Some neighborhood walkers stopped by yesterday as I was working on digging a hole in my yard. "What 'cha doing?" "Trapping moles!" The gentlemen then launched on a familiar theme of trying everything under the sun to kill them, including poison baits, and some home remedies. I told him that I've trapped 7 this year, and he raised his eyebrows and exclaimed he had tried traps but hadn't gotten any, but he has runs all over his yard. (Maybe that's where some of my repopulation is coming from). I tried encouraging him, by stating that all you have to do is find an active run. "Oh, it's no use; I've got lots of those. But, I can't get them." I felt like he didn't understand what I meant by an active run, but he and his wife walked off before I could explain what I meant.
Oh well. I was trying out my new Victor Out 'O Sight Mole Trap View image">. I've heard a few trappers comment that this was a preferred trap for deeper runs. The tunnel I found near the mole hills was about 7 inches deep. View image I've had pretty good luck this year with shallow, but major runs using my harpoon trap. But the recent mole mounding activity convinced me to expand my tactics. Using a long steel probe in the vicinity of the mole mounds, I found a tunnel about 8 inches deep. The Out 'O Sight trap needs room for the open jaws View image to span the tunnel, so it requires some excavating to make room for the trap. I found one end of the tunnel, but misjudged where the other end was, so I had to make the hole even bigger. Like the harpoon trap, the mole hits a blockage, and pushes soil up, releasing the trigger.
Heavy rain today collapsed more runs, so I have a feeling I may need to find another section of deep tunnel if there is no activity by tomorrow. If traps aren't sprung in at least 48 hours, I like to relocate to another active area. I also have my harpoon trap set in another run in the backyard. It was sprung between breakfast and lunch, but I missed, so I reset the trap. But, the heavy rain probably messed up my chances.
A great web site created by a long time mole trapper, The Moleman, is full of excellent information, helpful hints on trapping, illustrations, and his strong opinions on the futility of any other method of mole control besides trapping: http://themoleman.com
