Moles in the yard... solutions?

[cfabe]

So after our cat died last year we started to have a mole problem. This spring it's gotten really bad. Aside from getting another cat, what can I do? Today I put down some grub control and also put some poison bait in their tunnels, maybe that will help. The research I've done online says that the only really effective way is trapping them. Maybe I should just get a good night vision scope for my pellet rifle?

[Larry Ashcraft]

The "choker loop" traps work quite well on both gophers and moles.  Bury 'em in the tunnel for a while, come back out and pull the chain up, dispose of mole, repeat.

The best however, I've heard, is SKUNKS (they are good for something).

[grampster]

The choker loop traps are very good if used properly.  Carefully slit the soil in a tunnel with a shovel so that the trap will insert easily when it is cocked.  Always wear gloves to cut down on human odor.  I have killed many, many moles.  

Putting their little crappy heads on stakes around your yard as a warning is effective at keeping transient moles out. heh.

[mustanger98]

If you're gonna fight a war, you gotta make the enemy miserable where he lives. Moles ain't aquatic. Flood their tunnels and they should leave you're yard fairly fast.

[possenti]

I've had luck with the spring-loaded spike type trap.  It takes a little strategy to place one in the right spot if you have several mounds/tunnels.

My dog used to dig 'em up fairly well, but I think he's gotten tired of it.  Besides, I think he did more damage digging holes to find them than the mole did.

Did your cat go after them?  I'd like to see that.  The only time I've seen a cat dig is in its litter box...

[SpookyPistolero]

Hehe, a few years ago my dad had a big mole problem. I took my nagant and a bunch of left over smoke bombs that I had (those big 5-minute ones). I put them in opposite ends of the tunnels I saw. Then I just waited and watched for movement, and aimed about 3-4" ahead of the movement. Worked pretty well, but obviously a little time consuming.

[Stand_watie]

I have either moles or gophers and two dogs who go after them with vigor and quite a bit of success.

Unfortunately my yard often looks like Mclellan's engineers have been digging defensive positions to protect them from General Lee.

[lee n. field]

napalm

[BryanP]

Call Bill Murray and see if he has any suggestions.

[...has left the building.]

Take a pep talk from Carl Spackler baby!

"License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote."

[RRTX]

Tannerite

[Greg L]

We had a bunch of moles.  We also have four dogs.  We now have very few moles.  I mowed the lawn with the tractor today.  At the moment I'm drinking heavily.  The alcohol is to numb the pain in my back.  My back hurts because I kept driving into B52 craters in the lawn.  You figure it out .

[Fjolnirsson]

http://www.critter-repellent.com/mole/mole-repellent.php

Used it last year in my front yard at the first appearance of a mound. No further problems were noted.

[stevelyn]

Flood their tunnels with gasoline. Wait a few minutes for the fuel/air ratio to optimize then tetch her off. Or you could just dump rat poison into the holes and keep it well supplied for a few days.

[Stand_watie]

Flood their tunnels with gasoline. Wait a few minutes for the fuel/air ratio to optimize then tetch her off.

"Hey y'all, watch this!"

[Preacherman]

Just don't do what my father did...  We had a serious mole problem one summer, and nothing seemed to work - traps, gas, water, didn't faze them at all.  Anyway, Dad got all hot and frustrated one night, and determined that he was going to fix this @#$%& mole once and for all.  The next thing we knew, the rest of the family were bounced out of their beds at 5 the next morning by a thunderous BOOM!!!  Dad had gotten up early, gone outside with his single-shot 12ga. shotgun, and waited until he saw earth moving at one of the mole burrows...  and then let fly.

An hour or two later, after the police had left and the neighbors no longer feared World War 3 was breaking out in their backyard, Mom finally forgave Dad, after he'd made her breakfast in bed to help her recover!

[Snake Eyes]

A close friend of mine emptied the large acetylene (sp?) tank from his welding rig down the gopher holes in his pasture, then used 100' of cannon fuse to set it off.

No more moles.  No need to plow.

[Happy Bob]

My grandmother fought moles for decades with those spring-loaded spike traps that we kids were forbidden to play with when we visited (Drat!).

Dad used the SpookyPistolero (c)(TM)(M-O-U-S-E)  technique with a .30-'06.

Hmmm ... flooding, circular loop traps and Shake-Away Mole Repellent -- gotta try 'em.

The mole-heads-on-stakes bit would be fun, grampster, but "staying single forever" isn't really one of my goals.  

[charby]

You can't really fully get rid of moles just slow them down a bit. I'd get another tactical mole cat or a jack russell terrier that likes to kill rodents.

I have seen all sorts devices to get rid of moles. I like the spring traps the best.

Charby

[Penman]

1/2 stick of Juicy Fruit chewing gum. Poke a hole into their tunnel and drop it in.

[Warren]

I use McCarthy's RedBait from HUACCO.  Clears 'em right up.

[kudu]

I'm fighting the same war right now.  I have a spike trap that I have gotton 2 with in the last week.  I was just out this evening with it decidinbg where to put it next when I saw the ground moving and I jambed it into the mound and got another one.  He he he.

If you have 2 or 3 moles working a yard it looks like 20 or 30 have been out there.  A few can do a lot of tunneling.  I have 2 acres worth to keep track of.  My 2000 pound pavement/yard roller helps flatten the hills and mounds out though.

[enfield]

Pour gasoline in their little holes.  The hard part is catching them first . . . .

[grampster]

Happy Bob,

Swmbo started sharpening the stakes for the heads when brer mole started cruising her herb garden.  A cross woman vs critters that mess with growing things = dead critter.  She especially likes to teach chipmucks how to obtain their Water Safety Instructor badges.  None has passed yet.  heh.
 
Put the heads up Bob, they attract focused females.

[Norton]

Enfield......that's the second time today I almost spewed coffee all over my keyboard!'

I've been trying for two years to fight these little $%&&*$#.  The latest scheme is a concoction of castor oil cut with dish soap.

The oil supposedly gets into the worms, etc that the moles feed on.  According to the label on the oil, it repels the moles because they won't eat the worms/bugs.  Someone else told me that what actually happens is that they eat the worms and die from getting the squirts.

That shotgun story reminds of when I was a kid and the neighbor had rats under his dog house out back.  Calmly walked back there in this very densely populated area and unloaded 2 rounds of 12 gauge into their little rears.