Moles......as in the animal....how do I get rid of them?

[ProudGrandma]

I worked VERY hard this spring to renew an old, extremely weedy flower garden in the front of my home...only to realize after the fact that I actually must have put up a sign in the mole community that I was looking for new residents in my garden.....and now every day, I go out there and stomp down my entire garden because it is full of mole tracks....and my flowers are dying.   My dear neighbor has been fighting moles in her yard for a decade or more....and can't get rid of them....so I thought maybe you guys would have some new and improved methods I could try. 

Please share something helpful with me.  Thanks. 

[Kassia]

Probably not helpful but our moles disappeared when we got a cat. 

We do have problems with skunks digging up the yard, though.  

[ScoutTN]

Cat or dog that will hunt them! This is the only solution we have found. We have tried all the things….
Sorry! 

Edited June 11, 2023 by ScoutTN

[Pawz4me]

Moles feed on grubs. To get the moles to leave you need to kill their food source. In the past we've used Grub Away. It's not a quick fix, though.

[cintinative]

Pawz4me is right. The food source issue is a big part of it--so treating for grubs really helps.  

Unfortunately, if our neighbors don't treat, sometimes we get moles on the property line or coming over into our yard for a bit.

My dog has killed quite a few but he scores low on hole digging accuracy.  😃

Gopher gas is what my husband uses now. We have tried the guillotine traps and every other thing possible.  

[ScoutTN]

The adjoining yards and even across the street are the issue. We have temporarily eliminated/deterred them several times, but they just go live in a neighbor’s yard for a while, multiply there, and come back. We don’t like the grub killer bc it messes with a whole ecosystem, like spraying for mosquitos. 

[City Mouse]

Where I live, there is no way to get rid of the tunneling rodents for good. I am in the process of redoing my raised garden beds -one set this year, and another set next year. I am putting hardware cloth (wire mesh) on the bottom of each bedroom keep the rodents from tunneling in the beds at least. The yard is a lost cause.

[73349]

You might look into what nonvenomous snakes in your region would like to eat them, and invite somebody who relocates snakes to deposit the right kind in your yard.

[livetoread]

We don't water our lawn and our neighbors do, so they have the grubs. We have had moles in the past, but it's been years, and I figure they have migrated to literally greener pastures where the grubs are.

[history-fan]

I used cedar chips, planted marigolds and other alliums and used one of those solar sonic mole chaser gadgets and that combo worked for me.

[Terabith]

I have a friend whose cat LOVES to hunt moles and is very good at it.  Maybe she should hire her out.

[ScoutTN]

2 hours ago, Terabith said:

I have a friend whose cat LOVES to hunt moles and is very good at it.  Maybe she should hire her out.

Seriously, a hunting cat is the best mole killer. My silly dog is good at digging them up, then just barks at them.

[Clarita]

When I hear an owl and see a cat wander routinely in my yard rodent problems become less. I've read somewhere the best predator for burrowing animals are owls. They make quick work of them, since some of them actually come out of their hole at night. Although it's tough to lure them into your yard, where as you could just adopt a cat. 

[Kassia]

3 hours ago, Terabith said:

I have a friend whose cat LOVES to hunt moles and is very good at it.  Maybe she should hire her out.

that was our cat.  She brought us moles all the time and completely fixed the mole problem we had. 

[Forget-Me-Not]

14 hours ago, Terabith said:

I have a friend whose cat LOVES to hunt moles and is very good at it.  Maybe she should hire her out.

We have a cat like this too. We had moles professionally trapped every season for years, but when she adopted us it came to a stop. 
 

The good news is moles tend to be territorial, so there’s often only one or two even though your yard may look like you have an army. We had one year where the trapper caught two on our 1/3 acre lot and he was really surprised to find two in such close proximity. 

[Jaybee]

I just saw this on our NextDoor (I don't know if it works, though):

[KungFuPanda]

On 6/11/2023 at 8:37 AM, kfeusse said:

I worked VERY hard this spring to renew an old, extremely weedy flower garden in the front of my home...only to realize after the fact that I actually must have put up a sign in the mole community that I was looking for new residents in my garden.....and now every day, I go out there and stomp down my entire garden because it is full of mole tracks....and my flowers are dying.   My dear neighbor has been fighting moles in her yard for a decade or more....and can't get rid of them....so I thought maybe you guys would have some new and improved methods I could try. 

Please share something helpful with me.  Thanks. 

I got a groundhog to move by planting castor bean near his front door.  It took a few tries to get it to germinate but it worked. Its not good to grow if you have small children or dogs in your yard. I’m guessing if you had a dog you wouldn’t have moles.