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Help I've got moles destroying my yard!

UpstateNY

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Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
662
I get them with a mousetrap and peanut butter. I guess they get tired of eating grubs all the time.
 
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Dumber than lumber

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Joined
Dec 19, 2015
Messages
1,895
I had rats move into the drain tile around my older shop. I used one of those flex exhaust hoses to direct the exhaust from a 1932 Fairbanks Kerosene 503 cubic inch engine into the drain tile. I thought it looked comical to see exhaust smoke rising out of the down-spouts at the eaves.
I have another friend in the Okanagan. He saw video on You Tube where propane was being let into the underground tunnels. After a time, the propane was "sparked". He tried this and said the ground lifted a few centimeters above the tunneling. His rodent situation was solved, for now.
This almost makes me wish I had moles. :lol_hitti
Actually, we have a few and my wife would get very upset if I was "killing those cute little creatures".
I will have to stay alert to when she is going out of town for a few days. :beer:
 

harryking

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Messages
9
Location
uk
You could grow plants that repel moles such as garlic and castor beans.or Set up live traps to catch the moles.
 

glentre

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Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
909
Location
Gloucester, Virginia
Moles dig tunnels just below the surface and are visible as long mounds in the lawn. While voles dig tunnels, they are below the surface and not usually visible. Vole tracks on the lawn surface are commonly seen after snow melt since the voles eat the grass and roots under the snow in winter. Moles are carnivores with their primary diet being earthworms, although they will eat grubs and other types of larvae. Grub-X would generally be ineffective to get rid of moles. Voles are vegetarians and feed on the roots of grasses, bulbs and other plants. They also spend more time above ground than moles. Voles do use mole tunnels so if you have moles, you also probably have voles.

I have tried many methods to rid my lawn of moles but nothing has worked so far. Got some new ideas from the above comments that i'll try, except I'm not going to blow up my lawn as fun as that sounds.

Glen
 

58Yeoman

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Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
8,999
Location
Central IL
I use this (I have a dog so I don't use poison):

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...chPreview-_-DidYouMean-_-Product&cm_vc=-10005

I have a little square of plywood that I place under the plunger to make it more sensitive and also raise the whole trap closer to the surface since the mole tunnels around here tend to be pretty shallow (very hard soil).

I, too, use these. I've picked them up at garage sales for around $5 each, sometimes less. I've got about 8 that I use throughout our 1 1/4 acre.
 

gmcgeo

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Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
3,701
dig a 4 foot hole in the middle of the yard put a 12" subwoofer in there back fill and play mariah carey for the next 24 hr on the heights level.

they will run to the neighbors yard
 
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gemniii

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Joined
Jul 20, 2015
Messages
112
Location
Fulton, Ms
<snip>
I have another friend in the Okanagan. He saw video on You Tube where propane was being let into the underground tunnels. After a time, the propane was "sparked". He tried this and said the ground lifted a few centimeters above the tunneling. His rodent situation was solved, for now.

About 40 yrs ago i had a new lawn and it was coming in nicely. I used to get out of my truck and crawl to the door pulling weeds. I was into it. One day I got home from work and there were m/vole trails throughout my lawn. Outraged and enough in the bag to do it, I went up, got my big Oxy/ACt rig with the big rosebud tip, got the fire just right, buried it in the hole, went into the house for a fuse material and another beer. Ran a fuse of Bullseye, my 45 powder, and hit it will a striker. I had fire coming out of a number of places and blew that yard into the next county. But, I got the moles. No ones house burned down. Fortunately my wife wasn't home. I filled in the trenches and said to hell with the yard.
ROTFLMAO!

I did not see a mention of the little windmills that people used to deploy. Basically a small propeller on a stick that vibrated the ground when the wind blew.

I also think a good den of black snakes would help.
 

zak77

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Joined
Sep 18, 2014
Messages
1,353
Location
Monson, MA
Just so everyone knows, moles primarily eat earth worms not grubs so apply all the Grub X you want, you will still have moles. No way to get rid of worms so you need to remove the invasive creature. I've tried traps but with limited success. The sure fire way to get them is to see them actively tunneling and dig 'em up. A good wack with the shovel does it every time.
 

EOC_Jason

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Joined
Jun 25, 2012
Messages
11,388
Location
Bentonville, AR
Just so everyone knows, moles primarily eat earth worms not grubs so apply all the Grub X you want, you will still have moles. No way to get rid of worms so you need to remove the invasive creature. I've tried traps but with limited success. The sure fire way to get them is to see them actively tunneling and dig 'em up. A good wack with the shovel does it every time.

Yep, killed a couple that way. One was burroring around in my flowerbed and I noticed him as I was walking out my front door. They move FAST too, imagine a mouse running around but underground. You have to get that shovel in & flipped up in one swift motion or he will be gone.
 

rieferman

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Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
2,586
Location
Collegeville PA (30 min west of Philly)
We had a mix of moles and voles and some chipmunks too, and they were really doing a number on our lawn.

We took a multi-faceted approach, and some combination of these things worked.

1) Milky spore applied to entire lawn to reduce grubs (portion of food source)

2) Castor oil powder applied in / around affected areas (supposed to make their environment less pleasant)

3) Pest-smoke-bombs inserted anywhere I could find a tunnel or mound

4) And... at one point I even roto-tilled an entire section and replanted grass seed.

Our yard is now pest-free.... and our next door neighbor is infested. I seriously think they just moved across the road.
 

flan

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Joined
Feb 3, 2016
Messages
427
I rigged up a old snowblower motor to a piece of 2x6 with a piece of flexible stainless gas line coming off the muffler and stuck it down the hole and let it run for hours. The moles were back the next day. Bought one of the siccisor style traps and had one dead within hours.
 
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