refilling mole/gopher tunnels

anyone have a system for doing this while keeping the plants above the tunnels alive?

I would love an answer to this problem too. If any plants begin to fail in my gardens I can usually find a huge tunnel nearby or directly underneath: moles, a horrible scourge here. Mowing the lawn where they've dug up tons of weapon sized rocks is like taking potshots at anything within 50 ft with the lawn tractor. New mounds daily is the norm.

I usually just kick in yard dirt/rocks; and in the garden I will scrape adjacent soil in until the hole fills. If you figure out a way to get RID of them, let me know; trapping is not legal here.

POOCHELL,
Legal schmegel, TRAP them suckers!! lol Either that, or use Ed Humes mole repellent recipe using castor oil.

Best;
bluelytes

wow, i can't imagine trapping moles ILLEGAL!!! my most recent method: watched one tunneling in the morning and jammed a shovel into the ground. then dug him up and finished him off. but that's only when you're lucky enough to find them. the tunnels are everywhere and when one dies, the others reuse the matrix.

i am currently filling the voids by tramping soil down w/my feet, but this isn't great for the plant roots, and they usually just retunnel by the next day : (

Seven,
That is exactly what to do. Use a mole trap or smush then with a shovel. Then, walk on their tunnels to make the ground smooth again.
The person I bought my house from would sit outside around 2:00 in the drinking beer and would have his shovel in hand.
I've read so many different websites on how to get rid of moles, and that is the only way that will work. Since their favorite food is earthworms, using grub killer will not work. Repellant is useless as are the things that emit vibrations.

I've heard that if you have established milky spores, that will do the trick, but it takes 2 - 3 years for that to happen.

Truly I feel your pain!

The best method is my cat Auggie! He is the most efficient mole-killing pet I have ever had. He virtually eliminated the population in my yard and by the numbers he keeps bringing home, probably the neighborhood. He has yet to catch a mouse or a bird, so it must be something with moles that annoys him enough to dig them up.

Jessums What kind of fee would Auggie demand for his mole-hunting prowess? Or maybe his tutoring service? I have 5 cats, (only two go outside) but they're worthless except for the very occasional chipmunk or junco trophy.

There is a new product out called "Tom Cat". Its a poison, looks like a worm. I had a friend tell me it worked very well for him, you find the tunnel and carefully poke a stick in, just big enough to put the worm in and then pinch the top of the tunnel closed. Theory is that the mole will return and eat the poison "worm". They are very expensive and the local store here has sold out. I have done well trapping gophers but those moles just elude me. So much work getting the trap in and when I catch one its like a miracle. I am going to give this a try once the store gets some more in. I have tried all the gimmicks, the humming tube thing, the poison, anything...so might as well try this as well. By the way the thing you hook on the tailpipe of your car and connect to a garden hose, turn the engine on the gas them, that one doesn't work. See, I have tried them all...
Rebecca

i just heard of something you put in (propane gas?) via a pipe/tube device and it kills gophers and moles and also collapses their tunnels. i was told it makes an audible explosion in the ground! doesn't that sound kind of fun? unfortunately i have no further info...

This message was edited Aug 13, 2006 10:04 AM

Tried the propane, you just gas the tunnels, didn't work. No explosion. However I was told you can stick hiway flares in and they will smoke them to death. I think thats the only one I did not try.

Cheap - even if it doesn't work
Juicy fruit gum stoppes them up 2 or 3 pieces in each hole / tunnel
Exlax will give oppsite effect - 2 or 3 pieces in each hole or tunnel
A small very cheap radio in a can set on a hard rock station will drive them off , but they will come back .
Go to your Barber and fill the holes with hair .

none of these things work, esp. castor oil. it makes them crazy and they dig more than ever.

Drats! and I was ready to try the propane - more for the explosion than anything else!
~Kimberly

I am so upset over the caster oil. I got a mole under my landscape fabric and just sprayed caster oil on it yesterday. Yikes!! Now its going to be worse....I really, really wished they would come up with a good way to get rid of them. How smart can they be????
Rebecca

Try this link.... http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page731.html
Scroll down a bit to the "how to get rid of part," and read about the coyote urine.

I did enjoy reading that, however, I can easily trap gophers, they are not a problem for me. Its the moles that are my problem. It was a very interesting read though, horrible how many babies one can have.
Rebecca

Oops, I sent the wrong link. :) actually, that website does have suggestions for moles, but I think it's mainly trapping. it's: www.bugspray.com it has every insect to animal listed that you can imagine.

Wow, that was a good read. Just as I thought, the things are hard to kill.
Thanks for the link, made me itch looking at all the bugs!
rebecca

i have tried coyote urine--didn't help with gophers, moles or deer which is what i was using it for...

also have tried the smoke: just when i thought i was bringin' out the big guns...didn't do nothin'! in fact within hours, i had fresh gopher activity immediately adjacent (and caught it w/a trap).

i think i'm going to get a few more yard cats for the varmits. i've been told if you don't let em in they are great hunters.

trackinsand wrote:
"none of these things work, esp. castor oil. it makes them crazy and they dig more than ever."

I feel for you, (I have voles) but that really struck me as funny! Yes, i alughed out loud. Sorry.

Robert.