You can try different kinds of traps such as zappers but trapping should work if you are persistent. Some years it can be very difficult, but if you have to set 50 traps or more, so be it. I am about to order plastic traps from Gemplers which I set with peanuts or almonds under large trays (the kind used for mixing small batches of concrete). I protect about 3 acres of nursery this way with good success. I'll be moving around 10 trays and 40 traps until the first heavy snow.

Helen, I am glad your dog survived that health crisis. We have a lot of dogs and cats and that's why we don't use the poison pellets here. Elaine, It is the seeds of the castor bean plant that are incredibly toxic since they contain ricin. The plants themselves, or the oil, are not an issue. In fact, castor oil USP is an ingredient in soap (even some hobby or artistic/crafty soapmakers use castor oil in their soaps) and is used as a substitute for cocoa butter in some chocolate. You'll likely never see castor oil on a label though, as they use a chemical name for the formulation of oil they use in chocolate. I grow several varieties of castor bean plants as ornamental plants and have done so ever since we moved here, though I don't necessarily grow them every year. I've never had a dog or cat even chew on a leaf as far as I know, and none of our animals have mysteriously dropped dead. Sometimes deer eat the leaves of the castor bean plants as well as the leaves of the datura (I feel like they have to be desperately hungry to eat either of these two plants), and I haven't ever found a dead deer lying in the yard either. The level of ricin found in the foliage is very low compared to the level in the seeds. The processed castor oil we purchase in the USA is from oil extracted from the seeds, which resemble beans although they are not true beans. The oil from the seeds is soluble in oil but not in water. Would I let my animals be around the seeds of this plant? No. I start the plants from seed in paper cups with bird netting placed over it so that a dog or cat cannot chew up the cup of soil-less mix and accidentally eat the seed. They've never done such a thing with any plants, but the cats love to nip off young bean plants and eat them (well, humans eat bean sprouts so why not cats, I guess), so I keep the seedlings well-protected so the pets cannot accidentally ingest the seed. Some people who grow castor bean as an ornamental just remove the flower heads and dispose of them in the trash after the plants have bloomed. That ensures pets or children won't get their hands on the seeds. In order to gather seed to use the following year, I sometimes do let the plants set seed late in the season, but I watch the plants carefully and when the capsules are starting to split open, I cut off the flower stalk off the plant and put it someplace out of reach of the pets so the seeds can dry. I haven't saved any seed in several years, so this year I purchased seeds to plant. I also don't plant the castor bean plants near the fenced dog yard, which is where are dogs spend almost all their time when they're outside. The only time they are out of the dog yard, we are with them and we take them out in the back pasture to run and play....and I don't grow castor beans there. In general I garden organically, though I've used Roundup a few times and it certainly is not organic. I don't even use some organic pesticides due to their toxicity. Just because a pesticide is organic in nature instead of being synthetic does not make it safe. However, I use mole and gopher repellent products that contain castor oil with no fear whatsoever. Keep in mind that the castor oil only repels the moles and gophers---it does not kill them. The use of these repellents is considering a humane method of controlling the targeted pests....more humane, for example, than killing them. Dawn

More than likely you have just one mole, not moles, since a mole needs about 1/4 acre of territory to survive. Keep in mind that moles have survived for eons by learning to build their tunnels to quickly move flood water out so they do not drown. Had they not learned that we would not have moles today. Most all the other methods people use are no more effective then blowing in the wind. The most effective method of mole control is to eliminate their food source, but that means poisoning you soil to eliminate the earthworms and everything else that makes for a healthy ecosystem. There is evidence that applying 1 pint of castor oil, mixed in 1 quart of water, sprayed over 2,500 square feet can repel moles. This is effective for about 6 weeks although once the mole is driven out spraying the borders seems to be about as effective. The commercial castor oil sprays I have seen do not have enough castor oil in them and suggest spraying over too large an area. Here is a link that might be useful: mole control

John - lowes sells several options for moles. I had one wreaking havoc in my yard, and bought the poison peanuts. They worked like a charm. EG