How to remove moles from your garden
Posted by Fiona Nevile in General care | 46 comments
I always feel a bit sad when I find a dead mole in the garden. With its soft velvet coat and long sensitive nose, the mole seems such a small loveable creature. The Min Pins catch them and then toss them aside for their human pet to collect. Clearly they are not as appetising as the guinea pig that they killed in the garden and carried into the house for an impromptu bacchanal on a pretty pale yellow button backed chair. But that’s another story.
Occasionally we get an active mole in the garden. They can be a real pest, especially if they are in the kitchen garden. Years ago, when I lived here with just one elderly Min Pin, I engaged the services of a mole catcher with good results. I was under the impression that trapping moles is a skilled countryman’s pursuit.
I am working locally at the moment in a lovely house set in a large garden bursting with wildlife, including an adventurous mole. My clients are busy people with schedules that do not include scratching around in the garden. So I was amazed when the lady of the house pulled on a smart pair of Wellingtons and announced:
“You probably won’t approve but I’m going out to kill the mole.”
Disapprove? Not wanting to get my hands dirty, I had hired an assassin in the past.
Moles do not spread disease like rats but they can wreck a lawn in a few days. Left undisturbed, the mole bongo drums must throb because coach loads soon arrive and you open your door to more hills than the Himalayas.
I watched her stalk across the lawn wearing a pair of marigolds and holding a mole trap.
When she returned she was instantly interrogated. Had she caught a mole in the past?
“Well, yes.”
I was impressed.
She sat down and explained. Moles have a finely tuned sense of smell. Basically the secret is to always wear gloves when handling a trap. Wipe a new trap and put it in the garden to get rid of all human smells. After a couple of days you can set it.
To do this you need to locate the underground run between a couple of molehills. This is easily done using a bamboo cane if the ground is soft. Then, using a slim trowel or ultra fat dibber, make a hole into the run and place the trap. The general idea is that the mole will tootle along the tunnel and into the trap. Within seconds the mole will be investigating that great mole hill in the sky.
The mole in question is clearly a relation of Einstein. She has not been caught. She spotted the trap and turned around sharpish. She is now tunnelling across the paddocks beyond the garden perimeter. The perfect outcome for those who love and those who loathe moles everywhere.
Tricks and tips:
- Mole claw traps are inexpensive. If you cannot buy them locally, scissor type mole traps
are available here. - I was advised in the past that old fashioned moth balls dropped into the runs deter moles. A reader has emailed me from New Jersey to say that it’s a bad idea to put mothballs in the soil as they kill beneficial microorganisms and earthworms.
Leave a reply
Mole catcher available for all NG postcode customers…Free quotes…100% results guaranteed…Payment on completion.
Non toxic methods used only !
www.pest-force.co.uk
i am trying rhubarb to get rid of one very persistent mole..i am hoping that will drive him off to my neighbours garden..!rhubarb worked last year..so heres hoping…!!!
Hello Steve
Thanks for sharing your fascinating experience.
You clearly had a real feel for mole catching. Well done.
Hi Clark
Great story! I’ve found that the scissor traps work well.
Hello Tony Wood-Wright
I agree with you 100% traditional trapping is the kindest, quickest answer. Mole relocation would be unfair on moles and the people who own the land.
Hi Jane
Moles can do untold damage. You need to get rid of them before you plant anything. If you don’t want to kill them then you have to wait until they move off your property of their own accord. This may take some time. Meanwhile you are harbouring the problem and passing it on to someone else with knobs on as the moles breed.
Don’t waste your cash on sonic devices. Once they have got the most out of your land they will move on and then you can plant whatever you want. However, they will be back.
Our Min Pins hunt and kill moles that venture onto our land. Moles are intelligent they haven’t returned since the Min Pins declared war.
Hello Lee
Thank you so much for your contribution, much appreciated.
As a Traditional Molecatcher covering the south Wiltshire and West Hampshire areas, my experience is that methods such as solar powered buzzers, moth balls, gas etc are ineffective.
I use tunnel/cylinder type traps – never scissor traps. I usually get results within 48 hours.
I follow the 3P’s method;
Placement – ensure you place the trap in an active tunnel, the main run to and from the fortress – usually coming off hedgerows, fencelines, shrubbery.
Precision – the traps MUST be fitted precisely into the tunnel, a tight fit, no gaps, with each end of the tunnel cleared of debris. Seal the trap with mud / damp soil to cut out light and airflow, cover with loose soil to reduce external noise. The tunnel must retain its original structure, once the trap is in place – if anything is not right, the mole will soon know it, and fill the trap with soil!
Persistance – even the experts dont get him first time. You must be persistant, check the trap regularly, ensure it hasnt been filled, reset it, and keep your eyes peeled. Sometimes you will come across a mole who is very clever, very aware of what you are up to.
It all comes down to attention to detail in setting the trap. Mole knows his tunnels intimately – if something isnt right, he will know it.
Your trap MUST replicate the tunnel, and not give itself away.
Lee
www.wessexmolecontrol.co.uk
I have a new garden I am landscaping. The moles are living in a raised area; 5 feet above the lawn. I do not want to kill them, just protect my new lawn. As long as they will not damage the new trees I want to plant in the raised area, what is the best way to protect my lawn? How deep do they dig down? Appreciate some help please!
I operate a “no mole no fee” service, using no gas or poison, just traditional trapping, this is as humane as possible with a kill trap.
Natural England DO NOT reccommend live traps or mole relocation.
Sonis booms, Jeyes Fluid, whistling bottles etc, etc rarely work,if at all-trust me.
Hi from France, yes we have the same problem hear,however this year seems to be worse than any of the last three years i’ve lived here.last monday i heard a loud bang and went outside to investigate, my neighbour who also has a problem with them was proudly walking up the garden with the corpse of a mole (Taupe in France)he had been patiently watching the swine pushing up his hill and shot it with a twelve bore. effective but not advised, you might get blood on your boots!thanks for all the other ideas and good hunting.
Years ago in my youth (17)when i worked on the farms, my saturday afternoon “overtime” was to set mole traps in the fields to catch the critters. I did this one such a regular basis that as soon as a mouldy set-foot on our land i had him! To make sure i had cleaned the run out completely i used to take a rake and rake-out the hills, if no more appeared i knew i had them. Apparently my reputation spread,(possibly by gossip at the farmers mart) and soon i had a sizeable round built up. If i got a field to clear that was really infested,(some looked like they’d been ploughed there were so many of them)i used to chain harrow it first, then i could see exactly where the mouldys were working. the longest it took me to clear a field was 9 days, this was because of one mole i named “bl**dy Bert” (for some reason!) he led me a real dance! and i was slightly sad when i finally outsmarted him.
Strange thing is, reading about the scent thing on here, i never used to wear gloves or bury the traps before hand, maybe my hands were so ingrained with muck back then that human was the last thing they smelt of!
Hi Charlie
are you wearing rubber gloves that have been laid under the hedge for a few days? That might be the secret.
Hi,
Could any one please tell me where I’m going wrong.
I’m a gardener and recently have been asked by a customer whether I would be able to get rid of some moles on her large front lawn.
Until now I have only caught 1 mole within her lawn: unfortunately there has got to be more than one as more mole hills are appearing.
I have placed up 10 traps at one time and every time the moles are up earthing soil exactly where all my traps have been placed. (this is happening on every trap ).I’m using the scissor traps.
I’ve left the traps under a hedge to get rid of smells,
I can find the tunnels with ease, (with a stick)
I place the scissor trap perfectly where the tunnel runs and cover with the fine soil from where I’ve dug,
I cover with buckets,
I never put my hands in the hole.
The moles still fill my holes with soil! Any advice would be greatly appreciated as these crafty little buggers are driving me mad! Thanks, Charlie