moles

[ropinbulls]

What does everyone do to control their mole population? They run rampad at my place, we just use the conventional traps that you put in thier burrows. I have seen the "mole gun" but not quite sold on it yet.

 

[Saltydawg]

Lime.

Generally if you have moles you also have low ph soil.

 

[BlackBaldyMan]

Lime.

Generally if you have moles you also have low ph soil.

I know were ropinbulls is coming from, back home on the WA coast where soil is pretty saturated (low ph) it would be nice to add lime, but when you have about 8-900 acres to cover with mole traps all over that property its a little tough to add lime and not to mention really expensive, I would be interested as to what other methods people are doing as well :lol:

 

[frenchie]

Lime.

Generally if you have moles you also have low ph soil.

say what :?:

 

[Saltydawg]

Lime.

Generally if you have moles you also have low ph soil.

say what :?:

Ok this is what I know about moles lol.

I had a field of moles two years ago...a field I needed for hay and they were screwing it up.

So I started asking around how to get rid of them and reading garden sites etc etc.
This is what I learned.

Moles eat grubs, insects and earthworms and they need an extensive tunnell network to survive.
Normally they live deep enough in the soil that they are never a problem.....you won't see anything but small entrance holes in the dirt which they often cover up themselves.
The exception to this is when the ground is very poor.

If your ph is low, the ground is compacted, and the ground is very damp the moles have to move closer to the surface....because thats where all the roots and food are (earthworms and grubs).
You will often notice moss growing in these areas.

If they start digging their tunnells close to the surface they upset the shallow root systems of the grasses and cause the grasses to die.

So the idea is to move the moles deeper in the ground.

I limed my fields in the fall and then fertilized (liquid poop) in the spring and I used a light disc on the field just to cut up the surface. Lime will tie up the nitrogen in your fertilizer so its not as good to apply both at the same time....lime first, fertilizer later.

2 years later I don't have any noticable ammount of moss in the field and now you really gotta search to find a mole hole. They are still there.....they just arent a problem now.

Moles in healthy ground aren't a problem because they are deep enough they don't kill the plants and you won't notice their tunnells. It's only when they are forced to search for food near the surface that they are a problem.

Thats my 2 cents worth :lol: . Fix your ground and the moles won't be a problem.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Yall' might laugh at this one but it works. If you have Moles in your yard, get yourself some of the cheapest scented cat Litter, that Wally World sells, and broadcast it out over the yard. The Moles will pack up and leave the Country.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Yall' might laugh at this one but it works. If you have Moles in your yard, get yourself some of the cheapest scented cat Litter, that Wally World sells, and broadcast it out over the yard. The Moles will pack up and leave the Country.

Are you sure you didn't correct the ph and they just went deeper.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Yall' might laugh at this one but it works. If you have Moles in your yard, get yourself some of the cheapest scented cat Litter, that Wally World sells, and broadcast it out over the yard. The Moles will pack up and leave the Country.

Are you sure you didn't correct the ph and they just went deeper.

Positive. They had this place tore up like a strip mine years ago.An 80+ lady told me about the Cat litter, we tried everything else, to no avail.Gave it a try and it worked. I put some down every spring, and also use granules that I'm sure have helped out with the Grubs they feed on.

 

[dun]

As rocky as our soil is I look at moles as being just giant worms, they help to aeriate the soil.

dun

 

[dj]

I wonder if the warmer weather/ground isn't keeping their food source closer to the surface. It amuses me when the lady on the next place complains about the moles. They have 4 yard lights on every night. I flip mine off just so the june bugs will go over there. Fewer grubs fewer moles.

Crowderframs castor beans will also work to drive them away.
But with the ricin scare we won't be planting any this year.

I have a brother in law so anal about moles he sits next to holes with a hatchett. Gets his share of them but.........

 

[skyeagle]

Hunting moles, Someone has a lot of time on their hands.

 

[BlackBaldyMan]

Hunting moles, Someone has a lot of time on their hands.

When they are pushing you use any type of gun to just shoot around the hole the sound will kill them. Yes, the moist areas are solid with moles, they dont work NEAR as much in the summer, especially in the high ground, the pocket gophers come into their tunnels in the summer. As for aeriation, true, but when you loose hundreds of dollars worth of haying equipment to them its not worth it, windows, blades, just the sheer roughness of the field, etc.

 

[dun]

As for aeriation, true, but when you loose hundreds of dollars worth of haying equipment to them its not worth it, windows, blades, just the sheer roughness of the field, etc.

I can tell you've never hayed in the Ozarks. Ankle turning ground and rocks are the normal hazards that are expected

dun

 

[dj]

I take mole ruts over MO pearls any day.
And these were just the ones high enough to reek havoc on cutters. If they are flat to the ground I leave them till the moles loosen them up.

 

[Crowderfarms]

I wonder if the warmer weather/ground isn't keeping their food source closer to the surface. It amuses me when the lady on the next place complains about the moles. They have 4 yard lights on every night. I flip mine off just so the june bugs will go over there. Fewer grubs fewer moles.

Crowderframs castor beans will also work to drive them away.
But with the ricin scare we won't be planting any this year.

I have a brother in law so anal about moles he sits next to holes with a hatchett. Gets his share of them but.........

A feller brought in a bucket of Mole Beans last year they work pretty good but we had to quit giving em away because they make Ricin out of them.

 

[BuckemRanch]

My neighbor puts sulfer down the hole and lites it. Puts off a gas and suffoctes them.