To control moles you kill the grubs they're there to eat.
Milky spore.

But if you want some fun get a Dachshund. I don't know if he ever killed any but it was funny seeing nothing but his tail sticking out of the ground when I'd let him into the garden in the fall.

The point of getting rid of them is to NOT tear up the lawn more. Otherwise a terrier breed would be fun to watch. Wonder if I could just borrow one from someone..............

Milky spore only attacks Japanese beetle grubs, and not other species. Also, moles eat worms too, so getting rid of grubs won't get rid of the varmints.

I suggest burying a perimeter of aluminum flashing around your gardens, bending about a 1" lip facing outwards at the bottom. I used 14" stock, which goes deep enough to deter all but the most persistent ones.

Baits, in general, don't work. Moles are insectivores, more closely related to anteaters than rodents. If there is any hint of an odor that they don't recognize, they'll abandon that tunnel. Another popular remedy, products and formulas designed to chase them away because of a bad smell scattered on the soil surface, don't work either.

There's only one method with 100% guarantee of success: traps. However, I've been using traps for over a year and have yet to catch one!

-Bruce C.

LOL, I didn't say the Dachshund was effective or yard friendly, just a little fun mole harassment. :)

Milky spore is supposed to control June Bugs and Oriental Beetles too. (And I've even seen the claim of "many common lawn grubs".)

My problem with moles is different. They're from my neighbors yard and come to my garden in the winter to eat my carrots and potatoes. They tend to stay too deep when they're in my yard for traps.
You're right about them dragging the poison around and dropping it. I've found a lot of my neighbors poison peanuts in my garden.

I have good luck with the Victor "Out O'sight" mole trap.

http://www.victorpest.com/mole_gopher_products.htm

This is the one that works. Serious mole-trappers use this one. It does require perseverance to get them, but if you stick to it, you will get them. Sometimes the moles go under or thru the trap without setting it, or just avoid the trap altogether. In which case you need to reset the trap or move it to another location. When I'm determined to get a mole, I *will* absolutely get it using this trap. It's just a matter of time and effort. For best results, set two or three.

I've got three Victor traps -- the problem in my yard is that the moles very rarely use the same tunnel twice, and their regular "runs" are probably very deep.

One of the traps snapped shut as I was trying to set it, and broke off one of the "scissors". Now I'm down to two...

-Bruce

I've got the spear trap. So far this year, the demon vile pests have stayed pretty much in a couple runs and not done a lot of damage. Yes I know as I write this they're killing every last blade of grass that I seeded this spring. I think I'm just going to hire a couple under aged kids who will do anything for beer, to sit in my yard all night with all the free beer they can drink, and hand axes to hit the moles with when they see em. What could possibly go wrong?

All kidding aside, the only other thing I've come up with, is using the disturbed dirt of the mole runs as a chance to get grass seed into the soil with a hoe, and just re'seeding them every year.

Might try that other victor trap too.

thanks,

dave

I'm using a dachshund and Westie method for fighting small mammals. They're quite good at killing anything smaller than a rabbit. My neighbors have plenty of tunnels but I never have problems. The dogs do dig a bit but it's not that bad and they don't eat the plants. :)

Not that it matters much, but moles don't usually eat vegetation; it sounds like some of you are describing voles to me. Both will mess up the yard a lot by digging "tunnels", but moles usually only bother vegetation if it happens to be in their way. Voles are the annoying pests that are usually responsible for mass plant death.

I've heard that milky spore actually can work well to get rid of moles, but it's pretty expensive to treat a large area with the stuff. Hopefully someone has a better solution.

I found a link that I'm sure some of the "colder-at-heart" people will enjoy. I will link it below only for humor, not as an effective solution to this problem.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gophernator Video

Yeah, I've got moles. Seen one, killed it. Hand ax. Was a mole. Was. My problem with them is that they're tunneling and killing my grass. Significantly. My house is built into the side of a loess bluff and erosion is a genuine threat. I'm not talking about a little topsoil here, my neighbor has about a ton and a half of hillside that slid down into his yard. Mole tunnels thru that dirt aren't helping and the more damage to surface control (grass) the worse it gets. When a good storm comes, the mole tunnels can wash out so much that I could roll a softball down into them.

And grass seed is freaking expensive when you're re-seeding half the lawn every year.

Is that the guy who gasses then ignites the mole tunnels? Can't imagine that working. Their systems are so complex and deep that I doubt anything but luck would manage one. Not to mention that you have no idea where those tunnels go. I don't doubt in my case for example, that the tunnels run right past the foundation of my house. Imagine trying to explain THAT to the insurance company.

d

Yeah Dave, I think you are right about your pests being moles. I think moles are at least a little more destructive to soil surface. Myk1 was talking about moles eating his carrots and potatoes which moles won't do. Voles often do use mole tunnels and they are similar enough that they often get mixed up.

I think the gas explosion method works better for golphers. Even then it has its disadvantages. There's a post I was reading somewhere about a tunnel leading right underneather where the guy with the gas was standing. He blew up the ground right underneather where he was standing. Imagine explaining THAT to the insurance company. LOL

I'm pretty sure in the depth of winter moles will eat whatever is available for them to eat. That means my carrots and potatoes since I don't have a basement to store them in and leave them in the ground until I can use them.

Voles come out (and I have those too), moles stay under ground for the most part.

I have an old time Victor mole trap that might be a hundred years old and is not made with flimsy tin and a hand killing chain. Mine works very well when skillfully set. sometimes I feel a bit for the poor mole and wait until the damsge is bad before trapping it.

Dave,
Paul James "The Gardener Guy" suggests using milky spore AND beneficial nematodes the kill what the moles eat. They go elsewhere to look for food.
Whenever I dig a new garden bed I ammend the soil and add a lot of crushed oyster shells. You can get a 100# bag for about $10.00 wherever chicken feed is sold.
Maybe you could rent a lawn aerator and then put the crushed shells in the plug holes.
The sharp edges of the shells cut their hands up and they go elsewhere to tunnel.
Seems to work for me on gophers, although I haven't tried to protect a large area.

REALLY REALLY REALLY ? ? ? ? ?

Dude, you're my new best friend. I'm planning on renting an aerator this weekend to over seed. That sounds like a great idea to me, can't hurt anyway. Thanks. Mmmm oysters.

I don't kill moles, because they're such beneficial animals (which is in contrast to squirrels, which are pretty much only good as food for predators), eating grubs and aerating and loosening the soil. I have seen then digging a few times and been able to dig them up with a shovel, putting them in a bucket and taking them to a wild place to release them. This seems to work, as they dig RAPIDLY into the soil once dumped out of the bucket, disappearing into the ground in a matter of 30 seconds or so.

But, they are annoying when they tunnel and make giant "mole castles" of dirt on the lawn.

As someone said above, the best way to get them to move on is to get rid of grubs, the primary food source.

Sorry, with apologies to the organic people, the best way to get rid of grubs that I've found to date is Imadicloprid -- i.e., "Bayer Advanced Lawn Grub Control" -- pricey, but well, well worth it for the season long control it gives. And yes, I am aware that there is some controversy over this active ingredient (it may contribute to Colony Collapse Disorder in bees, although it appears that later research has shown this to be a virus). But, this product works very, very well.

I'm pretty dubious about claims that Milky Spore kills anything other than Japanese Beetle larvae.

Aside from keeping moles away, getting rid of the grubs in this manner will also keep skunks from digging up the lawn, which, while largely a cosmetic problem, leads to some very unpleasant sleepless nights as the skunk stench comes drifting into the house.

Dennis
SE Michigan

Dennis, where have you seen such claims for Milky Spore? The particular strain of Bacillus popilliae that is sold commercially for grub control as "Milky Spore" is almost exclusively hosted by Popillia japonica (Japanese Beetles). I've never seen it advertised for control of other insects. This strain has only rarely been found in very closely related beetles. Other strains of Popillia japonica and other Popillia species are hosted by other types of Scarabaeidae beetles, but even then, the host range is fairly limited.

Eliminating Japanese beetle grubs from an area can encourage moles and skunks to go elsewhere for their favorite meal. The downfall of this method is that, to be effective, you have to apply the Milky spore to a large area and it's expensive. Certain application methods have also been shown to work less effectively than others, which means more work. I don't think it's the answer to this problem, at least for me.

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Has anyone had experience or seen any noteworthy reports about how far moles, voles, and/or groundhogs are likely to move if they move away from an area because of a repellant or even crushed oyster shells? The oyster shells deterrent sounds intriguing, but if the animals just move over a few feet and dig back in, it may not be a viable solution for control. Would spreading the crushed oyster shells thinly over the surface of a lawn or field work? Has anyone tried anything like that?

There's just got to be a cost effective solution for broad area control that doesn't involve unreasonable gore, intensive effort, dangerous poisons (dangerous to predetors, etc) , serious side effects (like dogs and cats digging up everything themselves), etc.

I have read that moles hate garlic, and I have seen a garlic extract that is claimed to run off moles when sprayed around the yard. Not sure if it actually works, but it won't hurt (and it will also keep vampires away).

Milky spore and june bugs.

Can't find the brand I was looking at the other day that included them.

Here is a link that might be useful: milky spore june bugs

Folks,
The primary food source for moles is earthworms. Yes, they eat grubs, but they're a small part of their diet. You can spread milky spore all you want to - it's not going to deter moles from coming to your yard if you have a healthy population of earthworms.

Last year when I was having an exceptionally bad time with moles and armadillos tearing up my lawn, I called St. Gabriel Laboratories (manufacturer of Milky Spore) to inquire about its effectiveness on different types of grubs, as I have southern chafer beetles. They told me, in no uncertain terms, that Milky Spore is ONLY certified on Japanese beetle grubs.

As mentioned above by myself, and again by lucky_p, earthworms are the favorite food of moles anyway.

-Bruce

We have lots of moles or voles or ground rats around and always have tunnels appear on the surface of the ground after the drifts melt in the spring, however I've never had any garden or yard problems from them.

I would suggest using a very complex but effective tool---a cat! In the spring, we'll see the oldest cat coming into the yard several times a day carrying one to share.

If cats won't work for you, there is a bait which is supposed to be quite effective and you are poisoning only the moles/voles. I believe it is oats which are treated with zinc phosphide. You drop it into the holes or under vegetation where they run to keep birds from picking it up. When the zinc phosphide contacts stomach acid, I believe it turns into phosgene gas in the stomach, killing the animal quite quickly. However, this also rapidly dissipates and predators who may come across and eat the dead rat won't be harmed. Any oats not eaten will rot away, and the zinc phosphide will decay, adding zinc and phosphate to your soil, so it won't poison your garden but will fertilize it slightly.

Brandon7 wrote: "Dennis, where have you seen such claims for Milky Spore?"

I haven't, just commenting on what was posted further back in this thread.

By the way, I spelled it wrong, it's Imidacloprid. And, while it may be controversial in some circles, it's a fabulous product. Only thing I ever found which would totally eliminate whiteflies on my hibiscus and other indoor plants.

I am so glad you guys have a sense of humor! I really enjoy all these posts... and still have Moles/Voles. The Voles are BAD. Damaged my fernleaf maples, ate the roots right off and killed my newly planted blue indigo, ate 1/2 of my sweet potato garden.. I'm ticked! I have mouse traps and buckets all over my lawn and hubby is learning how to use this OLD as dirt mole trap he found in the wood shed. Looking forward to killing every one of these free loaders.

Moles also eat earthworms so grub control has limited effectiveness. An old timer told me a method that is cheap and works. You take a section of the top of the tunnel off, place a regular old rat snap trap in the tunnel and then place a bucket on top. Throw a little dirt around the rim to make it light proof and your all set.