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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>MOLES- Backyard Pest!!!
Lilbutterflie 05:41 AM 06-20-2012
We found our very first mole in the backyard a couple months ago; and since then they have been tearing up our backyard- which we just spent $600 on new sod last year!! Now I know where the saying "Mole Hill" comes from- there are little hills all over my fresh new sod.

We have already done 3 rounds of mole repellent following directions to the tee. They seem to be getting worse. I can't do poison because of my dog & the kids. Anyone have any experience getting rid of these darn things??
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SilverSabre25 05:57 AM 06-20-2012
Get a cat.

One with a strong hunting instinct and all its claws, and preferably with a definite background of being a mouser.

Let it be indoor-outdoor.

Voila! Mole problem consumed
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Lilbutterflie 06:01 AM 06-20-2012
We have an indoor/outdoor cat with all of his claws, but he mostly likes to hunt lizards. He caught a bearded dragon & gave it to me as a little gift a couple weeks ago!!

I don't think he spends a lot of time in our backyard, he mostly likes to walk the neighborhood and visit the other houses! LOL You bring up a good point though, next time I see a mole I'll catch it and introduce my cat to it. That way he will get their scent and hopefully start hunting them.
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Springdaze 06:35 AM 06-20-2012
see if you can get a trap and relocate them
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Blackcat31 06:45 AM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by chellenj:
see if you can get a trap and relocate them
Where I live, it is illegal to "relocate" any type of wildlife.

We can trap and kill but we can't relocate

We are over run with chipmunks, red and gray squirrels..... we have two cats but they aren't as interested in the rodents as they are the birds.

The dog, however, is an excellent chipmunk hunter!
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SilverSabre25 06:48 AM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by Lilbutterflie:
We have an indoor/outdoor cat with all of his claws, but he mostly likes to hunt lizards. He caught a bearded dragon & gave it to me as a little gift a couple weeks ago!!

I don't think he spends a lot of time in our backyard, he mostly likes to walk the neighborhood and visit the other houses! LOL You bring up a good point though, next time I see a mole I'll catch it and introduce my cat to it. That way he will get their scent and hopefully start hunting them.
oh okay, that makes sense...cats don't like to do what we want them to! Decide that you want him to kill lizards :P

Or try and find a friendly farmer with an abundance of mousecats and adopt another kitty. One who likes to hunt rodents.
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Lilbutterflie 06:58 AM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Where I live, it is illegal to "relocate" any type of wildlife.

We can trap and kill but we can't relocate

We are over run with chipmunks, red and gray squirrels..... we have two cats but they aren't as interested in the rodents as they are the birds.

The dog, however, is an excellent chipmunk hunter!
Our backyard backs into a greenbelt with a creek, so we get coyotes, squirrels, snakes, armadillos, moles, etc... I feel like we live in a forest! LOL But it sure is beautiful. Here is a pic of a view from our backyard porch:



Your dog must be FAST to catch a chipmunk! My dog loves to TRY to catch the squirrels, but they are WAY too fast for him! They scurry up the tree and then hang upside down just out of his reach and tease him!
Attached: IMG_4198.jpg (217.8 KB) 
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Breezy 07:03 AM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Where I live, it is illegal to "relocate" any type of wildlife.

We can trap and kill but we can't relocate

We are over run with chipmunks, red and gray squirrels..... we have two cats but they aren't as interested in the rodents as they are the birds.

The dog, however, is an excellent chipmunk hunter!
One of my cats died after being bit by a squirrel so its probably for the best they don't go after them!
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SilverSabre25 07:11 AM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by Lilbutterflie:


Your dog must be FAST to catch a chipmunk! My dog loves to TRY to catch the squirrels, but they are WAY too fast for him! They scurry up the tree and then hang upside down just out of his reach and tease him!
My 20 lb fatso mole hunter (and bringer of live mice ) thinks he can catch squirrels--and the sqiurrels in our yard TEASE him, coming down and waiting juuuust until he's about to pounce and then scurrying away. Then they sit on top of the shed and laugh at him trying to leap his bulk up there. It's quite hilarious.

He caught a bird once but it got away.
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beachgrl 03:58 PM 06-20-2012
We have the same issue, hills all over our playground aeea that the toddlers trip over and all over the rest of out yard too, havent tried anything yet but idk what to do about them!
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Willow 05:00 PM 06-20-2012
Are they actually striped gophers (above ground with lots of visible holes, look like a long chipmunk) or pocket gophers/moles (where you see the mounds but never any of the actual critters)?

Our striped gophers are eliminated via the cat and bow target practice.

The pocket gophers/moles we have to trap. They destroyed our underground internet and cable lines this spring so we had to take action. At the moment we have about a half dozen traps set around the yard. Basically where ever there is a mound we dig a hole, put the trap down into it and it clamps down onto their head/front legs when they go to run through it again. I don't like it but the sheer damage they were doing to our underground lines AND the drama every time we had to mow (either raking down every mound or just driving over them and messing up our mower blades) necessitated a more serious action.

Since the traps are underground they aren't a risk to our dogs or the kids in my care. I have no clue what they're called but I'd be happy to post pictures of the set ups :P
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justgettingstarted 05:08 PM 06-20-2012
Our dog digs them up and eats them whole disgusting but effective!
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Michelle 06:59 PM 06-20-2012
we had them really bad here and my dh put a hose in the hole and flooded them out and then smacked them with a shovel! ugggh
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Lilbutterflie 07:35 PM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by Willow:
Are they actually striped gophers (above ground with lots of visible holes, look like a long chipmunk) or pocket gophers/moles (where you see the mounds but never any of the actual critters)?

Our striped gophers are eliminated via the cat and bow target practice.

The pocket gophers/moles we have to trap. They destroyed our underground internet and cable lines this spring so we had to take action. At the moment we have about a half dozen traps set around the yard. Basically where ever there is a mound we dig a hole, put the trap down into it and it clamps down onto their head/front legs when they go to run through it again. I don't like it but the sheer damage they were doing to our underground lines AND the drama every time we had to mow (either raking down every mound or just driving over them and messing up our mower blades) necessitated a more serious action.

Since the traps are underground they aren't a risk to our dogs or the kids in my care. I have no clue what they're called but I'd be happy to post pictures of the set ups :P
They are definitely moles. A sick one surfaced a couple months ago & it was most definitely a mole. They are interesting looking creatures!

I am leaning toward traps, too. I wondered if they would be safe with the kids, I know they trap underground but I wondered what would happen if one of the kids were to pull it up out of the ground?? Have your traps been successful?
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Lilbutterflie 07:37 PM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by Michelle:
we had them really bad here and my dh put a hose in the hole and flooded them out and then smacked them with a shovel! ugggh
LOL!

I wish I could find their hole! I think I found one on the side of the house, but I'm not positive it's THE mole hole. There is also a small hole in our front yard, but there are no mounds at all in our front yard. Could that be them, too?
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Willow 08:34 PM 06-20-2012
It's sort of hard to explain, they really are pretty safe. Unless a kiddo got down on their belly and reached their arm pretty far inside the hole they wouldn't be able to access the trap.

You do have to take out a cylinder chunk of sod around the mound but if you keep it watered once a day or so you should be able to stick it back in when you're done. Set trap (we use the spring ones) and shove it in there attached to a chain. The longer the chain, the more distance you'll be able to put between the trap and the entrance of the hole. One of my dogs is a miniature pinscher. Totally into ratting critters out of holes. I was super freaked out about him shoving his snoot down the holes and taking a trap to the face but ours are placed a considerable ways in so he can't. Attach the chain to a stake and then leave it sit for a few days. You check it by simply pulling up the stake. Chain and trap and hopefully critter will come right up. To release critter you simply step on a lever. If you're empty, you can reset it and leave it a few more days or move it if they've started a new mound.

This year alone I think our number is somewhere in the 30's. We've gotten 6 this past week alone.

Our county pays a bounty for them because they're running so rampant right now. I believe it's $3 for a pair of the paws. Don't ask how they're removed, SO takes care of that business, I hunt, field dress and butcher like a champ but I can't bring myself to go that far with a bitty critter. I also know to keep the heck out of the shed freezer or run the risk of seeing the stockpile out there right now

Here's a pic of one of ours. It's hard to see the chain leading down to the trap because we got loads of rain today and the dirt started to mini-mud slide down. You could always stake and chicken wire off the small space if you were really worried about kids gaining access to it.


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Willow 08:42 PM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by Lilbutterflie:
LOL!

I wish I could find their hole! I think I found one on the side of the house, but I'm not positive it's THE mole hole. There is also a small hole in our front yard, but there are no mounds at all in our front yard. Could that be them, too?
That sounds like a striped gopher. Or maybe even a snake? This is a striped gopher hole:


Mole/pocket gophers will leave one little mountains lol, like this:

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SilverSabre25 09:00 PM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by Willow:
That sounds like a striped gopher. Or maybe even a snake? This is a striped gopher hole:


Mole/pocket gophers will leave one little mountains lol, like this:
That can't always be true because I have holes that look like your first picture and they are DEFINITELY moles that my cat has been killing for over a year. No doubt about it. And, I have never seen a snake in my yard

(and btw...is your "striped gopher" aka a chipmunk?)
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Willow 09:33 PM 06-20-2012
Originally Posted by SilverSabre25:

(and btw...is your "striped gopher" aka a chipmunk?)
The technical name for a striped gopher is "thirteen lined ground squirrel."

It's a completely different animal from a chipmunk, and definitely not as cute


I don't know of any mole that doesn't leave mounds as they exist entirely underground so that I'm unsure of. Exactly where the phrase making a mountain out of a mole hill originates from though.

Maybe you've got a variety of shrew mole?
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SilverSabre25 04:05 AM 06-21-2012
Originally Posted by Willow:
The technical name for a striped gopher is "thirteen lined ground squirrel."

It's a completely different animal from a chipmunk, and definitely not as cute


I don't know of any mole that doesn't leave mounds as they exist entirely underground so that I'm unsure of. Exactly where the phrase making a mountain out of a mole hill originates from though.

Maybe you've got a variety of shrew mole?
perhaps. They're mouse-sized, with silky dark grey/black fur that's very short. They're very soft, actually. I haven't cared enough to try to figure out exactly what they are; I just pick 'em up and bin 'em when I find their little corpses on the ground. And then I praise my kitty to no end and find him a treat.
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Countrygal 07:44 AM 06-21-2012
I live in prime mole country. From all I have heard, lime your lawn and it should get rid of them. They like acidic soil. If you keep it limed (maybe spring and fall), they should stay away! It's a simple, cheap solution and usually works well, depending upon why they are there. It's definitely worth a try. Here's a link with the instructions: http://www.ehow.com/how_7103187_rid-...oles-lime.html Evidently it doesn't work everywhere, depending upon your soil and what the moles are eating in it. Around here it works pretty good.
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Countrygal 07:54 AM 06-21-2012
a mole:

a chipmunk:

A vole:

a shrew:

A shrew and a mole look somewhat similar. The mole is much softer and has the funny face. Both feet are made for digging, but the mole's feet are much more "heavy?"
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SilverSabre25 07:57 AM 06-21-2012
Okay, I have shrews.
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youretooloud 08:56 AM 06-21-2012
I had no idea a shrew was real! I though it was a hateful, spiteful woman.

Shrews are so cute!
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Blackcat31 09:00 AM 06-21-2012
Originally Posted by youretooloud:
I had no idea a shrew was real! I though it was a hateful, spiteful woman.

Shrews are so cute!

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Tags:moles, nature based, pests
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