I need some kind of a mole trap. I have moles SO bad I can't even mow without smoothing out all over the place.

So suggestions please for an affordable basic mole trap? I want them all dead

Our best trap for any furry garden pests is a pit bull/boxer mix. Around here, rabbits, moles, squirrels, racoon's and opossums are known as "free range kibble."

yes, I bet so, but its not like I can just run out and buy one.
I have 2 tiny poodles but they wouldn't have the faintest idea what to do w a mole if it stared at them.
They are scared of the neighbors chickens which are being eaten one by one in MY yard by a fox. So now I am hoping the chickens will not be tearing up my garden for too much longer, but then I am afraid to let out my tiny poodle because to be honest the chickens are bigger than he is.

Dogs with a strong nose are your best bet. I speak from experience here. We've tried traps to no avail and walking the yard with the gun to shoot them I think only worked once here. My dad fashioned a long pipe with a ring of spikes on the end and has tried to get them that way but has managed to miss them that way too. They are waaay smarter than anyone gives credit for.

Dogs are definitely only thing that work except maybe a cat. I have an aunt who has a lab rottie mix (and he's a HUGE lovebug too) and last year he killed over 10 moles in their yard.

http://www.traplineproducts.co...

We use BONIDE Mole & Gopher Killer, which are granules which you pour into their tunnel. They eat it, it reacts with stomach acid and gases them. The dead animal apparently is not toxic to other animals if eaten, and the granules are in the ground, not on the surface where pets might get them.

I don't know that I'd want to have the help of a dog with moles or voles. Just a couple of days ago the neighbor's beagle visited and within minutes had dug a 3-foot trench in our garden, excavating saucer-size rocks and lots of dirt and daffodils.

wow I have never seen a beetle dig like that

Me either.

well I tried the poison pellets that you shake in the tunnel, got whatever they had at Lowes. I think it was like those acme viatmins Wiley used, because boy are they ever robust this spring.... I have them even worse than ever, so I have to say I don't see that they worked for me.

That reminds me, time to put down my slug bait!

It was huge, I tell you. Senior moment. I spelled it wrong and clicked on it, selecting the top option without reading it apparently. Off to edit.

I guess my poodles are finicky about digging, they don't like dirt in their toes and will actually start grooming their feet like a cat does if they get dirty.... city slickers

ecnalg said:It was huge, I tell you. Senior moment. I spelled it wrong and clicked on it, selecting the top option without reading it apparently. Off to edit.

uh, huh, we believe you

You should have some fun with photoshop and make a beetle dog for you avatar. That'll get people talking on here.

Super Beetle

My dog digs and kills the occasional mole, but she doesn't really make much of dent in the population. The only reliable thing we have found is a standard mole trap, and you must be diligent about setting them. Even with that, new ones will come. Over the past 35+ years here, I've just resigned myself to mole hills, some years are worse than others. We have a riding mower and run around with the blade disengaged and set at low-low to knock down the hills before mowing. Good luck.

well that is how our yard is and I can't even walk w/o turning my ankle out there, it's gotten down right dangerous I tell you. They are ruining my garden besides that and I have so much money and time in my gardens.

I don't have a magic wand. My best was to use milky spoor to reduce Japan beetle population (a major crop for moles),

And to open up tunnels and to upend a 3/4 filled milk-jug of water into their tunnels. Mole crawls into milk jug to escape drowning. Just what exactly you do with him once you have caught him is up to you...

Repeat catching moles till famine from no beetles kicks in. Mr mole will move to a nicer neighborhood.

Moles are migratory and need to move once they have eliminated their food supply. That is why we are supposed to keep the grubs controlled so there isn't food available for them. If no food they will move on. They travel through my yard each year but aren't much of a problem. Came home from work one morning to see a feral cat walking down my drive carrying a very large mole! Good kitty!

I have a vegetable garden and I encourage earthworms. So, I encourage the moles. It's very frustrating. There are a lot of really good gopher traps on the market now. I've caught some moles in them. Mole holes aren't as durable as a gopher hole so it's harder to set the traps. I think there is promise for the one called Gopher Hawk.
Very frustrating. Good luck.

well I have the understanding that they eat earthworms which I have abundantly of course, so killing the grubs will not do any good to get rid of the moles? Also does the milky spore harm earthworms?
I have japanese bettle something fierce, they were everywhere by the hundreds last summer, oh, mostly eating my roses and hibiscus.