Hunting Moles escaping Stalag Luft Neighbours garden by tunneling under the perimeter fence. Do the sonic gizmos work ?

[GamoGat]

As the title states, the little blighters have escaped from some were and have popped up in my garden.

Never had a Mole problem before so on a a rapid learning curve on Mole stuff.
Not like the sand worms of Dune or the things from Tremors.

On Wednesday i cut the lawn, no sign of anything.
In one corner of the lawn it's been left wild.
On Thursday i didn't notice anything and moved the green waste wheelie bin out for it's collection.
Today Friday, late afternoon i notice fresh soil, like someone's up-ended a plant pot. Then another, then another and another.... in the wild part of the lawn.

It seems it's come under the concrete fence base and dug a shallow tunnel until it hit the patio. Then it's popped up, gone back under and popped up again on the patio corner, then gone out towards the lawn, and up again and again.

Marked the holes with skewers, who would have thought doing a class on land mine probing 40 years ago would come in handy.

Things that won't happen.
The sentry duty cat won't bother them, the hedgehogs might. Nothing bangy. Nothing involving propane like seen on youtube as i think the bulk of the tunnels are under the neighbours garden.

Trapping will be a last resort. Going to try the Sonic devices (like Dune)

By the accounts i have quickly read up on acting quickly is the key so hopefully a trip to the nearset general hardwares should give me a choice of a solar or D-cell powered sonic emitter.



From having a quick look at local shops it's slim pickings and some of them list things (like B&Q) but only for home delivery.........so limited on what i can find on a shop shelf.

Going to give a Sonic attack first go.

Any pointers (not involving scorched earth, nuke them from orbit it's the only way to be sure)

Shall inspect the garden in the morning as the shops don't open until 9am then see what's on the shelf.

 

[Readie]

You’ve got to love a moleskin waistcoat though……

 

[GamoGat]

You’ve got to love a moleskin waistcoat though……

Do miss the old German cold war surplus moleskin shirts.

 

[Staffy1]

I catch some moles for my job. sonic repellers, glass, garlic , herbs, windmills are all about as much good a chocolate fire guard!! Traps are the way to go. Either get some in or learn as you go plenty of info on how to set on u tube etc. save your money and buy a few traps . I did a photo which I cant find its a customers sonic repeller pushed out the ground by a mole !! There is a train of thought that believes they make things worse as the vibrations draw in earth worms!! Same as sonic repellers for rodents see below

 

[Shoto1]

Thread moved to H3

 

[GamoGat]

@Shoto1
Understood.
I wasn't sure where to go, but yes safe to assume it's going to go that way, and trapping may be the only choice.

 

[mitch21]

Learned this from an old gamekeeper inthe 60s cut a thick piece of a Rose bush branch,plenty of thorns, push them into the top of the mounds, the mole will prick itself, here is the gory bit!!! Because the mole has no clotting agent in its blood it bleeds out,the sonic device will freak your cat out, Good luck mitch21

 

[GamoGat]

Stack of research to come on the subject.

Might have a chat with the neighbour and see if his garden has been done over.

The ground spike emitters seem to be mixed reviews and might still try that first and if that fails then the traps it will be.

 

[MikeyB]

I live in a rural area and have been plagued by moles for 40 years. I’ve tried all the ‘remedies’ mentioned and they don’t work. I paid £70 for two sonic probes that went into the ground and the day after installation, I had a bloody great molehill right next to one of them. I’m afraid the lethal option is the only way to go. Traps (tunnel are my preferred - there’s a good kit on Amazon for about £60) or the Jasper Carrot method - yes, I’ve even resorted to that.

 

[pogue]

Trapping will be a last resort. Going to try the Sonic devices (like Dune)

make trapping your first resort and save yourself the time, money, and energy that will be wasted fannying around with sonic things, trust me

 

[That hurts]

Sonics do not work, so you either need to trap or buy yourself a swivel chair and 12 bore with a torch taped to the barrel

 

[GamoGat]

Been off cooking tea and already had the chat with other half that this won't have a cute and fluffy ending.

Come back on here and it's a strong leaning towards nuke them orbit it's the only way to be sure.

Shall inspect the garden in the morning. And clear cut the wild patch to see if any thing else is hiding.
The shop i was going to is open on a Sunday and also sell's traps.

Shall spend Saturday learning things.
Leaning towards a Scissor trap at the moment, as the sonic emitters are starting to smell a bit of snake oil.

I wasn't sure where to post this thread as originally i was not intending to hunt or trap, so Mod's choice to move was spot on

 

[Storcky]

Only one way…..

 

[MikeyB]

Been off cooking tea and already had the chat with other half that this won't have a cute and fluffy ending.

Come back on here and it's a strong leaning towards nuke them orbit it's the only way to be sure.

Shall inspect the garden in the morning. And clear cut the wild patch to see if any thing else is hiding.
The shop i was going to is open on a Sunday and also sell's traps.

Shall spend Saturday learning things.
Leaning towards a Scissor trap at the moment, as the sonic emitters are starting to smell a bit of snake oil.

I wasn't sure where to post this thread as originally i was not intending to hunt or trap, so Mod's choice to move was spot on

I tried the scissor variety and found I had intermittent success with them. A professional mole man told me they can grab the soil when snapping shut allowing moley to escape - how true that is, I couldn’t say. However, I’ve had these tunnel versions for donkeys years and I can usually nab a mole within a day or two of setting the traps. There’s rarely more than one causing the damage (occasionally two). If you buy a plasterboard saw, you can quickly and easily cut a nice clean cube of turf an expose the run. Just set the trap and put that cube back. DO NOT touch the traps with your bare hands. I’ve got a pair of old gardening gloves which I buried for a week, along with the new traps. Good luck

 

[GamoGat]

Had a look this morning and no new holes out into the lawn.

Cut back the wild patch of garden and the bush and found two more mounds under the bush by the concrete fence line.

With some probing i have found the tunnel linking the mounds together.

This part of the garden holds water, and the patio used to pool over in heavy rain. I dug out the soak-a-way on one side of it, cleaned it out and relaid the gravel and that cured the patio issue. I left a patch of wild garden in the hope it would suck up more ground water. It does but if we have heavy rain over several days then the water table rises and this low point in the garden holds water, so quite surprised to have a mole there. A previous property owner laid electrics under the Patio with the intent of putting a pond in as it's not far off being a natural pond at times.

Going with a move it along for now approach and letting the rain water barrel slowly drain out and flood the ground.

Looks like Cambers country store carries a good range and several makes/brands of Scissor/Tunnel traps and there is a local Mole control company if things get really bad.

Going by some of the tips/info i have seen, if i see no more holes/mounds appear in next 10 days then the little fella has moved on.
It's going to be a bit wet over next few days and draining the water butt should push it back and make the ground untenable for it.

Shall watch and wait and learn how to set traps and if it moves back in will get some traps.
The sonic emitters/thumpers do seem 50 - 50 quirks of online "reviews" being a bit positive. I am wondering if in some cases the Mole just moves on anyway, and the emitter gets the credit, against finding reviews that state they too find new mounds next to emitters.

 

[pogue]

Going by some of the tips/info i have seen, if i see no more holes/mounds appear in next 10 days then the little fella has moved on.
It's going to be a bit wet over next few days and draining the water butt should push it back and make the ground untenable for it.

if its getting enough worms, then it wont move on, and if its getting enough worms from the existing tunnels it probably wont dig any more (just yet)
this year has been a very very wet year, but it hasnt put them off.
you're just delaying the inevitable really mate

this mole was caught 5yds away from the waterlogged run, and within 2 days i was catching again out of the waterlogged run.
there are only 2 proven ways to get rid of moles. (1) put a weak solution of soapy water on the lawn at night, and with a torch, remove the all worms as they come to the surface, thereby removing the moles food source. its probably a bit time consuming but will work if you can remove all the worms
(2) trap them

 

[Glyn Granger]

I've had great success using the standard scissor traps. Once I've located the live tunnel I dig out a square and place the trap down directly in front of the tunnel then I open a close the trap several times which makes a groove for the legs to snap shut. Place the grass I've previously lifted out over the trap and then just wait. Sometimes it can take only a couple of hours, sometimes over night. Moles are generally solitary animals but don't be tempted to stop placing the trap once you've caught one as it doesn't take long for another to take over it's tunnels.

 

[GamoGat]

I can see why some are tempted to try propane/petrol down the holes........ (as seen on youtube)

Be in town in the morning and the hardware place opens at 10 so shall see what they have in stock as the website isn't the best.
Looking like i might as well get a Scissor and a Tunnel Trap as they are a lot cheaper anyway than the sonic emitter's.

On the bright side the rain water butt has been cleaned out and de-sludged.

Lotta worms and slugs in the garden, but no hedgehog has moved in this year to eat them all.

@pogue your picture is what my garden looks like with a water logged tunnel. And dispells my theory that drying out the garden might be why the mole has appeared. Must have travelled through at least two other gardens to get to me.

 

[GamoGat]

When you live in a flat for 25 years with no garden, moles is not something you think about

 

[GamoGat]

Learning curve.
Quite the secret world to me of the mole trapper.

Some you tubes, not terrible but not for easily upset types.

Interesting video, always known about it and seen the traps and know how cattle can get injured, never actually paid any attention to it all.
Little fellas can tunnel around 20m a day ?

What the local shop might have in the morning.