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Okla

Seems I have a mole in our enclosed pumpkin patch this year and he has done me a lot of damage. I have tried watering him most areas heavy to get him into a certain area with no luck. I have tried poisons with no luck. He can not get out because of the fence around the patch. Still don't know how he got in. Is there usually more than just one mole that stays together, sort of like a family of them that use the same tunnels or how do they live? Do they have one place that they live and is a bigger hole? Any Ideas anyone? This mole(s) has cost us a couple nice fruits this year so now it is personnel.
Thomas

7/31/2005 5:46:05 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

I have gotten rid of moles in my yard with a poison smoke bomb called Giant Destroyer. I bought them at a farm supply store. It looks like a big fire cracker. You dig down into a run light the bomb, place it in the run and cover it up. Then you watch for smoke coming up in the area and cover those spots up also. I used it on ground hogs also. I don't know if it killed them of if it just made them move out. Anyway, it solved the problem.

7/31/2005 6:00:27 PM

moles live underground. I wouldn't think he would have any problem getting in and out of your patch underneath the fence. Buy some Victor mole traps, the ones with the claws that snap shut. I think it's called Outta Sight. Watering would actually cause the mole to stay in the area because the water would bring worms and bugs that it likes to eat towards the surface of the soil. Dry weather makes them run their tunnels deeper underground. They make tunnels and may never return to the same tunnel again, or they may frequent that tunnel and return to it a lot. Sometimes there is just one in an area, but sometimes you can trap several in the same tunnel.

7/31/2005 6:52:56 PM

Okla

How deep will they tunnel? Do they live in one certain area all the time and just go out thru the tunnels to feed? I would think flooding the soil in one place would drive them to dryer soil. I forgot to say our wind break fence tarps and chicken wire is buried about a foot under the ground all the way around the patch.
Thanks for the info.
Thomas

7/31/2005 8:51:24 PM

Chico, Ca

chickenwire does not stop them. mole-med works well for deterring them for a month or so. it trashes their GI tracts. just water in... doesn't hurt pumpkin plants. main ingredient is castor oil. those claw type traps work well too.

the only other thing to consider is to reduce their food in the soil.... worms and grubs....

8/1/2005 4:58:53 PM

Okla

Well after talking with a mole expert, Brigitte, and doing some reading we are going with the traps. Going to try 2 different types of traps by Victors. http://www.victorpest.com/mole_gopher_products.htm
Anyone wanting to do some reading with some good info here is a website that has a lot of info. http://www.themoleman.com And here is some quick info from that site. http://www.themoleman.com/faq.htm
Brigitte, Iowegian and Robert , thanks for the info.
Thomas

8/1/2005 7:45:41 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

I seen something called a Gophenator on a TV Show. It looked like something from a Red-Green episode or a Red-Neck Back Yard Sports Video. The were pumping Propane and Oxygen in the tunnels and igniting it. I did this once with a rodent infestation in the compost pile. It blew the pile and occupants out into the open.

8/2/2005 9:23:37 AM

Chico, Ca

I prefer to use calcium carbide. It makes acetyline when it gets wet. throw a few chunks in, water it, cover and let stand for a minute and then toss a match. it only works for gophers. moles do not have deep enough tunnels to contain the blast. the stuff is sold as miners lamp fuel. truely "fire in the hole" they cannot outrun the shock wave. It has me singing " I felt the earth, move, under my feet"

8/2/2005 4:43:17 PM