Moles?

[elephant ear]

This is the 3rd year I have been in North Carolina and this Spring, for the first time, I have noticed an area in my yard that has soft, spongy areas in the soil. I am suspecting some kind of underground critters! The property is just under 2 acres and I had some timber cut last year. I am wondering if this could be part of the problem? The suspect area is between the house and my garden veggie plot. I am not sure what kind of critter and also what kind of problems they may create. Anybody else have this experience? Thx.

[dirtundernails]

Yeah... I had moles, but went to a dermatologist. He said they were no problem, not to worry. :D Ah ha ha ha

I really do have real moles in my yard, too. 20 acres worth! The ground feels slick and mushy under your feet. You can see a long tunnel where the little nasties dig. They use the tunnel over and over even if you step on it and smash the dirt down. My dogs and cats eat them, but if you need a quick kill method, and I highly reccomend killing them, there are traps and poisons at the store. I also just stab the entire tunnel with my garden fork, 'cause I don't want to use poisons around said cats, dogs, and my four darlin' dirt mongrels.

I don't really know what they eat, but assume it's grubs, as one of the poisons looks like a worm when it's squirted out of the tube. I heard that they will eat root crops. The only other problem I know of is the tunnel posing a walking hazard... oh, and there was a viper in one right next to our house. :( That's probably where my personal dislike comes from.


dun

[Avanti007]

Moles....AAUUGGHH!!!!!!!! My beautiful gardens are turning brown from the mole hills...we have tried trapping, stabbing, shooting, poison... we even shoved smoke bombs in the runs and holes... they shoved them back at us...and now my husband is going to try dropping calcium carbide in the runs. Oh... one thing we did try was a hose from the car exhaust into the tunnels and it works, but alas... they reproduce....
Someone has placed placards in yards saying they will end your mole problem... so we called the phone number... they wanted $250.00 and $15.00 PER mole...needless to say, they won't be getting our business. If there is a REAL solution, I would love to hear it and game to try anything.

[dirtundernails]

Me again... My hubby was looking at mole stuff on the internet, and found this!!!! :eek:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/voles.html
Look at the very bottom.
Sorry.


dun

[GObug]

Moles are insectivores, and the older bait products never really worked. Historically, the traps have been the most reliable, and they do require practice in proper placement and setting. Recently, I see a new bait advertised in the pest control magazine that claims success but I have no experience with it.

[wilderness1989]

Copper the Beagle and a potato fork does it for us. Copper finds them and I stab them. (Copper's picture in inset above.)

[dirtundernails]

I have admired Copper. Our two American Staffordshire Terriers find and kill the moles (and armadillos, and possums, and, and, and).


dun

[bluesky]

The one thing I have found that works temporarily is; I put clorox bleach on paper towels and punch it down in the run. It will run them off for a while but they come back. I have tried moth balls to and garlic but with no results. Killing them I guess would be the answer. I suppose useing a fork garden tool like someone else said would do the job. I've had them for years in my yard. They can destroy a yard in no time.

[dirtundernails]

Yeah, but see the above link. You cannot kill moles in North Carolina.

Coming soon to a garden near you..... MORE GUB'MINT REGULATIONS.

(Hi Mima)

Hubby of Dun.

[dirtundernails]

To clarify, EE is my mom, and our kids' Mima.
She's been stomping down the tunnels and they seem to have left the area. YAY!

dun

[CRAZY1]

We've had mole problems here as well. The best thing I've found to deter the little buggers is "the mole chaser".Got ours from Lehmans. Its a kinda windmill with a bb in the shaft between the blades and the tial. Put it on a peice of electrical conduit driven in about 2 feet. Works well for us, they don't seem too like the noise (vibrations) :eek:

[Cliff Timmons]

I've even patterened my lawn with bird-shot. It worked for about 2 months. :mad:

[Avanti007]

We have tried something "else"... we bought an attachment that hooks to the tailpipe of your car, then to a regular garden hose. We stuck the garden hose in the runs and left the car running for 20 minutes. At first we could not tell if it was working, until our dog began neatly piling them up in a corner of the yard for us. I guess they came up for clean air (probably holding their tiny little throats, gasping for air). At any rate, it is working... for now...

[Cliff Timmons]

We have tried something "else"... we bought an attachment that hooks to the tailpipe of your car, then to a regular garden hose. We stuck the garden hose in the runs and left the car running for 20 minutes. At first we could not tell if it was working, until our dog began neatly piling them up in a corner of the yard for us. I guess they came up for clean air (probably holding their tiny little throats, gasping for air). At any rate, it is working... for now...

That sounds terrible and mean and evil,..... and I like it. :D

[dirtundernails]

Think, caddyshack.

HOD.

[bmarkham]

I dunno if it is OMRI - but when we first noticed a serious problem with both moles and voles, we spread this granulated stuff all over the ground impregnated with castor oil. (The oil - not ricin). The castor oil gets into the ground and makes things sticky on the fur of the moles and voles - and when they go to lick it off their fur, it gives them the runs. That ritual gets old pretty fast, and they vacate the area.

This complies with the law because you aren't killing the critters but still gets them out of your hair.

[cReAtIoN gRoAnS]

Have you tried one of those windmill things from Lehmans non electric???? Supposed to do 10,000 sq feet. I was given one and the moles seem to be on the move out away from the windmill area. They are like 20.00 a piece. Try that.....but boy are those things a pain!

[Avanti007]

An update on our "gassing" the moles.... IT WORKS!!! Evil? possibly!... Worth it...YES!!!
I almost broke my ankle ( well twisted it badly) trying to simply walk in our yard over all the dips and valleys that the moles had made. Sorry... guess I am terrible... but we will continue to use this device!!! (Tru-Value Hardware sells it!! :) )

[GObug]

I like the idea of using car fumes. It's very simple, and effective.

You could also cover a skunk in a cage with a plastic shower curtain, and run the hose under the curtain to take care of the skunk.

Ironically, it would be illegal for a licensed pest controller to use this technique because carbon monoxide is not a labeled pesticide!

[Cheesecake]

Moles? Voles?

I have a farm full...you don't suppose there is a market for them?

With the huge STORMs we had on Wednesday....it rained like a cow P***ing on a flat rock....and today I noticed Rose the Orange cat...was listening and listening...preparing to spend her day with her arm down a hole....but she gave up.......DID THEY DROWN?

Hopefully!!!

If I had a ''yard'' it might be worth fighting this, but this problem covers the pastures the hay fields, and I swear...in a 40 acre white oak stand...

Everywhere you walk it's mushy............

I too have tried my shotgun....last week, the neighbor, actually thought I had called a Turkey up by the head gate........roflol. I don't shoot Turkeys.
But, Lord have mercy, I didnt want to tell him I was shooting the ground....trying to get a mole............

And, with the price of GAS :eek: ....fumagating/fumigating/fumegating them, seems higher priced than the diazinon that used to work....and I don't like poison..............

(Im so new, I squeak...wonderful reading here... :D..)

[leelanau_ferg]

Here's a new one from my mom...doublemint chewing gum. She claims they eat it and it binds them up and kills em. Told me to just push sticks of it into their tunnels. But I forgot to ask...do I chew it first?! :D

[Ohiogal]

You guys made me :)
The idea of shooting the lawn to kill them off is hysterical! Effective but hysterical! Got a good visual on that one! :D
The only long term treatment to get rid of moles that I know of is to use some type of chemical that will kill the grubs they are eating. That is their primary food source, from what I've been told.
If I remember right, there is a type of bacterium that you can spread on your lawn and in 2-3 years, it grows in the soil and kills the grubs off naturally.
I'm not a fan of using pesticides, as they do kill the "good" things in the lawn. So this would be my pick to eliminate the problem after a few years.
Until then, fire away. :)