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-   -   Mole or moles tearing up my yard (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=591152)

  • Aug 4, 2011, 04:44 PM
    twinkiedooter
    Mole or moles tearing up my yard
    I have what appears to be some very busy moles tunneling up my one side yard. This has been going on for several months now since I blocked off my skirting with an edge. The entire one area is all spongy due to all the tunnels they've been happily digging.
  • Sep 17, 2011, 12:03 AM
    gnahcd
    (... better a late answer than no answer?)

    Moles aren't fun to get rid of. They are kind of cute. They eat bugs and worms, not plants, (but they can tear up a garden). The lethal methods make a mess. And the kinder methods just get whacky. There must be more urban legends on mole control than on any other pest.

    The best poison uses a poisonous fake worm. Just the names alone, of the kill traps, are scary: harpoon, scissor-jaw, and choker loop.. . think about it, how repellent is a vibrator, juicy fruit gum, or pickle juice?

    This is a great statement I found on the OSU Extension website: "... mole damage could be reduced or eliminated by not encroaching on the mole natural habitat."

    Kidding aside, I have never tried to get rid of moles. Gophers, yes. No guarantees, (this worked on a gopher once), but how about flooding your garden? If the mole doesn't pop out half-drowned, then the mud will make it hard for it to move around, and it might leave.

    Unfortunately, tough to make this call for me, because I don't know your conditions. I like the suggestion on the OSU site to modify the garden habitat, by taking out the lawn, going natural, and living with the mole.
  • Sep 17, 2011, 12:19 AM
    gnahcd
    Oh, maybe I should mention, that spraying your garden with insecticide to kill the worms and insects is an indirect method of deterring a mole, but just seems like overkill, to me. (and I use pesticides in my work.)... might just work, though.

    I'm thinking that another option, and this is just a fresh idea... no guarantees, again. Why not? Try to catch the mole making its surface runs and pop it out with a shovel. Can't tell you what time to go out and hunt. Maybe when the air is crisp and clean. Don't know why, but what better time to be outdoors?

    Oh geez, but what do you do with a live mole? Maybe I should've said, pop IT with a shovel, that is, if you have the cojones. Problem with releasing a mole in someone else's yard, is that you're releasing a mole in someone else's yard. See, what I said... It's not fun getting rid of a mole, on your face or in the garden.

    Seriously, the OSU Extension Site is pretty thorough on control methods.
  • Sep 17, 2011, 12:38 AM
    gnahcd
    Sorry, me again...

    I just noticed this AskMe thread on moles and I think that 21boat's pit trap method just might work - [essentially] Sink an empty dog food can, coated with vaseline, as a pit trap, and bait with chunky peanut butter; place it to intersect an active run. Surprising, that peanut butter works for bait. Was the dog food can, "Meaty bits", or "Prime Select"? Hey, how about mashed worms from the bait & tackle?

    Oh yeah... Whaddya do with a live mole? Buy a pet snake?
  • Oct 28, 2012, 06:00 AM
    BrokenD
    Put juicy fruit gum in there tunnel

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