How can you tell if you have a mole in your yard?

[Pat]

I went out to the back to see that something has dug a hole and tunneled thru the yard. How can you tell what did the digging? Has anyone had experience with this?

 

[Chuck]

If it is a Texas type mole the dirt mound on the top of the ground will be in a semi- heart shaped pile of dirt and the tunnel will be close to the "cleft" of the dirt pile. While wearing latex gloves gently remove the dirt at the cleft and when you find the tunnel insert a piece of Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum in the tunnel, then replace the dirt. I know it sounds nuts but it works if the mole doesn't get a whiff of human scent. Spearmint, Dentine or any other flavor will not work, only Juicy Fruit. They will drag it away, eat it and die of terminal constipation. I don't make the news I only report it and I know this works in the sandy type of soil in South Texas

 

[Trellum]

Woah, Chuck, that out to be one of the mot interesting methods I have ever heard and it really sounds that you are really experienced with it! Might tell my boyfriends parents, they always have issues with moles, not sure they might really want to kill it tho.

 

[claudine]

Poor moles Is there any way to make them avoid your garden without killing them?
I remember we had a problem with voles, but they seem to be scared of my dog. When we got him, they started avoiding this area.

Pat - moles make mounds, not only holes.

 

[gata montes]

I went out to the back to see that something has dug a hole and tunneled thru the yard. How can you tell what did the digging? Has anyone had experience with this?

If it is moles that you have in your garden - then you are most likely to see a vast amount of earth mounds appearing in your garden - at what can sometimes be at an alarming rate.

However if you are finding that its not only mounds that are appearing in your garden but also that your plants are mysteriously disappearing at an unusually rapid rate - then it could be voles that you have rather than moles.

Either way - as I had a real problem with voles last year and was getting pretty desperate as to how I was going stop the devastation to my vegetable garden - particularly as they are notoriously hard to get rid of and what ever I tried just wasn't stopping these critters from devouring most of my root vegetables at what I can only call was an amazingly alarming rate - I decided to try the chewing gum method that Chuck has mentioned and have to say that although I was a little skeptical at first - it does actually seem to work - as although they haven't entirely vanished - the numbers are very definitely very much reduced.

 

[Pat]

The appearance was on the lawn, there were two large mounds of soil which was very alarming and then you can see the tunnels in the yard that had been dug. I do know how long it has been like that and I don't see any real damage just the mounds of soil and the tunnels.

 

[zigs]

You need a tin bucket and a leather glove.
.
Take a plug out of the run to expose the hole, wait till the mole comes to check out what's caused the change in air pressure, grab it with the gloved hand and put it in the bucket.

If you drop it, it'll be half burried again before you can pick it up.

Select the neighbour you like the least and let the mole go there.

 

[Rosyrain]

My inlaws had a mole in there yard once and the end result was hundreds of dirt mounds everywhere in the yard. The darn critter almost destroyed their whole yard. I think they ended up flushing the mole out of a tunnel.

 

[nails]

The Japanese apparently plant this special lily around rice paddies to stop moles and water rats digging into the water containment banks. Anyone seen this technique used in gardens or know where to get bulbs?
It seems like a pretty flower to have in the garden anyway (even without moles). Anyone know anything about this?
http://www.homediystuff.com/eradicating-moles-naturally-red-spider-lily/

 

[ACSAPA]

If it is a Texas type mole the dirt mound on the top of the ground will be in a semi- heart shaped pile of dirt and the tunnel will be close to the "cleft" of the dirt pile. While wearing latex gloves gently remove the dirt at the cleft and when you find the tunnel insert a piece of Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum in the tunnel, then replace the dirt. I know it sounds nuts but it works if the mole doesn't get a whiff of human scent. Spearmint, Dentine or any other flavor will not work, only Juicy Fruit. They will drag it away, eat it and die of terminal constipation. I don't make the news I only report it and I know this works in the sandy type of soil in South Texas

That is gross and fascinating. I wonder why the moles only like Juicy Fruit and not those dessert flavored chewing gums that taste like cakes and pies. Go figure.
Thank you for sharing this tip. I wonder who was the first person to figure out that one specific gum kills moles.

 

[Pat]

My soil is more clay than sand so I don't know if that would work for me Chuck. Last year it was just a hole or two now it is most of the back has been dug up.

 

[CrazyConure]

@Pat, It won't hurt to try.