So, have any dopers had success removing (humanely or not) the wee beasties “aereating” your yard in pursuit of grubs & worms? The hub is at his wit’s end, feeling very Capt. Stabby Ahabby toward the creator of many mounds of dirt in the formerly pristine yard, who continues to elude the many many many attempts at removal, in quite a mocking sort of manner. As mocking as a mole can be, that is.
Any success short of paying someone to come rid you of the nuisance? Cuz we are about to shell out some hefty change to get rid of the little bugger…
I have three traps. You don’t just set them all over the place, you have to outsmart the damn things and put the trap in the right place. Once in a while I get lucky and catch him on the first or second try, but mostly it takes a while.
I am next to a big patch of woods so there are always more moles coming in. Sometimes it takes a couple of months for the next round but they always come back.
One of the difficulties is the fact that moles don’t just have tunnels near the surface, they also have a deeper network down about 18 inches. They are territorial and don’t share the tunnels, but once you kill the owner, somebody else will eventually move in and use that underground superhighway. I think the Rodenator destroys the deep tunnels; if there was a service in my area that had one I would give it a try but I can’t justify the cost of buying my own.
I know this isn’t what you want to hear but there is no one-time solution. They’ll be back.
I’ve had success with these mole traps. I just leave the bodies in the run. All the big box hardware stores have them. Don’t waste your time with gum, circus peanuts, flooding, etc. They don’t work. If it’s all out war you want, there are various rodent blaster rigs that use propane and a remote detonator. Here’s one demonstration. Good luck!
My Dad got rid of moles by training his cat. If the cat brought a mouse or mole to the front door, he’d get a can of wet food, as soon as Dad saw it. Dry food was fed regularly. No payout for birds or lizards.
Admittedly, this will only work if the cat does the first step spontaneously. It’s hard to reinforce behavior that isn’t happening.
If I remember right, it took less than two years for them to be completely gone and there was a gradual improvement to the lawn over that time.
(I’m not expecting anyone to actually try this. Go ahead and get the traps.)
Thanks for all the feedback, dopers, and yes, that one string with “six pages of nonstop laughter and murder,” is indeed highly recommended - laughed my arse off. The battle continues…with these helpful pointers in mind.