Getting rid of Moles

[erlyberd]

Looking for the resident mole expert! How to I get rid of these critters? They wreaked havoic last season and I'm not going through it again. I tried burying buckets in holes with buried boards pointing thr way, mouse traps, burried and on top near holes and even made my own spiked dead fall trap with trigger system. It all failed!

I feel dumber than a two year old!

[rkunsaw]

Moles are after grubs in your yard.Milky spore is slow but will kill the grubs.When the grubs are gone the moles will leave.

[TZ -OH6]

Mostly moles feed on earthworms.


I too have a mole problem and did as much research as possible on the internet and it seems that the most effective methods are the scissor traps and the spike plunger-harpoon traps. but they have to be used correctly, and it is difficult to identify the main runway tunnels.

The poison gummy worms may or may not be effective.


Unfortunately I was not able to get traps untill just before the ground froze.

[erlyberd]

I'm ready to try explosives at this point! Made for a dissapointing carrot crop not to mention the constant tunneling around everything else in the garden.

I wish they were in the lawn. I'm pretty much a anti-turf grass kind of guy anyway. Unless were talking football!

Anyone ever try castor oil? I've had woodchuck problems, deer problems but these darn moles are the hardest thing to outfox!

[applestar]

When you say "disappointing carrot crop" are you saying they were being eaten? If so, your culprit is not the moles, but more likely voles.

We have another on-going mole thread here as well:
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32063

[erlyberd]

No, The mole made tunnels all around my carrots and many other crops last year. The carrots were not touched. I'd push in the tunnels with my hands only to reappear days later. You could imagine the stress it caused my crop.

It really is frustrating.

[farmerlon]

Moles do a lot of tunneling in my front yard. We have heavy clay soil, so I figure they are doing me a favor by taking care of some aeration.

They haven't found the garden out back yet !
(I will keep hoping that they don't)

[garden5]

Hmmm, maybe a good mousing CAT.

I had a neighbor who had moles an he tried everything, poison pellets, dagger-traps, sonic noise-makers.....nothing worked.

I've heard that milky spore can be effective by eliminating grubs, therefore, eliminating the moles that feed on them.

I've also heard of using bubble gum pieces and putting them in the holes.

[Farmer Bob]

Hi Folks,

I had a severe mole problem lifting my vegs by tunneling beneath the plants which caused the roots to dry out.

I read somewhere about crushing eggshells , but not too finely, and burying them in the soil, especially in the burrows. Well, let me tell you I tried it and it certainly seems to have helped.!

Apparently, the sharp edges of the broken shells discourage the moles from burrowing in that area.

Give it a shot. What harm can it do.?

[erlyberd]

Looks like I'll be trying the egg shells. Thanks Farmer Bob.

[JJL]

Moles are after grubs in your yard.Milky spore is slow but will kill the grubs.When the grubs are gone the moles will leave.

This isn't exactly completely true. It's a common misconception that moles eat only grubs. They actually eat more earthworms than grubs. You can't get rid of earthworms in your soil, nor would you want to. They are great for the soil.

[JJL]

[quote="TZ -OH6"]Mostly moles feed on earthworms.

The poison gummy worms may or may not be effective.
quote]

I've used these too. These work great. I can't remember exactly what they're called. I think Mole Killer Worms or something. But I remember the brand is Tomcat.

[garden5]

You know, I've also heard that bubble gum works if you put it down the tunnels. I think it's the big, soft cubes, not the hard gumballs.

Supposedly they eat it, but can't digest it.

[hendi_alex]

I've got moles all in my yard. The dogs probably kill about a dozen per year. But since going to raised beds that don't contact the soil and going to a concrete skirted bed area, I've never seen signs of them in the main gardening area. Perhaps they can't tunnel under the concrete as the concrete prevents the soil form being displaced upward. And of course the landscape fabric/heavy plastic combo under my other beds keeps the moles out. Moles don't seem to usually go deeper than just a few inches, so it would seem that burying a border of hardware cloth or other edging material of about 8-10 inches would discourage them from entering a gardening area.