How do I get rid of moles?

Jim – posted 12 May 2001 06:13

How do I get rid of moles?

They are making tunnels that are driving me crazy. Is there any sprays that I can use or is this a problem that will eventually go away?

TURFTIDE – posted 12 May 2001 14:24

There are numerous products available at the local garden centers. Home Depot? Items such as gopher gassers,traps,etc.. A couple of proven methods I have used include placing a piece of Gummi Bears or Juicy Fruit Gum into their tunnels. Make sure that the human scent is not on the “bait”. Use rubber gloves. These sweets apparently clog them up. Not sure on the exact method of what takes place but the tunneling stops and it is cheap.

Burlap_Etc – posted 15 May 2001 21:59

quote:Originally posted by Jim:How do I get rid of moles?

They are making tunnels that are driving me crazy. Is there any sprays that I can use or is this a problem that will eventually go away?

Jim, Its ok chill out, Help is on the way! OK here it is 1. Get yourself the mole traps. 2. Locate a main tunnel.(The one you keep seeing going right under you veggie garden and no matter how many times you push it down he keeps coming back). 3. With the heel of you head I mean foot.(Dry Humor) push down firmly across main chamber. 4. Then place trap right in compressed area. 5. Shiskabob mole cant help but try to open the chamber and whala lunch on a stick! Burlap_Etc What Fun!!!!!!!!!!!

Ronda White – posted 29 May 2001 20:02

Turftide- I have had moles the past two summers. I have spent numerous dollars on professional lawn care to simply end up with holes throughout my yard. It never falls when I plant new plants a few weeks later here comes my “pet” and makes a run right under it, sometimes killing my plant. The only way I have been able to kill one in 2 years is by having my dad stand in the yard with a hoe and wait for the little turkey to start “running”. I’ve tried it since, it must be a secret that he’s not sharing with me. I have snuck up on them while I’m seeing a “run” in progress and I dig like there is no tomorrow and I can’t seem to kill the little critter. How can something so soft be such a pain in the butt? My real question is. What can you do if your neighbors don’t care whether they have moles or not and the silly things are running back and forth and my “grubless” yard is the one in the middle? Thanks for letting me vent if nothing else.Mortified Moler

ann aveyard – posted 05 August 2001 04:05

I was advised by the New Forest Pest Control to use Creosote – pour a cupful on to each mole -hill every 24 hours, I have been doing this for a couple of days now and so far no sign of any new activity

seed – posted 07 August 2001 07:12

Ann, there are environmental concerns about creosote and I am not aware that it is an EPA registered pesticide for rodent control. Please read the label on the product and make sure that you are using it appropriately.Phil

tdkx – posted 19 August 2001 10:21

The only really effective way to get rid of moles is to use the trap method. Someone has already stated this but used much more “dry humor” and much less instruction. You can look at that reply because it is not bad. Here is one trick that results in higher kill rates. Push the tines of the trap through the soil where the trap is to be set. Make sure that the trap is in the exact place where the tines will enter the soil/turf. Any impeding of the tines will allow the mole time to escape or the tines will not penetrate the turf/soil. In the best scenario, you will end up with a skewered mole. The mole will often not be dead and it is a good idea to have a hammer along when you check the traps. Just strike them in the head with a very solid stroke and bury them. I’ve used the gas bombs and the poison bait and they don’t work nearly as well. Gas bombs will usually kill even more turf. It is a good idea to use several traps on each run. I’ve been dealing with them for several on my golf course.

Good Luck,TDKX

Tom Officer – posted 23 April 2003 18:31

Has anyone had experience with the sonic devices desighed to get rid of moles?Tom O

mbfe – posted 28 April 2003 11:19

I haven’t used a sonic device but I’ve used a product I found on the internet called Molexit (www.molexit.com). It worked great!

tofficer – posted 06 May 2003 20:28

mbfeThanks for the suggestion Ill check it out.Tom

certified-in-florida – posted 31 May 2003 22:22

I personally have had good inexpensive results from Juicy fruit gum. Use it as stated in the earlier post. Make a hole in the tunnel and drop it in.

ml12345 – posted 06 June 2003 21:31

I’ve tried “Mole Chaser” sonic devices and had zero success.

mresneck – posted 09 August 2003 19:39

Moles are smarter than most people, so nothing works perfectly. Traps are best, but are dangerous if you have pets. Best I’ve done is with a good yard cat. He always wins.

duryeam – posted 16 September 2003 16:41

I got a kitten, now I have no moles!!!

Maxwell – posted 24 September 2003 16:19

We have Cambridge-educated moles here who are smarter than I am. However, over the last three years I’ve scored four moles. One was using a scissor-type mole-trap, set in a run which was up against a wall (moles like to tunnel along a wall, so are less likely to tunnel around a trap placed there). This was evidently the only dumb mole in the area – no luck with traps since then. The other three were caught using a garden chair, a book, a pitchfork and a bucket, as follows. 1) Get an idea of the times at which your mole is active 2) Place garden chair next to fresh molehill 3) Start reading book and keep half an eye on the molehill 3a) If you reach the end of the book, give up for the day 4) When the mole starts to shove more earth up, stand dead-still with pitchfork poised about three inches to one side of the hill 5) Next time the earth moves (so to speak), stab the pitchfork in just *behind* where the mole is6) Prize up a huge wad of soil, hopefully with the mole 7) Grab mole by tail 8) Place mole in bucket 9) Pause to think “Gosh, how cute!” 10) Take mole to a field far, far away. OK, so the disoriented mole probably gets eaten by the next passing owl, but you feel better for not having killed it yourself. I’ve also tried going straight for the mole with the pitchfork tines, but this never works – moles are too damn fast. Happy reading.

rgjack – posted 09 October 2003 13:40

Moles won’t go away on their own as long as there is an ample food source…grubs and worms in particular. I was composting every plant in the sandy Florida soil so that attracted alot of worms. The mole tunneling dried out the plants roots and killed the plants. Early in 2001 I tried the gum, exlax, poison pills, and castor oil sprays with undetectable results. Then I bought three scissors traps. I didn’t count at first but ended the year with 30 recorded kills. By the way, my house is in a residential area on less than 3/4 acre. In 2002 three more traps were purchased since the moles were found to be coming to my yard from three neighbors. Eighteen were caught in July alone – sometimes three a day – and a total of 64 for the year recorded kills.The good news is only eight were caught early this year and I’ve pulled the traps for lack of activity. And, its unbelievable how the increase in quantity and size of the worms.