My yard over the last two summers has been invaded by moles. It's getting to where a person could sprain an ankle walking through it!
I used castor oil pellets and grub killer last year and it seemed the moved to a different part of the yard. Once warm weather returns what can I do to get rid of those {you know what's)...
Well.... moles go for grubs, if you have grubs, then moles will follow. If you can control your grubs that should go a long way to eliminating your moles. I do not want to over-simplify this, but it usually is that easy. Others may have additional thoughts.
You won't know if you can do something if you don't try.
grub killers also get worms. cuts down on the birds visiting you, and the lawn will get packed.
always choices.
you can shoo moles for a little while by putting smoke bombs in the holes and covering them up before the fuse gets to the business end. but they come back.
I'm thinking killer traps are worth doing at this point... the spring loaded spear jobs.
I notice the backyards with big active dogs don't get much mole business. something to consider. I think our front will have to contend with road construction this year, which might drive 'em all off the boulevards into the back yards. might end up with some well-fed dogs and fewer moles out of this.
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sig: if this is a new economy, how come they still want my old-fashioned money?
How about any correcting of the uneveness in the lawn? Is there a way to go over the lawn with a steamroller type tool? It would be nice to have fairly level ground again. Might have to use some filler? Any advice is welcome and thank all you for replying.
traps are about the best.. believe me, I tried "everything".. I poured diesel down the hole followed by gas.. lit it off, it blew a flame about 3' in the air, burned for about 5 minutes, and blew out another hole, and a few other ones.. that eliminated all of them in that tunnel, burned up their oxygen.. I also poured muratic acid in a balloon and put it in the hole, they punctured it trying to move it out of the way.. fried them.. that worked too.. I also sat over the pile of dirt and waited until it moved.. shot one round of Colt 45 into the hole and pulled the body out.. that worked, but noisy.. I stuck the hose in and turned the water on for 24 hours, that didn't work, but helped fill up the creek below.. my neighbor peed in milk cartons for a month, then poured that down the hole, the moles moved to my yard.. so... back to the traps... I found the ones that you pry apart, place in the hole, and they trip them when they go through them .. work the best.. oh.. and its true, if you get rid of their food supply, they will leave.. but your garden and lawn suffer from the lack of worms.. unless you replenish with mulch and good ferilizers.. moles are the "pit" of landscapes..
Mole run a main tunnel and then start to branch off. Walk or roll over all the tunnels and go back the next day and see where the main tunnel is running. Then set the trap along the main tunnel. I have a dog that likes nothing better then finding them and playing with them. I've never seen a dog or cat eat one they just remove them and walk around with them showing off. Lots of my customer like me to bring my dog with me while I'm working just so she can kill there moles. She's so good at it not she can just go to where the mole is and pull it out doing little damage to the yard.
joecaption
Posts: 11219 | Location: Halieford VA | Registered: Jan 31, 2004
I forsee a new company starting up JOES MOLE SURFACE... 1 mole = 1 50 lb sack of kibbles 2 moles = 1- 50 lb sack of kibbles and 50buck 3 moles = 150 bucks and a doggie treats
Posts: 1620 | Location: i i live in southern mississippi | Registered: Jun 01, 2008
Originally posted by islwayn: I poured diesel down the hole followed by gas.. lit it off, it blew a flame about 3' in the air, burned for about 5 minutes, and blew out another hole, and a few other ones.. that eliminated all of them in that tunnel, burned up their oxygen..
It also polluted the water table where you live as well as your soil. It's illegal to pour petroleum products on or in the soil.
quote:
I also poured muratic acid in a balloon and put it in the hole, they punctured it trying to move it out of the way... that worked too..
Muriatic acid is also toxic to your soil.
quote:
I stuck the hose in and turned the water on for 24 hours, that didn't work, but helped fill up the creek below..
If done in the order you have mentioned here, the water took any residue of the gas, diesel and muriatic acid with it into the stream below, thereby polluting the stream. Even if you did the water treatment first, the next good rain would do the polluting as it washes into the stream.
Always do some research before you dream up some home made remedy for any type of pest.
Newt
When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
an old time remedy was to remove the muffler from the lawn mower and jury rig some sort of connection that you could connect a pipe to, if the pipe is long enough to where the heat is dissapated, connect a hose to it and the other end into the tunnel. the carbon monoxide kills them humanely ( they just go to sleep and forget to wake up)
how about a M1903A3 smith-corona rifle 1943 with orginal bayonet [30-06] the rifle can hit the mole at 500 yards easy but the guy holden the rifle can only see 100 yards..thats one of my "Babies" or..a 30-30 M1 carbine,,sweet.. I like that 270 of yours, those are NICE... my savage 300mag. hurts my shoulder to shoot,daddy said, to much gun like my
Posts: 1620 | Location: i i live in southern mississippi | Registered: Jun 01, 2008
Has anyone tried the solar powered yard tool that emits a constant vibrating sound that will drive them away ? I grow peppers and put them in the holes , Freeze them for off season and put them in a blender and use them any time i need them . Cayenne peppers works too . Check for books that supply natural ways of getting rid of pest. Qvc or hsn has the books but mostly in the spring i do believe.I dont like the spinners particulary but have one in two of my flower beds.the wind blows them and causes vibrations they dont like.- Good Luck- let us know what works for you.
Use a mole trap, plain and simple. I had the same problem last summer.Wasted my money on everything and bought the trap in the end. It may take a few times and you may miss them a few times but you will catch them eventually and you will have piece of mind knowing you didn't toxify your neighborhood in the process.
When I was a kid I had a pair of mole skin pants. My mom promised that they were, indeed, made of mole skin -- but she never looked me in the eye when she told me that. I suggest making a new pair of pants. Who knows, you may start a new fad.
Hi all, I remember seeing a show on PBS many years ago and some gardening expert gave all natural ways of removing different bugs and critters from your yard. The suggestion for removing moles, if I'm not mistaken, was to put human hair in the holes. Just go to a local barber shop or beauty salon and ask them for their clippings (most should be happy to give them to you no charge) and put the hair in the holes. It's supposed to be irritating to the moles causing them to move on.
I never tried his mole remedy (not many moles in NYC) but I did try and still use his natural bug deterrent (1qt tobacco juice (made by soaking chewing tobacco in water for 5 days), 1/2 cup lemon dish soap, 1/2 cup brown Listerine, place the mixture in a hose end sprayer and just spray all over the entire yard) and it works great so hopefully his mole solution will work well too.
But this is just my opinion, I Hope it helps.
Good Luck! Work Safe & Have Fun!! Goldenwood
Posts: 1642 | Location: Staten Island, NY | Registered: Sep 27, 2003
