My husband had an elderly lady stop by to visit yesterday and she was all upset about moles in her yard. She says there are so many runs that part of her yard is sunk in. Now they are going under her house and she is afraid what will happen. Does anyone know of a way to get rid of them? She doesn't like the traps - going out and cleaning and resetting them is too much. Thanks for any ideas.

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), March 06, 2002

Answers

If the traps are that bad the moles must not be all that bad.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), March 06, 2002.

Juicy Fruit gum is the best way that I have found to get rid of them. I know it sounds like a hoax, but it really works. Just unwrap them and put a stick every few feet into the run and the moles will eat it and .......I am not sure what it does to them. It just kills them or scares them off. Maybe major tooth decay:~)! Anyway...it worked for me several times.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), March 06, 2002.

Sorry for the above post, not everyone who visits here is helpful.

I have heard that moles are looking for grubs and if you kill the grubs, the moles leave. Since I don't do poison, we try natural. Like chewing gum in their holes which has seemed to diminish their numbers. I do use moth balls on the parameter of some of my flower beds and that works to keep the little varmits out of there.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

wow nan......simultaneous posts........and of course you so sweetly didn't mention the other poster. (some of us are just so much nicer than others ;>) )

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

Last winter in Northern Ontario was very unusual. The ground did not freeze hard, but we got good snow cover. This seemed to provide a resort-like atmosphere for moles. In this area, the soil is naturally acidic as well, adding to the problem. Because I work at the local Co-op where people go to 'purchase' solutions, this local crisis necessitated a lot of research, and a lot of experimentation.

The white grubs are exactly why the moles are there. Remove the food - remove the moles. White grubs are there eating the roots of your grass plants, and these prefer and acidic environment. I'd bet this lady also has moss growing in places, and perhaps lots of pine trees around.

1. Get a soil test. High in acid? Rake your pine needles and dispose of elswhere. Add agricultural lime. This will help raise your ph level. It is not fast acting, but the problem wasn't created overnight either.

2. There are chemicals available that will get rid of the grubs. There is only a specific time in the life cycle that these chemicals will work. Check locally to find when this is in your area - if you are not opposed to the chemicals. (The one that worked the best here has just been pulled off the market - Yes, it was vicious stuff, but considered safe enough when used according to directions. Too many people not following the directions, now the chemical is no longer available.)

3. I'll bet she also has a lot of ground feeding birds. We get yellow bellied sap suckers here (a flicker). They love the white grubs. Let them eat!!

4. Some people have luck with the juicy fruit, but I have heard of better results using castor oil. It's reasonably cheap. Pour it down the holes. It doesn't kill them, but they'll move on to greener pastures. (or mossy ones). Castor bean seeds down the holes are also supposed to be good, as well as planting the castor bean plant. A word of caution - the seeds are extremely poisinous to humans - pick the blossoms, remove any seed pods that happen to form, and educate the kids (or just keep them away!)

5. Smoke bombs can work, but only if you can seal all the holes, so the gas can kill the moles. (not likely to be possible with a large infestation of moles, but will work if you only have a couple.)

6. Lawn roller. Roll over a squish down as many of their tunnels as you can. Sometimes a formidable task, but we're attacking on as many fronts as we can here.

7. The Victor company makes a trap that works exceptionally well. To be effective you find the main run (not always easy to do) and install this trap. It's dug into the tunnel and works like a guillotine. (yuck!) Apparently extremely effective. No longer available in Canada.

8. If all else fails, try an exterminator.

Lots of luck!

-- Bernie from Northern Ontario (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

We tried every one of those solutions and the one that really worked for us was to pee into the tunnels, Boy did they leave in a hurry.

-- ron bulinda (rvbulinda@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

I have the best mole removale system available. You arent going to believe this, but I have ZERO moles now. Thanks completely to my DOG. Yup, my dog. She is a syberain husky and cant stand the sound they make when they " chatter ". Our vet said she has VERY good hearing and is very teritorrial , so she digs them up, plays with them till they die and leaves them on the front porch as my daily gift. Took her all of six months to clean out the LARGE herd that inhabited our yard. Now that we are minus the moles she goes next door to my aunts and brings us her moles. I think maybe I should start charging her for mole removal.....LOL... I know this wont help you , but I find it humourus anyway, that my dog is the TERMINATOR of local moles.... Kristean

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

hummmmmmmmmm............would it work if we just dumped the product in the holes???

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

We have been flooding the moles out of thier runs this year and the cat and dog wait for the little buggers to come out and then they play with them for a while. Not sure why we have so many this year. They are also twice the size of the ones we caught last year! I think that I will try the gum also.

-- shari (smillers@snowcrest.net), March 06, 2002.

Interesting discussion, thanks to all of you helpful and knowlegable people out there in cyberspace. LOL I would add for the people with the dog who is a "mole terminator", my Cattle dog is the same way! We are lucky aren't we? Re the Castor Bean thing. As mentioned, this plant and the seeds are deadly and not just to people. If you have pets, poulty etc, do not use it!

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), March 06, 2002.

I hope they're moles and not voles. Big difference. (We have both.) Snakes do the best job, but chickens, cats, and dogs give snakes a hard time.

-- Nina (Ingardenwithcat@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.

To add along with K.Thompson response. One thing I have found that works good on moles is beagle pups. Off and on I have been raising beagles for 25 years and have always noticed that beagle pups are real good mole killers. The only problem is that once the beagles are trainned to run rabbits they quite chasing moles. Thats when its time to get another pup.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), March 06, 2002.

I believe you have to leave the foil wrapper on the gum to be effective and it has to be juicyfruit,from what I remember they can't digest the foil and die.Dave (central WI)

-- Dave (duckthis1@mybogusemail.com), March 07, 2002.

no, it's the gum they can't digest. M-80 cherry bombs work pretty good too. ; )

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 07, 2002.

I have a passel of mole-killing cats. You are welcome to as many as you can carry, lol. Jane

-- Jane Smith (arwen1964@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.

Our yard used to look like a lunar landscape. We tried many non- lethal means of mole removal. The one that seems to have done the trick was finding a new hole and pouring in a small bottle of "PINESOL" liquid cleaner followed by a thorough flooding with a hose. They must not care for the taste? Haven't seen a mole in over two years.

-- Thommy (tajpleas@earthlink.net), April 16, 2002.

Does the Pinesol (sp?) destroy your grass? We live in the SE and have acidic soil and lots of pine trees. We are learning that St Augustine seems to do better than the centipede...But WAIT! HELP! I release ladybugs for aphids, nematodes for a zillion problems, use stale beer to trap slugs around my hostas, but I'm still losing the battle. Today, to my horror, tiny black grasshoppers appeared in one of my flower beds (these will be HUGE), and as I did a mifted U- turn in my yard, my foot began to sink and you guessed it, MOLES or VOLES...ADVICE MUCH WELCOMED!! Dooj

-- Dooj Jacobs (jakejudyjacobs@att.net), May 03, 2002.