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Help with mole control

9 years ago

I have moles that are simply destroying our garden. They dig tunnels around and under our drippers, making it impossible to irrigate. They're a real nuisance, literally tilling out all the soil around our seedlings, with the seedlings subsequently drying out.

I've tried the Talpirid worm baits and Tomcat worm baits. After spending $80 and placing 30 so odd worms in the tunnels with no results, it's pretty obvious those worms are complete snake oil. The worms actually disappear, but the moles don't. From what I can tell, the mole just buries the worm to get it out of the way. I had a lot of respect for Bell Labs, but my experience with Talpirid obviously shows even Bell labs can't be trusted.

Does anyone have any good suggestions? Please, no suggestions for repellants, they also don't work, at least not on California moles. I'd like to find a good trap. Cinch traps don't work because the moles will stop when they encounter the trigger with their front.

I am looking for a good trap that has a trigger above and will nail the mole.

Thanks.

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Comments (3)

Kimmsr
9 years ago
While often it does appear there may be more than one mole working an area moles need about 1/4 acre of territory and will defend that to the death from invasion by other moles. The single most effective method of control is traps, none of the other methods of control have been shown to be consistently able to do much of anything except cause one to spend large amounts of money.
One fairly expensive method that has shown it works is spraying 1 pint of Castor Oil over 2,500 square feet. This may need to be repeated about every 6 weeks, although some research indicates once the wee bugger is drive out spraying the perimeter works quite well.
What ever method of control is used if the resident mole is eliminated there is another waiting to replace it.
morz8 - Washington Coast
9 years ago
The placement of the 'worms' needs careful consideration as does placement of the traps. Are you sure you put them in active travelling tunnels and not in the temporary feeding tunnels that may not be used again.

My luck is hit and miss with both, I'm not reliably consistent but I did eliminate one mole after placing three worms last week. I found it at the edge of the driveway the morning after 'worming'....quite dead and with no apparent injuries to otherwise explain its death so I assume it had ingested the bait.

DH has some luck with them but standing patiently where there has been fresh activity with pitchfork or foresters hoe in hand until he sees movement of soil or sod, then manually dispatches...

I would just about give them the lawn, but they tunnel in my beds doing a surprising amount of damage. I just added 6 dwarf rhododendrons at $17.95 each along the driveway and a mole tunneled a circle around two of those. Now there's a good way to get a plant to establish in the garden, circle it with air so roots can go only so far and then stop

I don't know that one trap is particularly better than the others - mine are Mole Pro and easily set with my smaller hands. They came with a video on placement that you can see online too that might be beneficial to you even if you don't buy the product, the suggestions apply to the placement of bait worms too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mole Pro traps

This post was edited by morz8 on Mon, Sep 15, 14 at 11:19
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People have been trying to keep moles out of the garden since at least the 16th century when a garden writer of that time described a "sure fire" method of control. "Place a straight sided bucket in a hole in the ground to its rim and trap a female mole and put her into the bucket. Her cries for help will attract males that will also fall into the bucket in an attempt to rescue the female" Moles are after food when they make those tunnels you see in your yard and that food is earthworms, although they will eat grubs also (or about any other insect they find). Traps may kill a mole but another will move into that vacancy as soon as possible after you have eliminated that one, so trapping will be continuous. I know people that have trapped 100 moles every year for the last 40, or so, years and still do. The mole population has not diminished one bit. Poisons may help some, but they are poisons and could be eaten by other animals and since the dose of poison is aimed at moles could cause a larger animal excruciating distress over a period of time until it too died. Most places that have tried to replicate the studies done at Michigan State University have not. What Joe Vargas turf grass students learned is that to be effective you must apply 1 pint of Castor Oil over 5,000 square feet and then water it in thoroughly. None of the commercial products I have looked at have that much Castor Oil in the mix and all have on the label that this is meant to cover 10,000 square feet and as those turf grass students found too little will not be effective, and more is simply a waste of money. Every time Castor Oil has failed to control moles it is because it has not been applied properly. An unfortunate fact for every organic gardener is that because you will build up the amount of organic matter in your soil, and earthworms love organic matter, you will have a mole, most often only one simply because of the amount of territory each mole needs to supply its needs, anbout 1/4 acre.
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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.
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rhizo 1, I cannot wait to try your method and see if it actually works. We have been fighting moles now for three years!!!! We have spent hundreds of dollars on plants and flowers and grass seed and almost as much on mole control garbage! None of them works, believe me, we've tried them all! All that is except for your castor oil recommendation. We actually have tried castor oil but not in the quantities you stated. I have given up to the point of digging up my plants, putting them in pots, covering the bed with weed control fabric and covering that with 2 inches of river rock. I'd like to see those nasty little varmints get to my plants now! I know, I know, it's not my plants they want, its' the grubs and worms but they are uprooting my plants in the process and creating ridiculous sink holes in my beds and yard! I'll let you know how it works for us here in northeast Kansas!
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Look at it this way. More likely coincidence than cause and effect.
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Axel
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the info. I have been baiting both feeding tunnels and deeper tunnels. I usually go and check to see if the worm is consumed. In most cases, the mole uses the same feeding tunnel but will burrow around the worm, avoiding it at all cost.

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