Boy, I would have never guessed that. We are inundated with moles and no matter how many we catch in the traps, they just keep coming. Perhaps our region is overpopulated with moles or something... ???

I have never had moles here in NE Mississippi, but I once had some voles. My cat was deadly on them and he loved to bring the dead voles to our backdoor and leave them there for our inspection. No more voles.

We don't have gophers in MS as far as I am aware.

@drdawg, you must be a very good cat parent - cats usually bring 'gifts' of dead animals to the people that they love and respect.

When I lived in Connecticut I never saw a single mole in all the places I lived or visited; I'm sure they were around, I just never say them. Here in south Georgia they are very busy little animals. When I walk the dog I have to be careful not to trip/fall due to the tunnels in the fields.

Perhaps because I put out pesticides to kill grubs and such, I just don't have enough underground food to interest moles. I really don't know whether they are a problem here in Starkville or not. My problem are the nuisance squirrels, raiding my bird feeders and digging up in the yard and landscape. I might just have to set out a trap or two and move them to the country.

We've only had trouble with moles for the past 3-4 years. My dear old neighbor passed away and while things were being sorted out, her lawn and garden suffered. I got permission to water the lawn but it was too late and it needed a whole lot more than I could afford to spend on it. I am sure the moles showed up to munch on their suffering landscaping. Then then they came to our house for dessert. The moles disappeared as the new landscaping was put in and the relatives of our dear neighbor took great care of the yard.

Another owner has since bought the home. They are young and have no time for their yard. They do keep it mowed but never feed or tend to it. The moles have returned. I am sure the moles are loving it over there. As long as there are moles on their unkempt gardens, they will continue coming to my yard.

Interesting idea to equate moles to unkempt lawns. How does one define unkempt, and how would this encourage moles? Perhaps I'm being a bit defensive as I have a lot of moles.

Moles eat insects (apparently they love grubs and worms) but don't eat vegetative growth. They do damage to roots/plants but it is collateral damage done by their tunneling.

We have moles and every couple of years they are more numerous. Tried traps but never got one. Now we just leave them be but I do smash the tunnels back down. We live in a lake community that is asking us to be very careful with lawn chemicals and avoid phosphorous completely. We no longer feed or fertilize our grass.

@Bonehead, I'm sorry you took offense to the word "unkempt". But the house next door was vacant for almost a year. The family came and took care of the inside, even totally gutted out the home and did a remodel. But even during that time they did not pay attention to the yard. It was "unkempt" an ignored. Use your imagination at a lawn and garden that gets no attention for 9 months. The lawn was near dying and full of weeds and disease. Though I did my best to water for them, it did not get the chemicals to keep the disease and bugs under control or fertilizer to keep the lawn and garden strong. I am sure the grub worms had a great time and ate their hearts away! Moles love grub worms.

@ShadyGreenThumb, I wasn't so much offended as confused. I rarely feed my lawn, never poison it, but I do mow it regularly. It's just pasture grass, nothing fancy, and has a heavy amount of dandelions and clover in it. I've never noticed a huge population of grubs when digging up sod for new beds, mainly worms and ground beetles. I always wonder why the moles focus on the lawn rather than our surrounding fields, although they are perhaps less noticeable out there as we only mow the fields once or twice per year. As Claudia noted, some years are worse than others for moles. I've thrown in the towel on that battle and plan to simply co-exist with the critters.

We really only wins the battles, never the war. I think simply ignoring them gives you more peace than fighting them.

That's my thought as well, although my husband still has his various contraptions creating often more of an eyesore than the actual mole hills. A favorite is my big old rusty and dented canning pot upended over a trap so the dog doesn't get her nose caught in it. I think I'd rather just kick the hills down and be done with it...

If you have "hills" and not long tunnels, you may have gophers instead?

No, they are clearly moles. Had them for years.

There are the ultrasound repellers on solar energy. Each covers the territory up to 3700 sq.ft. Costs about 40 bucks.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/sola...

Ah, but do they WORK?

We tried a super sonic mole device that looked different that the one referenced by George. It looked rather like a large firework before lighting it off. The theory is you stick it into the ground and it emits some sort of vibrations or sonic waves that the moles avoid. Did not work for us. Perhaps others have had better luck.

According to the PhD experts that have connections to our county Extension Service, these sub-sonic, sonic, or other devices of the sort are simply a gimmick and have no practical use. They say the so-called sub-surface vibrations don't travel far and even if they did, animals soon learn to ignore it.

That also seems to be the opinion of nursery owners, Ken. At any rate, they usually just throw back their heads and laugh uproariously when they're asked about these devices.