Since this January, moles appear to have taken over our yard. There are dozens if not hundreds of holes from top to bottom, except over the septic field. One of my dogs has gone after a few of them and created even bigger holes. My main concern is destruction of the soil and the possibility that one of my dogs may injure themselves by stepping into a hole. Also, with a history of ankle sprains, I'm not that comfortable walking through my yard for fear of another sprain. I've ordered some of the Victor traps online. My questions are 1) which holes to start with? and 2) how do you begin to repair the damage from the holes? Thanks, Jay

I had problems with moles digging tunnels through the root system of my dahlias. In the hot summer this would cause my dahlias to wilt so bad in the afternoon because of so much damage to the root system. Many would just die out after a few weeks, even with water every day. My solution was to get that small mesh chicken wire, small enough that moles can't get through the holes in the wire. Then I dug a hole about 12 to 14 inches deep, about 12 inches in diameter. Then cut the chicken wire to put around the wall of the hole, and cut another one in a circle shape to put in the bottom of the hole. Then just filled in the hole with dirt and planted the dahlia. Worked great. No more problems with wilting dahlias in the hot summer sun with reasonable watering.

Oxankle Last year the moles built a subway system in our front yard. I had seen moles before here and there every 5 years or so but nothing like this, raw dirt everywhere. I called the Agricultural Extension Agent who verified that they were moles and said that their favorite food is earthworms. Then she accused me of watering the lawn during the dry part of summer as this encourages earthworms and then suggested that I replace the front lawn with garden. But I do not water the lawn in the summer unless it looks like it's going to die which is rare and didn't happen last summer. What I did do is mulch - copiously. This probably provided the moist conditions that earthworms like. If so, I hate to see the mole problem we'll have next year. It has rained so much that I've had a hard time squeezing in fertilizing with Miracle Grow without overwatering. I like the cool and rain but the Peter's Honey only has 3 figs on it. When they said it needed heat they weren't kidding. Drat! and I had such high hopes for it this year. Cath

Don't get your knickers in a twist, kimmsr! lol...you just left out part of the helpful information. Actually, plain water and castor oil won't make an emulsion either, but a bit of soap would help the process. By the way, ladybugfalcon, the castor oil treatments really can help...unlike some of the other 'home remedies' you've heard of. I really like the chewing gum fable. I've heard that it MUST be Juicy Fruit, though different sources dictate that either needs to be chewed up a bit OR that it must never touch human hands. What a riot. Most people, however, find that mole traps are very effective, once you get the hang of them. They aren't for everybody, though. Unless you fear that you have a severe problem, you could simply keep the tunnels stamped down and hope that they lose interest in your yard. A few mole visits don't necessarily mean that you have to take action.