Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Down in my back yard, there is an area about 75' x 75' that has about 50 dirt hills from moles or some other underground varmet. I never see them out, but can see the dirt being pushed up. Then by the time I get down there, they be gone.<br /><br />Any ideas on how to kill these varmets? Ooops sorry, I should say how can I remove them? It appears to be several families of them down there with their own community. Thinking of Caddy Shack now! Oh, no! Dynamite is out of the question.<br /><br />Thanks SS

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

I bought a product at my hardware store called mole nots. They are about the size of rasins and stink something fierce. They cost about 8 bucks and they work great. They killed the little buggers in about 2 weeks.<br /><br />Tried using traps and those electronic sonic machines that did not work. Good luck

 

[KeltonKrew]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

we used to kill them as they can travel a long way. Don't be Politically Correct stating you want to move them.....it won't happen. You have to get rid of the permantly.<br /><br />There are several methods....Mole traps, etc.<br /><br />fumigate the holes, etc.<br /><br />good way to get rid of the 2-cycle gas you've been wondering what you could do with it (actually don't do this, not good for the environment)

 

[RatFish]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

1) Pour gas down holes<br /><br />2) Get about 75 to 100 feet away<br /><br />3) Ignite a road flare<br /><br />4) Toss flare in direction of holes<br /><br />5) Hit the dirt!<br /><br />6) They will be dead when the fire burns out

 

[bubbakat]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

The way i run them out of the yard is to take a steel rod and drive it about 3 feet in to the ground and another across the area they are working and hook it to my truck battery like jumper cables and crank engine and idle it up some and let run for about fifteen min. They can't stand that dc voltage running thru their little bodies. I use about a 14 or 12 gauge wire to do this

 

[BR549]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

You might try planting some Euphorbia Lathyris - seemed to work well for the few that I had. Also heard that planting castor beans works as well. A fast way is to buy some "gopher b gone" - they carry it a Lowes. Basically it's a big smoke bomb that gasses the tunnels.

 

[neumanns]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Are they moles? how large are the dirt mounds?

 

[Skinnywater]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

I've done this to get rid of Pocket Gophers.<br />I find thier tunnel and connect a hose to the tailpipe of my truck and seal it into thier tunnel.<br />Cabon Monoxide induced hibernation.

 

[Bob in Calif.]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Moles travel just under the surface of the dirt. They leave a tunnel shaped trail across the ground they are burrowing under.<br /><br />Gophers are the varmets that leave the mounds.<br /><br />I usually use road flares to "gas" then to "Never Land." It is best to locate several of the freshest holes for the flares. Locate the older holes fill them in and tamp the dirt. Stick a lit fuse down the fresher holes, then pack the holes with dirt. <br /><br />Rather than pay for the flares, find state trooper and tell him you use used up all your flares about a week ago helping a stranded motorist and could he spare a few. They ususlly will give you several. <br /><br />Better yet.....If you have a neighbor who is in law enforcement, tell him you will trade him a half gallon of Jack Daniels for a case of flares. If he only gives you half a case, you are still ahead. <br /><br /> ...Moochie in Calif...

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Thanks, there are some pretty good ideas here. I really hate to use gas since I have a neighbor that is a mean ole bachlor of 78. Turns people in all the time for stupid stuff.<br /><br />I like Bubbakats idea of electrocution. I might borrow my friends portable DC welder, put some stakes in the ground (rebar) like a grid and then fry them up. Wok-a-molie! <br /><br />BR549, not sure if those plants would handle the sometimes exteme low temps we get here. Last couple of weeks it has been averaging about 25 to 30.<br /><br />nuemanns, the mounds are only about 3 or 4 inches high. They build tunnels just directly under the sod. You can see like a raised ridge in the grass. That ridge then connects the mounds. They are almost like the Taliban/Vietcong in their tunnels. Just maybe it could be miniture terroists that were geneitically engineered. Naw, don't think so....<br /><br />Ratfish, sounds like Caddy Shack. I want to get rid of them without killing my grass. Thanks anyway.<br /><br />Bob in Cal, I may try this method first and see what happens.<br /><br />I think they mainly are after the grubs that are in the roots of my sod. My one neighbor treats his lawn with all the cides that are out there. I think that is why they stopped at the property line. <br /><br />If they are still there in the spring, I'll get an aerorator and try to punch a hole in their little mole bodies. <br /><br />I hate to use poison since a multitude of wildlife pass through my lower yard to go into the woods.<br /><br />Thanks, SS

 

[bh357]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Whack-a-Mole <br /><br />My Wife's grandma used to shove a hose in one end of a tunnel and sit by the other end with a shovel. Turn on the water...wait...WHACK.<br /><br />We had a mole in our yard one summer. I went out and bought a mole trap (one with the 2 spike thingys that spear into the ground when the mole burrows on by). I stomped down the tunnels like the instructions said, and went out the next day to see which ones were actively being used. Guess what...NO MOLE! The tunnels never were used for the rest of the season, and I haven't seen tunnels since Never did get to use the trap. I guess the threat of the trap was enough to send the mole to greener pastures.<br /><br />Be careful if you use traps, especially if you or your neighbors have kids or dogs running around. Some mole traps could injure a dog/kid who digs/picks up a mole trap

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

"Kill the golfers" Caddyshack rules!! OK moles eat grubs. So in order to get rid of the moles you got to get rid of their food supply. You can get a container of dursban (sp?) from Home Depot or Lowe's. Hook it up to your hose and spray down the lawn. Kills all the insects in the lawn and below without hurting the grass. Just got to keep pets off of it for about 24hrs, wouldn't want the kitty to get poisoned <br /><br />I did this about 2 years ago, couldn't believe the mass exodus of insects that came out of the grass, crickets, grasshoppers, ants, you name it and it was running after they got sprayed. The moles disappeared in about a week...right to the neighbors yard I got my first dirt mound this year since then, so I'll be spraying in the spring.

 

[tylerin]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Chewing gum chew it up and stick it in the hole. They can't digest it

 

[aspeck]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

I still like SBN's idea from a couple months ago - BOMB 'EM!<br /><br />You can always do what I did - sell the house. Closing on it today! That will get rid of them!

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

We have a device called a Gopher Gun. It fills the tunnels with propane and ignites it. It is about the funnest thing I have done since leaving the service. You talk about a nice flame out of all the tunnels. I am not saying to do this, this is a machine built specifically for the task, and it monitors the propane level and ignites it at the right time, so there isn't a massive explosion, just enough fire to roast 'em out. We had a bad ground squirrel problem at a school last year, there were hundreds of the things.<br /><br />What you can do is go to the hardware store and buy some packs of things called "Giant Killers". They are tubes that you put fuses in, and place down the holes. The gas travels pretty far down the tunnels. Probably a third of the tunnels you have are already abandoned, so go out in the evening, rake out all the mounds, and then in the morning, only gas the new mounds. You may not see a hole, so take something pointy like a sharped stick or sharpened metal spike and probe around the mound every inch or so. You will feel it go through a tunnel ceiling. You can open the tunnel with a spoon and place the gas tube in the opening. Make sure once you place the gas tubes that you block the hole with dirt, and any other hole you see gas comming out of. Problem solved. Good luck...(I am an exterminator, I do this all the time, but the Gopher Gun is more fun)...

 

[timothyl]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

This not only worked well, but was lots of fun too! I bought several packages of smoke bombs and firecrackers. I got several people to help me and we dropped them (lit of course) onto the tunnels. Very little mess, no long term damage to the environment, got to blow up a litle dirt, and best of all, the moles not only vacated my yard, but they left the neighbors as well.<br /><br />Make sure you use an entire package of firecrakers and that they are bundled together. We dropped the smoke bombs into the tunnels (looked real cool when the whole yard smoked) and simply drop the firecrackers directly on the tunnels.

 

[DJ]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Chew up some bubble gum and the drop it into the tunnels.<br /><br />The little critters will chew on it and choke.<br /><br />It works.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Thanks fer da help. Can't do anything for awhile. Snow is about 5 inches deep. However this morining, I noticed tracks coming from the woods. Went down to investigate. Looks like fox tracks leading up to some of the mounds. Maybe nature has taken its course and exterminated it for me. Just have to wait and see when the snow melts. That maybe in a couple of weeks or months. Around here that is hard to predict.<br /><br />I'll try the chewing gum first, then the master blaster method will be tried. I have plentey of gas deepfryer parts to make an ignitor system. <br /><br />Caddy Shack Buckeye style SS

 

[Parrott_head]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Ok, here is what you can do.<br /><br />First, get your brother and a couple of six packs of good brew. If you don't have a brother you can borrow mine, he's a lot of fun for this kind of stuff.<br />Now assemble the following supplies. Small hand shovels, matches and a recording of "Ride of the Valkyries" . <br /> http://classicalmus.hispeed.com/articles/wagnervalkyries.html <br />Oh yeah, a few gallons of gas too.<br /><br />Dig a bit in each mound and find the tunnel that created it. Often you will find yourself in the middle of a run with tubes going oppisite directions.<br />Once you have broached all the tunnels have a couple of cold ones. <br />Now pour a bit of gas down each tube that you found.<br /><br />Once all the tubes have been drenched hide the gas can far, far away.<br /><br />Put some lawn chairs in the middle of the area you have mined and cue the music. Drop a lit match down one or two of the holes and start sucking down some more cold ones.<br /><br />As the gas burns it will creat an underground draft. The fumes from the other mounds will travel via this draft to the flaming hole.<br />You will hear a "WHOOP" as the fumes ignite and carry a wall of flame to the next mound which will erupt in flames. <br />Do this in the evening for better effect.<br /><br />Of course you do this at your own risk. <br />To add the right touch to it you can say things like, "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning!"

 

[KeltonKrew]

Re: Moles! Der tearing heck out of me yard!

Man....you sound like my late Grandfather......He would do all kind of stuff like this....No, this is not what done him in...it was actually a boat ramp.