Moles!

[NickWelford]

I'm desperate. We are plagued with moles - in parts my lawn is so riddled with tunnels it feels like it's going to collapse, not to mention the numerous molehills every day. Does anyone know what I can do to deter them? I feel like flooding the tunnels with propane and igniting it!
To can it all, the squirrels are busy burying walnuts in the molehills. I can manage them, my wolfhound loves to chase squirrels, but ignores the moles. That might actually be a good thing because I don't need wolfhound sized holes all over the place.....

 

[Claymore]

Mothballs down the holes helped stop ours but don't waste your money on the electronic gadgets as they are crap

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

You can also buy spring traps that you place in the tunnels (obviously requires bit of digging). I used to use them many moons ago as a student doing holiday work on a golf course. Very effective but need some a time to set them etc.

 

[dexter]

I don't know if you can get anything like this in the UK but if you do a Google search for 'detauper' (taupe is French for mole) then this is a cracking piece of kit. I suffer from moles constantly in my garden and have tried all sorts of traps to no avail so I decided to invest a few euros in one of these. Not cheap and the kit only comes with 5 detonators and then you can buy a box of 20 for about 15 euros. I've used it 3 times in the last 3 days and within a couple of hours a mole has activated it, bye bye mole! One mole can cause havoc in a small area but in the average back garden you shouldn't have more than a couple. My garden is over an acre!
As I say, it may not be available in the UK (health and safety police) but over here in France they adopt the principal of, read the instructions and then it's down to you, none of this 'where there's blame there's a claim' culture which Is quite refreshing on a number of levels.
Good luck.

Dex

 

[RogerS]

Do you not have a local 'mole-man'? We are very fortunate to have one who is expert in putting the traps in the right holes....that is why they don't wok for some people...wrong holes! Traps don't require any digging..just his keen eye to identify the main run(s) then insert traps into the holes and cover over lightly with grass etc to darken the tunnel. (Yes, I know...what difference does it make as moles have bad eyesight...dunno, but it works)

 

[RogerM]

We have the same problem. I also agree that the electronic scarers are useless - in fact they seem to treat it like a "call to prayer" and new molehills pop up all around them. I heard that they don't like diesel so I stuffed some tissue paper soaked in heating oil down some of the holes and for a short period this seemed to work. However, after a week or so they are back with reinforcements and seem to be building a new system of tunnels that bypass the "polluted" ones, so I'm now awaiting delivery of some mole traps.

Whilst I was tempted by the "humane" variety, as I don't like gratuitously killing wildlife, I've read that moles are very territorial and that releasing a trapped mole in an area where there are other moles just leads to a fight to the death. And if there are no moles then they can't build a network of tunnels fast enough to avoid starvation.

 

[NickWelford]

Do you not have a local 'mole-man'? We are very fortunate to have one who is expert in putting the traps in the right holes....that is why they don't wok for some people...wrong holes! Traps don't require any digging..just his keen eye to identify the main run(s) then insert traps into the holes and cover over lightly with grass etc to darken the tunnel. (Yes, I know...what difference does it make as moles have bad eyesight...dunno, but it works)

Hi Roger, what sort of charges does a mole catcher cost? I'm a bit strapped. On the other hand, my lawn looks like the Somme.....

 

[RogerS]

Do you not have a local 'mole-man'? We are very fortunate to have one who is expert in putting the traps in the right holes....that is why they don't wok for some people...wrong holes! Traps don't require any digging..just his keen eye to identify the main run(s) then insert traps into the holes and cover over lightly with grass etc to darken the tunnel. (Yes, I know...what difference does it make as moles have bad eyesight...dunno, but it works)

Hi Roger, what sort of charges does a mole catcher cost? I'm a bit strapped. On the other hand, my lawn looks like the Somme.....

I have no idea, I'm afraid. Our chap used to do our grass and strim the bank and so simply did it as he went along.

You could always DIY http://www.primrose.co.uk/how-to-remove-moles.php but ignore digging a hole. As I said, Dilwyn simply put the traps in existing hols on the mole motorway and then covered them over leaving the two verticals visible above ground.

 

[Lons]

Hi Nick

I had a major problem and with a field full of the little bu**ers next to me I guess always will but have managed to control them. Over time I've used the usual duffers tunnel traps and single scissor traps, live traps, mothballs, you name it but a few months ago bought 5 of these for £18 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400443632014? ... EBIDX%3AIT. Company out of stock but loads of other sellers at reasonable prices. The orignal and best of this type is branded TALPEX, mine are copies but work well.

Only once has a trap been sprung without catching and in 8 days I caught 12 moles, over a 4 week period I got more than 20, many muliple catches from the same holes so don't let anyone tell you they're solitary, they have highways like out motorways. Plenty of videos on youtube to show how and where to set the traps and the difference with these ones is that you fill around the trap with loose soil which the push out and they don't see or smell the trap.

I haven't seen mole evidence now for 6 weeks but I'm ready for the next one.

 

[John Brown]

If you have more than 11 on your right arm you should start worrying.

 

[Fergal]

How to catch moles by hand:

https://www.youtube.com/user/MouseHoleStudios/videos

 

[graduate_owner]

I enquired about mole catching fees locally, and was told £100 set up fee plus £10 per mole caught. I thought that would be OK if it was a permanent solution but of course they would soon return so would get a bit expensive. I ended up buying some spring traps at £5 each and caught a few straight away - not difficult and there's plenty of advice online.

K

 

[The Bear]

My experience is that they are solitary (which I guess is different to others experiences from comments above) and only come together when they breed. I found in my old house that when one was caught, the mole activity would stop for several months at least. I initially used a mole man who worked on a no mole no fee basis . He was confident that with one caught that they would be no return so much that if hills appeared in the next 3 months he would then catch further ones for free.
Having watched him I would have enough confidence now to have a go myself with the traps. Just a matter of identifying the tunnels, no digging was required they are near the surface.
I would say I didn't have a massive problem so guess that they have different population densities in different areas and different territorial ranges.
Mark

 

[Lons]

My experience is that they are solitary (which I guess is different to others experiences from comments above) and only come together when they breed. I found in my old house that when one was caught, the mole activity would stop for several months at least. I initially used a mole man who worked on a no mole no fee basis . He was confident that with one caught that they would be no return so much that if hills appeared in the next 3 months he would then catch further ones for free.
Having watched him I would have enough confidence now to have a go myself with the traps. Just a matter of identifying the tunnels, no digging was required they are near the surface.
I would say I didn't have a massive problem so guess that they have different population densities in different areas and different territorial ranges.
Mark

Hi Mark
They use common "highway" tunnels many of which have been there a very long time, they often run alongside walls and boundaries etc and can be deep. The ones that cause the problem for us are the feeder tunnels and they can dig out quite a lot over the course of a few hours, they then retreat into a sleeping tunnel to digest their meal. they fight with other moles they meet so are in that sense solitary or maybe just downright unsociable little bu**ers. :lol:

As soon as a feeder area is vacant any moles in the area are quick to take advantage so the problem is recurring and springtime is when most activity is seen. I took 6 moles out of one spot and five from another, caught every day and by co-incidence was talking to the old moleman who catches on our golf course today and he confirmed all that and advised I permanently marked the "hotspots" as they'll be back. He's caught well over 200 moles on the course this year so far. :shock: And I thought I had a problem. :roll:

Bob