“They’ll cave in, you can step on them and it’s almost like being in a hole,” said David Chamberlin, a homeowner in Mt. Juliet. “It makes walking through the yard somewhat tedious. If I had a simple way, ‘boop’, they’d be gone.”
*****
Argh, I hate hate hate those damned things. It only takes one or two to fuck up a yard, leaving their raised tunnels all over the place which fucks up your mower blades when you run over them.
The 'expert' in the video says trapping is the best option.
I bought a couple scissors style traps, paid about 20 bucks apiece for them, and have trapped exactly 3 moles with them over the past 4-5 years.
I have a much better option. Take a cup of coffee and go out on the porch right at daybreak when the air is calm. Constantly scan your yard, looking for ground movement, grass waving in the air, anything that would signal a mole at work.
Once you see that, gently walk over to the spot being careful not to stomp down. Stop about 2 feet away behind the direction it's digging and immediately step on the tunnel it just dug, cutting off any ideas of a quick escape.
It'll stop moving when it senses you. Be patient. As soon as it starts to move again, pull out your 357 magnum and pop one round an inch or two behind the movement. Works every time.
Now comes the important part. Go back to the house and make your wife a cup of coffee because she's now wide awake and thoroughly pissed.
I have a scissor style trap and I have decent luck with it. The problem I have been having the last couple of years is that they have quit making mounds in the yard, and their tunnels are only a fraction of an inch higher than the surrounding ground which makes it nearly impossible to spot them.
ReplyDeleteIn the days of cheap ammo, you didn't need to do the step & wait. Just riddle the area of movement. But folks on a fixed income need to be prudent.
ReplyDeleteDad loved to scoop up the mounds & dump them somewhere else.
Better just to rake it flat.
God brought you an organic aerator
Jerry
See, that's why so many of us like you, and your no nonsence writing style. Your helpful DIY methods always are straight to the point.
ReplyDeleteirontomflint
How do you kill a fly? With an elephant gun ... just to be sure. ;-)) Nemo
ReplyDeleteA pitchfork works too and is much more quiet
ReplyDeleteLmao, she doesn't know about my 686 Smith.. does a 9 work?
ReplyDeleteReminds me of back in the day in highschool. Kept a shotgun with bird shot handy for pest control. Had a chipmunk that kept stealing dog food. Had a habit of running into a hole in the wall that eventually led outside so he could run to the wood pile and hide. 1 time I saw him run so I grabbed the gun and went to the back door and opened it to see him standing pretty on a piece of wood 3 yds away. Sprayed him thinly on the wood.
Delete"...does a 9 work?"
DeleteYou could try it if you don't have a real pistol.
Anonymous @ 9:11, I've got a chipmunk problem and would LOVE to employ your method but I'm afraid the wife and neighbors would not care for it. Termite guy told me one time to get a 5 gallon bucket, lean a two by four on it with some sunflower seeds down inside the bucket, wait for the chipmunks to show and trap themselves in the bucket. The question is, WTF do I do with a bucket of chipmunks? ;-)
DeleteHave yourself some chipmunk stew.
DeleteGo to a paint ball supply store get a canister of co2 charge; go to hardware store (lows etc.) get gas bottle cap with trigger and 6 in tip. When you find a tunnel stick nozzle in and 5 sec burst. Co2 will sink to lowest point in tunnel and wait for their return. Solved my problem.
ReplyDeleteI used to see that in my uncle's dirt yard at his farm in Central Georgia. Around here are the Armadillos which have migrated from farther south with Global Warming, I guess. According to Google, they have no natural enemies and you can't poison them because they only eat live bugs. I usually only see one in the back yard if I'm out with my nocturnal dog at zero dark thirty. But the other morning about 0730, one was out and came within about six feet. I thought if I'd been carrying, I could have shot it but we only have about an acre. One of the neighbors wouldn't have cared but the other is from Maryland and who knows. There are holes all over the back yard, almost big enough to trip up an old man if he hits it wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe 9-banded Armadillo has been migrating & expanding its range northward for the last 150 years or so.
DeleteProbably not because of AGW.
There's this thing that is responsible for ALL climate on EVERY planet in the solar system-It's called "The Sun" you may have heard of it.
CC
Is it the same treatment (load) you gave the fat feathered football this spring?
ReplyDeleteGood one! I had a problem with squirrels. The 2 Neighbors to the left of cut all their pine trees in their yards. I sudenly had squirrel overpopulation and they were trying to eat anything. The hose to the gas grill, deck chairs, and potted plants all got gnawed on. I got out the bolt action 22 and popped 16 squirrels in a 90 minute time frame from a second story bedroom window.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad used to pop woodchucks in his garden from a second story window in the house with a Winchester .22 single shot with a 27" barrel. He lived in a heavily populated area, so couldn't go outside and shoot them. It was about 40 yards to the far side of the garden and 30 to the near side. That Winchester shoots flat out to 50 yards. He'd wait til after dark to go collect the dead ones.
DeleteNemo
Yep, been here just over a year and got three of the little bastards using the "Lane Method". My whole yard (the part that I mow) must be perfect for them. Guys around here have dozens of tried and true ways to get rid of them, but none seem to work. They seem to like the areas that get the least amount of sun. I will advise a twelve gauge with 7 and a half works, but is as hard on your yard as the moles. Eod1sg Ret
ReplyDelete22 bolt with sub sonic rounds set to the far range of my fence Some 15 yards or so. Quiet and with good shot placement fatal to a lot of fur bearers.
ReplyDeleteI spray Telsar P with a little pull behing the zero boom sprayer. I have crazy med ants and that's why I started spraying. They don't bite but are/were everywhere. I don't know if it has anything to do with it but I've havn't seen a mole since I started spraying.
ReplyDeleteSpraying your yard for insects, especially grub worms, is one of the more effective ways to get rid of moles. Eliminate their food supply and they move on to your neighbor's yard.
DeleteI have access to fumigation chemicals, aluminum phosphide works wonders on moles and gophers. Hard to find without a license, but kills anything that breathes.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the Rodenator! http://rodenator.eu/rodenator-r3 wage thermobaric warfare on the little buggers. Look up the videos.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Thor
Used a similar device on pocket gophers in a field in MN.
DeleteIt was a nozzle on a Oxy-acetylene mixing valve. Used propane instead of acetylene.
The nozzle had a reversed funnel for plugging into the burrow and a pizeo-electric grill igniter near the tip.
Stuff in burrow, hold lever down for a 3-6 count, hit button, boom.
Much fun. Hearing and eye protection recommended.
If you don’t mind blowing up the whole yard, oxygen & acetylene. Use the cutting torch to fill tunnels with the mix, have a long igniter like on your bbq grill far enough away……thump.
ReplyDeleteStill more fun to shoot like wirecutter says, less yard destruction.
Ken
I feed a bunch of feral cats here in the hills of pa. and they take care of all problems like this .
ReplyDeletethey have so far killed every mouse, critter, ground squirrel and bird dumb enough to come close to the house. my neighbor has squirrels getting into his attic every year, one across the road has mice and ground squirrels all over the place. here, all I have to do is clean up what is left after the cats kill whatever it was. so, for about 40 bucks a month. the wife unit is happy with "her cats" (outside) and I never hear about critters running around.
still freaks when she finds a dead one in the yard though. dave in pa.
An old timer told me that used motor oil, the nastier the better would cure the beasties. Mind you I have Never tried it, but a tablespoon down each hole and drizzled over obvious runs would irritate the skin and smell and drive them off. A thin drizzle around the property line would delay reinfection.
ReplyDeleteDad used a 12 gauge for mole terminations..............
ReplyDeleteStill Laughing at your solution! No moles here but plenty Mongooses. Early whalers & sandalwood traders brought mongooses to control the rat population in China Town near downtown Honolulu. But they did not know that rats come out at night & the mongoose hunt in the day. So now we have both!
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing. Wait for the grass to wiggle, then pop it out of the ground with a .410. Very satisfying, albeit aggravating to those who do not enjoy the finer moments in life.
ReplyDeleteThe moles live off of some type of grub. Apparently using some kind of "milky spore" powder kills the grubs. The moles leave or starve.
ReplyDeleteScissor traps work great on Gophers if you use them correctly. Go out in your yard and step down on each hill you find...leave a good footprint. Next day, set the traps in the mound that has been pushed back out of the ground. Gophers use many of their runs only once, but find one that is in constant use, and you will get them all.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a fairly fresh mound, I will probe it until I find the opening to the tunnel and open it up. Then I set the scissor trap so it gets triggered when they come back to plug up the hole. If the tunnel hasn't been abandoned yet, they will come back to plug the hole within a short amount of time. This can also be done directly on the tunnels too, just open a hole to it and set the scissor trap so that it can catch them from either direction they come along to plug the hole.
DeleteGround nesting yellow jackets….
ReplyDeletegot stung 2x last mowing….
1st….poured gas in hole….
2nd….poured used oil in hole….
did some research….
Lastly….poured hot soapy water in hole….
No signs of anymore yellow jackets.
Ed357
Get a couple of bags of Scotts GrubEx. Spread just before rain. You kill the mole's food source and they either starve to death or go seek fertile grounds. Does it work 100%? nope, but the subterranean highways in my backyard have all but disappear.
ReplyDeleteReapply as necessary, probably every 3-5 moths of hot weather
Much as I hate the company, try TALPIRID Mole Bait by Bell Labs.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.belllabs.com/bell-labs/product/us/pest-control/talpirid-mole-bait
I watched Dr. Frankenstein wanna-bes test this stuff in the labs, and it's all about the bait. They developed a bait that the moles will go after instead of their normal food - grubs.
And the wife won't be pissed as hell at you for torching one off at 5:30 AM.
My wife would see movement and shove a big knife in the tunnel to block it then start stabbing the ground with another knife. She's killed quite a few that way!
ReplyDeleteTake a look at the Gopher Hawk. Pretty simple to use and my neighbor was hauling out gophers left and right with his.
ReplyDeleteDig a hole about a foot deep and a foot square. Take a small speaker and put it in an ammo can. Run the wire out of the can and into the house and connect it to the stereo. Bury box. Play heavy metal on that speaker constantly for about a week. The mole(s) will be gone.
ReplyDelete