Mole Problem

[Ed Warren]

I live in North Carolina and have a mostly Fescue lawn. I have a bad mole problem. I have raised up ridges in a lot of my yard. I have looked at the mole "repellents" in Lowe's and Home Depot. They are all Castor Oil. I have also been told by a gentleman at Ace hardware that in NC mole killer is not legal. This gentleman has a very good reputation around town. I plan to spray my lawn for bugs like grubs. He said that if I take away their food they will be less inclined to stay. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I don't live far from Virginia where I believe the killer is sold. Help!

Zane

[Pat]

Traps work well.

[ds549]

moles eat grubs,but eartworms mostly.i cut some moles open and they were full of earthworms. i have caught 149 in 5 years. had no luck with repellants . am curious about the poison worms available now,but i just got to thinking like a mole ,and catchem pretty steady with shovel and traps . the scissor traps are good but troublesome to set , the loop nash traps are good in soft or sandy soil. if you walk the tunnels down and check a few times a day,you can geem with a shovel.lucas

[ds549]

i have thought about injecting earthworms with a tiny bit of antifreeze and placeing them in the tunnells.

[Ron H]

Get a lawn chair, a 5 prong pitch fork, and a couple of bottles of your favorite adult beverage. Go out in either the early cool evening or about sun down and sit, drink, and watch for the ground to move... then put your foot on the pitch fork and drive it into the moving ground at about a 45 degree angle. Figure the little b..tard is about 4 inches down. Bring up a fork full of sod and if you're lucky one fat little mole. I have to "do" about 5 or 6 a year and it's a very gratifying thing to see that fellow on the end of the fork. I haven't found any chemicals that actually work. Diazinon used to work pretty well by killing everything that the mole ate but that seems a little overkill ( besides, it's no longer sold to us common folks cause we're too stupid to keep from spraying it on the lakes and rivers and into our water wells ). There are some poison worm like bait but it cost way too much and you have to make sure you get it in an active tunnel or you might as well throw it away.

Have fun! Ron H.

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[Jim]

[....]

[....]

yep, that about says it.

[Eggs Zachtly]

[...]

Why? Moles aren't nocturnal.

[rest snipped]

[Ron H]

No Moles are not nocturnal, but it's a lot more comfortable sitting in the lawn chair!

Ron H.

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[Eggs Zachtly]

Ahh. It's the chair that's nocturnal. My bad. =)

Any chance you can put this:

behind a proper sig-delimiter?

[L]

I really question attacking grubs will fix the mole problem. I am lead to believe that moles eat worms!. I am wondering what progress you have made and how!. Regards

[trader4]

The answer regarding grubs I think depends on how many you have. As noted, they are only one food source for moles. If you have a small amount of grubs, like you can find in most lawns, where they aren't doing any significant visible damage to the turf, then I don't think eliminating the grubs is going to get rid of your moles.

Howver, if you have a real grub problem, with many of them, they can attract more moles, because now you have an attractive food source. I had some areas of my lawn that had a grub problem that was killing the turf. And with it, that area had probably 5X the amount of mole runs I have ever seen there before.

So, I think grubs can be a factor, but it's not as simple as those that say get rid of the grubs and you'll get rid of them moles.

[Mel M Kelly]

Get a good mole trap and learn how to use it and let the worms alone, they help your yard. I like the spear type. Keep them sharp and clean. Mesh down the runs and put the traps in the ones they raise back up over night. Put the trap in the ground and then set it.

From Mel & Donnie in Bluebird Valley

[Steveo]

Yep, traps are the most efficient approach to mole control if you have a serious mole problem.

[ds549]

im in ky, have caught 153 moles in 6 years. have cut many open and they were full of earthworms . i use the nash trap,scizzor traps and spike traps(ebay or hardware store) . but i love walking the tunnels down,then coming back in 15 minutes later to see em digging and flip em on the ground with a shovel.if you scare em ,they will lay still for 15 min.walk sneaky slow...the ground sprays dont work , dont know about the poison worms.. good luck,lucas

[Steveo]

Keeping score! :)

[SteveB]

in So. Utah.

Steve