Hi. Have just googled re. stopping moles from entering a lawn,
tunnelling all over the place, and creating these quite large mole-hills
of crumbly earth. There appear to be all sorts of devices, ranging from
a "solar-moler" (£20) that supposedly deters moles with sonic vibration,
to a medieval-looking thing called a "scissor trap".

Our house has two large fields on either side and both fields are FULL
of mole hills. The farmer doesn't seem to mind - probably because he
only uses the fields as grazing for his sheep. So we are always going
to have the threat of invasions from both sides. We have only been here
six months and its only in the last week that we have had the first
invasion. First, one pile of fresh earth, then another about two feet
away, and today a third nearby. It's probably just one mole. I don't
know how the previous owner deterred the little devils, but I need to
find an effective long-term solution quick.

So, I thought I'ld ask everyone here what REALLY works. The
"solar-moler" is supposed to protect "over 600sqm/750sqyds". But in UK
weather conditions does it get enough solar power to do that?

Eddy.

A quick look round the internet, suggests the following:

"Moth balls down the hole sends them packing to someone elses garden!!!"

"Stick a child's windmill into the mole-hill and the vibrations will
scare them off."

"Try empty bottles put down the mole hills. They dont like the sound of
the wind whistling over the tops of the bottles."

"Put emulsified castor oil down the tunnels".

"Rolawn Mole Repel is a humane and safe way to deter moles. It is
non-toxic, safe for the environment, children and pets. The garlic
granules are poured into the runs under mole hills and do not harm
moles, but stop them burrowing further."

Can people vouch for any of these?

By the way I am in Shropshire. The fields on both sides of me look like
the one in the picture accompanying the following story:
http://www.shropshirestar.com/2008/0...ion-hits-area/

Eddy says...
A quick look round the internet, suggests the following:

"Moth balls down the hole sends them packing to someone elses garden!!!"

"Stick a child's windmill into the mole-hill and the vibrations will
scare them off."

"Try empty bottles put down the mole hills. They dont like the sound of
the wind whistling over the tops of the bottles."

"Put emulsified castor oil down the tunnels".

"Rolawn Mole Repel is a humane and safe way to deter moles. It is
non-toxic, safe for the environment, children and pets. The garlic
granules are poured into the runs under mole hills and do not harm
moles, but stop them burrowing further."

Can people vouch for any of these?

By the way I am in Shropshire. The fields on both sides of me look like
the one in the picture accompanying the following story:
http://www.shropshirestar.com/2008/0...ion-hits-area/

I can vouch that none of those work.
Moles are a regular topic on here, I suggest you do a
Google search of the group for moles.
The only thing I've found that works are scissor traps -
the ones with a scissor on each side so they get the mole
from either direction. If, like me, you live next to fields
then you will have to continue killing off the moles as new
ones take their place. It is a never ending war.
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

David in Normandy wrote:
I can vouch that none of those work.
Moles are a regular topic on here, I suggest you do a
Google search of the group for moles.
The only thing I've found that works are scissor traps -
the ones with a scissor on each side so they get the mole
from either direction. If, like me, you live next to fields
then you will have to continue killing off the moles as new
ones take their place. It is a never ending war.

Hmmm. Maybe I just need to get over the look of these vicious
scissor-traps - rather like medieval Venetian chastity-belts!

Eddy.

"Eddy" wrote in message
...
Hi. Have just googled re. stopping moles from entering a lawn,
tunnelling all over the place, and creating these quite large mole-hills
of crumbly earth. There appear to be all sorts of devices, ranging from
a "solar-moler" (£20) that supposedly deters moles with sonic vibration,
to a medieval-looking thing called a "scissor trap".

Our house has two large fields on either side and both fields are FULL
of mole hills. The farmer doesn't seem to mind - probably because he
only uses the fields as grazing for his sheep. So we are always going
to have the threat of invasions from both sides. We have only been here
six months and its only in the last week that we have had the first
invasion. First, one pile of fresh earth, then another about two feet
away, and today a third nearby. It's probably just one mole. I don't
know how the previous owner deterred the little devils, but I need to
find an effective long-term solution quick.

So, I thought I'ld ask everyone here what REALLY works. The
"solar-moler" is supposed to protect "over 600sqm/750sqyds". But in UK
weather conditions does it get enough solar power to do that?

Eddy.


Alternatively accept the source of rather nice soil and live and let live.

Leave the trap outside for a few days before using it and do not touch it with your hands or anything scented like new gloves or washed rags.
Set the trap in a run BETWEEN two mole hills
Carefully dig down until you expose the run. Place the trap so that it is inline with the run. Refit some turf back around the trap to block out the light.
My dad was brilliant at trapping moles.

Eddy says...
David in Normandy wrote:
I can vouch that none of those work.
Moles are a regular topic on here, I suggest you do a
Google search of the group for moles.
The only thing I've found that works are scissor traps -
the ones with a scissor on each side so they get the mole
from either direction. If, like me, you live next to fields
then you will have to continue killing off the moles as new
ones take their place. It is a never ending war.

Hmmm. Maybe I just need to get over the look of these vicious
scissor-traps - rather like medieval Venetian chastity-belts!

Eddy.


Ouch!
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

On Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:40:37 -0000, "Graham Harrison"
wrote:


Alternatively accept the source of rather nice soil and live and let live.

Yes... I noticed what a beautiful quality of soil was thrown up by
these li'l fellas in my lawn, and wondered if I could use it as
potting compost... rich, dark, fine tilth.. Maybe shovel it into a
wheelbarrow every week or two and spread it on the viggie beds...

JD

David in Normandy wrote:
Ouch!

Indeed! :-)

Anyway, today I was in a bargain shop and saw moth-balls going cheap so
I bought a packet. Came home and could I find the hole beneath the
mole-hill? No way. No sign of a hole anywhere. I had carefully
removed the soil and stones that the creature had tossed up and I had
then carefully prodded the exposed ground with a thin bamboo stick,
hoping to locate the hole. Nothing doing!

Guys, how do I locate the hole! :-)

Eddy.

Eddy says...

Guys, how do I locate the hole! :-)



Moles back-fill the tunnel that leads to the hill by a few
inches, sometimes more. So finding a tunnel below a hill
can sometimes be difficult. Bear in mind that such a tunnel
is typically a dead end so the mole may not go there again
(or often).

Best to find a tunnel. I look for very small mole hills or
simply a small bit of raised lawn where the ground looks
like it is cracking. Dig carefully and you will uncover a
tunnel.

I think moth balls are an old wives tale or urban legend.
They are useless. Though they may keep the moths out of
it's mole skin coat :-)

I've put all sorts of obnoxious things down mole tunnels
with no success at making them move on.

The best thing to put in a tunnel is a double bladed
scissor trap, taking care not to handle it with bare hands
(I always wear gloves) because apparently moles have a keen
sense of smell. Then carefully cover the hole again to
exclude any daylight. I use some broken plant pot bits to
put immediately on top of each side of the traps to stop
earth falling into it and fouling the scissor blades from
closing properly.

If you buy some scissor traps it is best to leave them out
in the rain for a few days to wash off any human smells.
I leave mine in soak in some water from the water butt
overnight. Don't worry about the slight rust film.
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

Thanks for the advice, David.

How far down are the tunnels?

Do the tunnels run parallel with the surface of the ground?

Do you locate the tunnel by digging in a clockwise or anti-clockwise
direction around the mole hill, i.e. just beyond the perimeter of the
mole-hill, until you strike lucky?

Eddy.

On 2008-02-15 18:49:41 +0000, Eddy
said:

David in Normandy wrote:
Ouch!

Indeed! :-)

Anyway, today I was in a bargain shop and saw moth-balls going cheap so
I bought a packet. Came home and could I find the hole beneath the
mole-hill? No way. No sign of a hole anywhere. I had carefully
removed the soil and stones that the creature had tossed up and I had
then carefully prodded the exposed ground with a thin bamboo stick,
hoping to locate the hole. Nothing doing!

Guys, how do I locate the hole! :-)

Eddy.

Hire a decent molecatcher. Setting these traps up is a delicate
business if you don't know what you're doing. A molecatcher shouldn't
charge you unless he catches the varmit -- and it is almost certainly
just one or at most two moles.

Then next year hire him again.

And the year after.

Eddy says...
Thanks for the advice, David.

How far down are the tunnels?

Do the tunnels run parallel with the surface of the ground?

Do you locate the tunnel by digging in a clockwise or anti-clockwise
direction around the mole hill, i.e. just beyond the perimeter of the
mole-hill, until you strike lucky?

Eddy.





If you find the mini-hills / small raised bits of lawn then
they are typically only one or two inches directly below
the surface, which makes them ideal candidates for traps.

Dig with something small like a stout garden trowel - a
spade is OTT, you need to disturb the minimum amount of
earth around a tunnel. Wear gloves to avoid leaving any
human scents on the soil.

I've heard others say they use a cane or stick to probe for
the tunnels but I haven't tried this myself, so don't know
how easy it is.

I'm still something of a beginner with all this myself.
Scissor traps are the only thing I've had any success with
getting rid of moles - and that is only recently too, it
seems to take a bit of a knack to set the traps in exactly
the right way in the right place. I suggest you buy two or
three, they aren't expensive. I've got four set in
different parts of the lawn and check them once a week,
moving them elsewhere at the same time to new earthworks.
I've caught two moles in the last month but there are still
more to get based on the amount of fresh hill activity.

Waste of time setting the traps in the tunnels that
terminate in a big hill, the moles just seem to shove more
earth into the traps which sets them off but no mole
caught. Always go for the mini hills which have a
continuous tunnel underneath them - a mole motorway.
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

David in Normandy wrote:
Waste of time setting the traps in the tunnels that
terminate in a big hill, the moles just seem to shove more
earth into the traps which sets them off but no mole
caught. Always go for the mini hills which have a
continuous tunnel underneath them - a mole motorway.

Thanks for all advice, David.

When you say dig beneath smaller hills, are you still referring to a
pile of excavated earth - or just an area of grass that appears to have
been pushed upwards?

If you are referring to the smallest hills, am I right in thinking the
first thing you do is carefully lift off, and gently brush away, the
soil . . . leaving you with just the grass beneath?

Then if that's right, do you just start gently digging in the middle of
the exposed area? What I mean is, these creatures are tiny, so their
tunnels must be narow, so the tunnel could be anywhere in the circle of
grass underneath the mole-hill. Do you just lift off the entire
"disc", so to speak?

Eddy.

Thanks for all advice, guys. Found this online and I am convinced. I
just need now to buy a couple of Duffus traps.

"The best type of trap by far is the tunnel trap, much more effective
than the scissor mole type. Apart from two (or more) of these, all you
need is a small hand trowel, a spare roof tile and a mole stick. This is
a T-shaped stick of about half-inch diameter or a little more, which you
can either find in a hedgerow or you can use the handle of a child's
seaside spade. It should be about 18" long and four or five inches
across the end of the "T". An "L" shaped end of about 3" will do just as
well. Point the longer end of the stick, but leave it slightly blunt to
give a better "feel".. Spread the existing mole hills, either by
digging them up (the soil is useful as a basis for potting compost) or
by spreading them using a garden fork "wiped" flat against the soil.
When new hills appear, start probing the ground with the stick in a
circle, at two-inch intervals, at least 2ft away from a fresh mole hill.
Suddenly you'll hit a point where the stick suddenly "gives", then
"bottoms" firmly beneath the tunnel. Some catchers say that you can
never catch moles this close to a hill and that you have to find a deep
main run (which is far from easy). Don't believe them! Determine the
direction of the mole run with a couple more prods, then dig a round
hole about four inches across and roughly the depth to which the stick
was sunk. Probe its sides until you find the two ends of the mole
tunnel, then insert the "L" or "T" of the stick into and along these to
make a smooth, continuous run right across your hole. Try the mole trap
in place without setting it, just to check that it fits - if not, dig a
little more soil away, but not too much as it must be a tight fit. Set
the mole trap, and don't worry too much about adjusting it to a "hair
trigger" - moles are powerful diggers and will easily release a firmly
set mole trap. And don't bother to use gloves (which is almost
impossible anyway) as the latest research shows that moles actually have
quite a poor sense of smell. Cover the top of the hole with the roof
tile, mark the position with a stick (if in a large field), and leave
for at least a couple of hours - preferably all day or overnight (once I
succeeded within ten minutes, but that was very much the exception!).
If you're lucky, you'll find a mole inside. My average rate of success
is about 25%, so the more mole traps you set the better your chance of
success. Death is virtually instantaneous, so don't worry about having
to deal with an injured animal. If you're less fortunate, the mole trap
will be untouched, so leave it - for up to two or three days altogether,
after which there is a reduced chance of success. The worst thing that
can happen is that the hole you patiently dug will be crammed full of
soil, in which case you must dig out the mole trap, refill the hole and
try again elsewhere; you could try again in the same place, but this
rarely seems to work."