry-does a fair job of digging at least at the vermin tunneling thru our yard. I don't fuss at her when she digs even if it means I have to replant something.

My friend's property borders on a river & woods. I know that's the origin of the moles. It's a weekend place & the moles go crazy all week. The loud music & sirens sound good--- it might drive away the moles & his crazy next door neighbors.

when I find the hole from
one of the tunnels I fill it
with mothballs, so far they
haven't come back, however
they move to another location
in the yard....

Deller, bet those holes are moth free too! LOL!

Mole-free would be nice...

It's not ingesting the gum that is the problem.....it's eliminating it!! It really does "gum up" their works!

"eyes"

From what I've read, they have no interest in the gum, though. Maybe it's other critters munching on any gum left around their holes.

True Story: Had a friend (An old welder) that used carbide to make a gas to get rid of them. After baiting all the runs to drive them out a neighbor came over to watch and threw a cigerate butt on the ground. It blew up the yard and a lot of trees and plants.

*Sigh*...People, LOL. Something Red Green should reenact!

Moles,
find a tunnel. dig a hole about two feet deep by about the size of a coffee can. put the can in the bottom of the hole, fill can half full of water. put a piece of plexiglass just wide enough to cover the hole allowing the run to be used. cover with just enough dirt to close off the light. with the plexi glass it is easy to clean it off and see your pest in the coffee can. moles don't swim well. prcastle

Have you done this yourself?

gardenwife,
I am working on four holes now. My moles just first tunnel the perimeter of my yard on the fence line then go hunting.
I did try some new bait with coumadin in paste form. it is squeezed from a tube and looks like a grub in the run. A squirrl ruined my project. the product is too expensive to try again. will post my progress. prcastle

anyone know how long these
creatures live? maybe we
can wait them out lol

http://www.themoleman.com/biology.htm

Problem is, they propagate! ;)

I had a terrible problem with moles this spring and all of a sudden they were gone, I assumed they had just taken up residence someplace else. Last night my husband killed a 3 1/2 foot rattlesnake, the first one we had seen here, and I'm wondering if maybe he had eaten the mole? That would be a good thing, but, I sure don't ever want to see another rattler, would rather have the Moles. Now I'm a little bit afraid to go out into my garden--- Oh, I hate snakes, scare me to death!!!

I bet he did eat them. I'm with you...Would MUCH rather have moles!