I know that is some pretty harsh language but these nasty, lawn and landscape destroying critters have been really bad this year... everywhere, including here at the nursery. Don't know about you all but the front yard of our house looks like an underground airport runway. I think they have set up an entire "mole city".
So, why are they here so bad this year and how do I get rid of them you ask? Well, here are some facts that you need to know when dealing with moles.
First of all, you may have spent a lot of time and money putting stuff on your lawn to kill the grubs because you were told that the moles love the grubs and that's "why" they are in your yard. Well, that is only partially true. Moles love something even more....earthworms! And earthworms are the best good soil makers around so you want them in your lawn and landscape. So, even if you kill every grub in your yard you can still have moles tunneling all around taking the soil away from the roots of your lawn and killing your grass. And they also like ants, pillbugs and many other insects found below ground. They are not all that picky but earthworms are their favorite. And since moles and earthworms do not hibernate this tunneling and eating frenzy goes on throughout winter...just deeper down where it's warmer. Moles will even "store up" earthworms for winter forage by biting their heads off and piling them up. The reason they have probably been so bad this year is because it has been wetter than the past few years thus keeping the earthworms closer to the surface.
Second, if you have a mole problem, and to me one mole is a problem, you need to try to eradicate the little buggers as soon as possible because the longer they are active in your yard the harder it is to get rid of them. A single 6 ounce mole can tunnel 15-18 feet in one hour.
So, multiply that times an average litter of 4-6 babies times say 12 hours of tunneling and eating a day and you can have some major underground damage going on.
Third, and this is the most important thing to know about moles. When trying to rid your yard of them.... home remedies from Bounce dryer sheets to chewing gum, and razor blades to human hair.... DO NOT WORK! Repellants DO NOT WORK! Vibrating windmills DO NOT WORK! The only way to get rid of moles is to trap them!!! You may be disagreeing with me about now but these are proven facts! If you want to actually get rid of them you need to trap them. The only thing that any of these other remedies MAY do is to TEMPORARILY send them to another part of your yard or the neighbors yard. But, when they get tired of being in that other place they can very well come back to where they were.... in your yard. You know... there is no place like home!
So, If you are over run with moles the ONLY sure fire way to get rid of them is to TRAP them and the best trap that I know of for doing this is the spear type traps such as in the following photo. If you are saying that you have tried these and they do not work then the problem is not with the trap but with the "operator".
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Spear or Harpoon trap
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I have caught dozens of moles with this type trap over the years but I have also been unsuccessful on more than one occasion. My failures were due only to the fact that I had incorrectly set the trap. If set properly it WILL work!
To set the trap properly you must first be sure that the tunnel is an "active" run. To check this do not smash down the entire tunnel by walking on it. Simply pick out a particular spot in the run and push down with your heel to slightly collapse it without smashing it to oblivion because you are angry. When tunneling, moles will take the path of least resistance so if you smash the tunnel too much they will either go around it or below it to continue their journey. Next wait 24 hours to see if the ground is again raised up. If so it is an active tunnel and you can set the trap.
This is important: When setting the trap gently depress the tunnel so that it is sunken but not so much that a mole can not easily try to repair it. You want it to go through the trap and raise the soil up and hit the foot plate of the trap during his repair process which will in turn trigger the spears to come down. Also, when you set the trap make sure that you work the spears up and down a few times to insure that they can easily and quickly move through the soil and hit their intended target.
Oh...and if your trap has been tripped take something and gently dig it out. If you just pull it back up out of the ground the sharp spears may just pull out of the dead mole and you will think that again...it did not work.
That's it...
Happy Hunting!!!!!!!!
