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Ohio

I was just wanting to get some ideas on what some people did this year to try to control the moles in their patch and if it worked for them. Only thing that worked for me was the steel traps that go over the moles tunnel that when he gets under the trap and pushes the dirt up he gets slammed with four sharp spikes. I killed alot of moles with it and it still didnt seem to but a dent in its population.Poison pellets didnt seem to work, and nether did the hose and exhaust technique. I sure would like to get rid of the moles before growing season next year.

Brooks

11/14/2005 6:59:37 AM

Selbyville, Delaware

I second the request for mole control ideas. Some people say they don't cause any problems, but until you see a mole tunnel dug right under your main stump and under your pumpkin, you will understand why we freak out. I have at least 4 separate families of moles that frequent my patch. I read the average litter is 5 babies and they can have two litters per year. I've tried poision, water, battery operated ultrasonic noise makers, traps, baited worms, cats, mole pellets, moth balls (they actually moved the moth balls with their digging) and I only killed 5.. I'm going to try to bury a mesh screen around my patch, it's going to be expensive but worth it if it works. Laura k.

11/14/2005 8:52:21 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Best advice is keep up with the trapping...There is a molecide out there. Type in Mole in to the search. I am sure it will come up.

11/14/2005 9:24:22 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

I've had good results with baits & traps. They all work well. Getting good results is all in presenting the product correctly.

Kaput is a mole killing gel (contains Warafarin) sold in syringes. The user places a squirt every 10 feet of actively used tunnel.

Talpirid seems to work better. These are rubber worms to which a bait has been laced. A worm lasts 2 weeks once laid into a tunnel.

http://www.talpirid.com/

Just as with traps, placement of poisons into an active tunnel is critical.

Day 1: Find the longest straightest tunnels. Step on the tunnel in ONE place & place a marker there. Do this on several straight tunnels. Walk away.

Day 2: Look at the markers. If the tunnel was raised, leave the marker & step the exact same spot down again. If a tunnel wasn't raised, collect the marker & leave that spot alone.

Day 3: Look at the marked tunnels again. Congratulations! The tunnels that are raised are the ones we want to use traps or baits on. Now follow the instructions on whatever product you decided to use. Don't allow your smelly human skin to touch the business end of whatever device you are employing.

Day 4: Problem solved.

11/14/2005 9:35:16 AM

Schenectady,New York

I've battled moles for years as my yard borders on a wood lot. The only reliable method that I've found is the mole traps with the spikes that Brooks mentioned. I've killed as many as 24 in one summer but you really have to keep clearing and resetting the traps every day. As Steve said you have to locate the main tunnels that the moles use every day and those are the ones you set the traps in. I use 2 traps to double my chances of success. Ray

11/14/2005 11:42:17 AM

Okla

http://www.themoleman.com
http://www.victorpest.com/mole_gopher_home.htm
I can tell you for a fact Moles will and can harm your plants. This past year we had one of the fastest growing pumpkins we have ever had day 30 around 300 lbs. My wife went out and pruned the plant to get all growth into the fruit. The plant stressed out and aborted the fruit. Found out that the moles had been all under the plants. They will work the area under the main plant where it is usually loosest and more worms will be at and in doing so will cut the root system all to pieces. You can find out a lot of info at the first website I posted above.

11/14/2005 12:04:53 PM

Salineville Ohio

i have had problem's in the past with mole's so i started using grub x and now there are no more mole's in my yard or pacth get rid of the grub's and the mole's will leave

11/14/2005 2:26:54 PM

Okla

agreed that the use of some type of granules is about the only way to keep moles from staying in your patch. Down side is grub x, grub b gone, or any of the other granules kills your worms also. If you have had mole problems like us there is really no thought about it, grubs have to be eliminated.

11/14/2005 3:20:23 PM

Ohio

I had Mole tunnels under my main vine and under all my secondaries that was burried on my 1446 Plant. They really loved the mound my stump was planted in,I tried to use water from a hose down a into hole Kinda next to the stump area and over did it a little,Next day the pumpkin split.
I hate them little rat bastagizs!

11/14/2005 3:21:50 PM

Ohio

Thanks again Tremor, Im going to give that a go, that stuff is pricey but if it works, its worth it.

Ray, Im right up against the woods too. Your right about the traps,that is the only thing at this time that is working for me,atleast I know Im killing them this way. my other house has a smaller yard and I used the metal traps there, it seemed to get rid of them all together, but i stayed on top of them also. Here I have all these woods bordering my yard so it seems its going to be a continious effort.

How active is a mole in the winter months? I bet they go extra deep,so trying to find them would be pretty hard.

Brooks

11/15/2005 6:41:21 AM

Cameron,ontario Team Lunatic

I had them last year and nothing seemed to work. I tried moth balls and other stuff, but nothing would keep them away. They had tunnels under our watermelon stumps and all thoughout the plants. I can only imagine what size our 206.7# watermelon might have gotten to if the moles weren't living right under the plant. I'm going to try the talpirid worms next season.

Phil

11/15/2005 7:35:55 AM

Schenectady,New York

Brooks, in the winter I've seen them making burrows in the grass on top of the frozen ground and when the snow melts in the spring any place that they can find to dig there will be big piles of dirt. It's almost impossible to kill them in the winter that's why I exert so much effort to kill them in the summer to keep their numbers as low as I can. Any time the weather warms up during the winter months the moles are active and damaging the lawns searching for worms and grubs. Ray

11/15/2005 10:46:26 AM

Mocksville, NC

Milky spore, will kill the grubs they are looking for, if there is none there they will go somewhere else.

11/15/2005 3:08:11 PM

addison Il

pepermint oil they hate the stuff lol maybe this is an old wives tale dont know but everyone else has such cool ideas

11/15/2005 5:48:22 PM

Indiana

The moles primary food is earthworms not grubs so we are actually drawing them in with our good soil. the only 2 thing that will work is the traps and talpirid.

11/16/2005 8:38:52 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Steve's right.

Wives Tales: Chewing gum, castor oil, crushed glass (could work), moth balls/flakes.

11/16/2005 1:30:34 PM

Chico, Ca

funny I do not recall seeing a tail on my wife, but castor oil does work in my neighborhood for about a month between applications. sold as "molemed"

11/18/2005 11:50:28 AM

Roselle, IL GJGEM@sbcglobal.net

My dog digs them up and kills them. I don't let him in the patch during the season.

11/18/2005 4:58:00 PM

Montoursville, PA

I had moles thirty years ago. I used Milky Spore Disease once then and again about ten years ago. My neighbors still have them. I do not. The only thing I can say is that the combination, of grubs and worms, is more attractive, in the neighboring lawns and gardens. I can't think, of any other reason, why I should not have moles.

I told our county agent this. He has come here, to witness what I have just said. He is pretty savy but is cautious not, to say, what he witnesses, in my area.

11/18/2005 7:15:30 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Mole-Med works for a month because moles don't *like* it. But since they breed infrequently, we know that a 30 day reprieve is the same mole coming back. If an area is truly clean of living moles, it should stay that way for at least a year.

11/18/2005 10:27:01 PM

Indiana

A shotgun and a lot of time setting watching for the soil to move works too.

11/21/2005 10:23:52 AM

Garden

I think I'm going to give that milky spore a go, not for the moles, but I do get grubs.

Just like Doc said:

"Eliminating grubs with Milky Spore often cause Moles and skunks to feed elsewhere. Unfortunately, they may head for your neighbor's untreated yard instead. Milky Spore does not affect moles, it simply eliminates their food source."

http://homeharvest.com/milkspore.html

12/16/2005 8:20:42 PM

Follansbee, Wv

I have killed many, many moles in the spring with the coffee and stomp method. It takes a lot of patience and a keen eye, but every kill is sooo satisfying!

1/17/2006 8:00:44 AM

Cologne / Germany

They usually become active about 10 / 11 o´clock in the morning. Around that time it´s a good chance to see the soil moving around the fresh hills.
No guns allowed here, so several times I took the fork. Got them only 1 time from 10 attempts. Actually I don´t like this method...
Saying that, I could be punished right now because killing moles is not allowed here. So basically I prefer to shoo them away to the neighbours with the stinking stuff that was already mentioned LOL

1/17/2006 2:05:44 PM