# Mole assistance



## El Jimbo (Oct 7, 2018)

I've been fighting these guys for over a year now. I've tried everything from insecticides from box stores and also site one. I've used mole repellents from Tom cat, mole scram, the poison bait you stab into the tunnel. I've tried flooding them, gassing them multiple times even using a shop vac in reverse to blow the smoke into the tunnels and they still have survived. I'm going crazy trying to get them gone. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The next step for me is to dig up the entire yard and burry wire mesh and restart a new lawn.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Trapping is the only solution I consider. :thumbsup:


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## El Jimbo (Oct 7, 2018)

Any specific trap you've found more effective? I'll definetly be checking out your post about trapping. Thank you


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

El Jimbo said:


> Any specific trap you prefer? I've been looking at the wiretek mole eliminator


Yes, see first post in the topic I linked.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Jimbo, very sorry to hear about the damage (and sheer inconvenience).

FWIW, a former work bud had his life (and IIRC, wallet) turned upside down by moles - his saga was even worse than yours and we would hear the latest "battle reports" every morning - until he started using the rather medieval-looking metal traps which I am sure are the same ones Ware is referring to.

After that, no more moles. :thumbup:


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## El Jimbo (Oct 7, 2018)

Thanks for the help guys! I've got a few different types coming in the mail, so hopefully luck will change. Otherwise I'll just concrete everything and paint it green &#128514;


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## FloridaBama (Oct 8, 2018)

If you can see the main points of entrance and exits - wire mesh is not the worst idea. I personally would trap/release 20 miles away as necessary, but if you cannot trap - perhaps throw down a layer of hardware cloth ( something like the 2 x 2 galvanized rolls seen here: www.bwire.com ) and roll with that for a month or so.

Will not effect any type of growth, and mowing can still be done as long as the mesh layer is completely level. Not the worst idea, and this is something I have seen done in the past....


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## Pemt13 (Feb 2, 2019)

I definitely have surface tunnels, but no classic volcano mounds... for any with experience with moles, is it unusual not to have mounds? I read that using traps in the main tunnel is the best to a successful trapping. With only surface tunnels, I am left with just putting a hole in a run and seeing if the mole fills it in I guess

Thanks for any comments.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Surface tunnels are normally voles instead of moles.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

You can have moles without big mounds. That's mostly what I had.


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## Pemt13 (Feb 2, 2019)

pennstater2005 said:


> You can have moles without big mounds. That's mostly what I had.


My plan is the scissor trap. What did you find to be the best method or eradicating?


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Pemt13 said:


> pennstater2005 said:
> 
> 
> > You can have moles without big mounds. That's mostly what I had.
> ...


I've personally used the Trapline mole traps with great success.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Moles create the surface tunnels but their mounds are not the volcano looking ones. Gophers make the volcano looking mounds.

I personally like the scissor style traps for moles. I use one similar to the first one pictured in this mole thread


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## GrassAndWater12 (Jan 5, 2019)

pennstater2005 said:


> Pemt13 said:
> 
> 
> > pennstater2005 said:
> ...


I use the Victor plunger style mole trap. The trick I have learned is to smash down all the mole tunnels and wait for a new one to appear. Once it appears find the direction by poking your finger in (use gloves I touched a mole one time). Then with your shoe smash down one spot (shoe width) and place the trap at the smashed down spot. The theory is that the next time the mole uses that tunnel he will encounter the road block, have to push the dirt up, and that is what triggers the trap.

I have the surface tunnels and have never had mounds only slightly higher spots of the tunnel that breaks daylight where they were pushing extra dirt up. I have tried spraying with castor oil and soap with no results. Also if you read up on them you will discover they could be nesting in a neighbors lawn and just venturing out for the day in your lawn. It's been an ongoing battle and has turned into another hobby of mine whenever a new tunnel appears. I'm starting to take it personal lol. 


I used to take pictures of my trophy kills but have recently stopped. This will give you an idea of what the trap looks like. I have also used the ones with plastic and they work great but you can't get up close to driveways or sidewalks with those. Hope this helps someone.


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

If you can poke the ground with a long enough rod (like a driveway snow marker) to find the voids/tunnels that's the biggest battle. Some you need to dig with a shovel to get as it's a maze underground and they could be anywhere.

About a 40-60% success, used medium cinch traps as this size works great on mole and gopher.

I use a long aluminum army tent steak for re-opening holes and carving out the dirt. The last thing I want is my fingers down there as I've had one hit my hand before. They come in handy for a lot of junk around the yard too.

Gophers have the little boomerang looking mound with a circle ⭕ or ring visible. Others are just mounds and I've seen several almost 2ft tall from a mole.


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## KCBen (Jun 18, 2018)

Agree that traps are the best way for moles . 
This pic is from pre-renovation of a small side lawn when I was trying anything/everything. Like you, i went through poison worms, pellets, gas, liquid castor oil, castor oil pellets and I would come out the next day to find another 20ft of tunnels. 
These are the tomcat scissor traps from Home Depot. I couldn't wait for anything via mail bc I was ready to burn it all down. As soon as I set them, I was catching 1 every few days. After 5 or so, they seem to have died off (can be many more tho)
Like @ABC123 said, I find a spot that looks like the common tunnel for other side tunnels and smash my heel in and set the trap, leaving the rest of the tunnel I disturbed. 
One down side to these traps is you have to smash the tunnel in quite a bit to keep it from self-triggering. The grass underneath the trap takes a beating, but as you can see in the pic, their repeated use of certain tunnels destroyed the roots and killed the grass.

Good luck!


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

The old house consisted of mounds from years and years of gophers. I had several creative ways to level and smooth them out and was impossible to keep up without being out there several times a day. Thinking back I shoulda let them go longer, it woulda probably helped with leveling.


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