Lawn Care: Moles

[frigilux]

I've noticed little pushed-up mounds about every 8-to-12 inches around my back yard. I'm sure they haven't been there in the past.

It felt very strange underfoot when I was out watering flowers in my bedroom slippers. I decided to investigate, and parted the grass over one of the 'bumps'. You can see that the ground has been pushed up a bit.

Does this mean I have moles in my back yard? And if so, how do I get rid of them?

 

[swestoyz]

Does this mean I have moles in my back yard?

Yes.

And if so, how do I get rid of them?

When you find out, let me know

 

[cleanteamofny]

You wack em with a big stick when you see a falling star!

http://www.ehow.com/how_2262285_rid-moles-voles-yard.html

 

[washerboy]

check at your farm supply store. They carry a bait that's in a cone shaped container you push down in the ground; they also carry a mid evil looking device that has "teeth" when the mole burries through it the teeth clamp shut killing the mole. I've never used either method; but a good friend of mine farms rice and soy beans; he has a large veg. garden close to his farm house. I was at his farm last summer while he was having mole issues. He showed me the cones and trap...either way..both of them gave me the creeps..

 

[yogitunes]

Harbor Freight tools has these so-called metal fans that spin in the wind, and are attached to a long pole (purchased seperately), that create vibrations underground, and chase them away....or at least to all your neighbors yards, I know these work because my neighbors want to know why they weren't in my yard pushing up the ground, now they have got them too, and the moles keep working their way up the street....

I have 2 acres around my house that is chainlink fenced, and I attached 4 of these to the fence with nuts and bolts to the pipes that go into the ground, not at every corner, roughly one pole in from the right of each corner....their only about $7.99 each....

for my neighbor, I took a long piece of galvanized pipe, used for fencing, and hammered them into the ground, and stuck the fans into these, he has 2 in a very large garden, works as a scarecrow too, and one in the front yard....never any loss of veggies so far...their attacking the neighbors garden next to him...wonder what our secret is?...LOL

 

[mixfinder]

Tools of the Trade

There's fellow that rigged up a vacuum system to the back of a covered truck. The apparatus fires up and sounds like a jet coming down for a nose dive. The hose goes over the hole and pretty soon you can hear "Thwump!" and the offending animal hits the side of the truck. Other more inventive put a hose in the hole and the other end over the exhaust of the their riding lawn mower and gas them all the way to the "burrough in the sky."

 

[laundramatt]

Once you have the moles gone you need to keep them out. Moles eat insects. I've been told to use lawn care fertilizer with insect control every year in the summer. No insects = no moles. I haven't had any moles in years since I started doing this.

 

[supremewhirlpol]

If you could please trap one of those moles ALIVE and send it my way, I would love to add one to my pet collection!

 

[gyrafoam]

Yeah, those damned things will ruin a lawn and garden. The bait is pretty good stuff. I've heard of people sticking a garden hose in the burrow and waiting with a .22 rifle for them to come out somewhere. The problem is that they can have such an eloborate network you might never see where they come out of.

When I lived in Florida they could be a real problem so if they showed up in my yard I used the bait and got rid of them before they got out of hand. You would think the snakes would gobble them up.

 

[cadman]

I've been fighting one (or more) all season. The amount of dirt they push-up is unbelievable and the yard is turning to swiss cheese; one day I carried off four 5 gal buckets worth of dirt.

After trying and failing with the 'poison peanuts' that come in the plastic cone, and trying multiple times with the forked apparatus, I've resorted to gas. Came home last night to two fresh mounds and tried the first gas cartridge. We'll see how well that works...

Cory

 

[countryguy]

I had problems with moles in my lawn also. I got a couple of solar operated ultrasonic devices that had about a foot long stake to put into the ground. It emitted a high pitched tone which the moles did not like and they soon left the area.

Gary