Moles Under Pool

[ssabin]

We have had moles in our backyard for a few years now, thanks to me neighbor's impressively large garden. They didn't bother the pool area last year when the pool was new, but this year there are several pockets where the liner dips into a small depression near the outside wall. One of these is new since openiong, so I'm guessing the moles are currently active in the area.

Anybody have some advice on the quickest way to at least rid the pool from further harm from these things? Killing them is of course the ultimate goal, but a quick fix deterrent is needed first. Anything effective to plave around the pool perimter?

Thanks in advance!

 

[AnnaK]

For the short term you can try naphthalene mothballs. That's the old-fashioned kind, not the newer cedar scented ones. Drop one or two down each hole and fill with dirt.

Other deterrents that have worked for people are unwashed dog or cat fur which you stuff in the holes. You can get that either from an owned pet or from a groomer. Call ahead so they don't bathe the animal first. I've not had any success with the dog fur approach but that may be because our dogs' scent is everywhere in the yard and the critters have gotten used to it.

The mothballs have worked for us with groundhogs (marmots), ground squirrels, snakes, and mice in the shed.

 

[Hotrod30]

GOD put those things on the earth just to bother me. :lol:


The way I get rid of them is to use pennut butter and a mouse trap.

Get some crunchy peanut butter and bait a mouse trap. Get a large plastic pail or container. Place the mouse trap just out side of the mole hole with the peanut butter close to the hole. Cover the hole and mouse trap with the plastic container. Make sure the plastic container is high enough so the mouse trap can work. I use the container to keep the smell of the peanut butter near the hole and to keep birds away.

Rebait the trap every third day. Even after you get one, keep baiting the mouse trap for awhile. When you stop baiting, fill in the hole and watch it to see if it gets opened again.

There are a lot of products that are suppost to scare them away.... but non work. If you just move them, they'll pop-up in another part of your yard.

You've got to KILL, KILL, KILL!

 

[midtngal]

Boy, I'm right there with ya hotrod!! At my other house I killed 7 of them! I have tried every single one of the "cures"...including juicy fruit gum! Nothing, nada, not one thing worked. The poles that buzz every 15 seconds seemed to be the most effective, but never completely got rid of them. I have just bought Milky Spore and have started putting it in the ground. It supposedly kills the grubs and every grub that eats some produces more so that more are killed which is *supposed* to get rid of the moles. This stuff supposedly lasts for 20 years! We'll see.

But, the best I've seen so far in 10 years time is the cup of coffee and a lawn chair and just wait for them!

 

[ssabin]

Ahh yes, the old peanut butter and mouse trap trick - I used that this winter to clean out about 7 mice in the attic, but for some reason I didn't consider that for the moles. I guess I suspected you had to get into the corridors to get them. I think I'll give that a try. Nothing like the instant satisfaction of seeing victory rather than hoping they are moving on!

Hotrod, I'm having a hard time believing the good lord that those things on the earth!

I've checked for grubs for the past 5 years and use Grubex and/or Bayer Grub Control annually, but they have been in our back yard for several years now. This could be the start of The Cleansing of the Yard!

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I think I'll do the moth ball thing after it seems that I have them out, just for some extra insurance.

 

[Hotrod30]

I've checked for grubs for the past 5 years and use Grubex and/or Bayer Grub Control annually, but they have been in our back yard for several years now. This could be the start of The Cleansing of the Yard!

I've done some reading on the internet and it seems the main food for moles is earthworms. They will eat grubs and try anything else that smells like food. As long as the mole can fine food in the dirt, under bushes, under the tool shed, they will hang around. Using grub control is expensive and only is a 50/50 chance it will work to move the mole to another yard.

Happy hunting :-D

 

[hokey71]

Glad to see I am not the only one with mole problems! They are tearing up my yard once again this year. I also tried the grub killer which did not work. I trapped a couple last year with the traps that spear them in their tunnels. My dog has caught 2 also. She killed one and left the other for me to kill.

One of the funniest things I've seen to kill them is to hook up a hose to the exhaust on your car and shove it in the holes. They fill up with carbon monixide and they die. I've not tried it but at this point I might try anything!

 

[Swimgirl]

We don't have moles, but we do have ground squirrels. Because of a set-up issue, I had to drain the pool when it had about a foot or so of water in it. At 20' diameter, that's a good amount of water. Anyway, we used siphoning the water with about 3 garden hoses to drain the pool. I directed the water into the ground squirrel holes. We had several ****** off ground squirrels running around our yard, I'll tell you that! :lol: :lol:

My hubby had put an barrier between the pool and the ground, the heavy kind of plastic that goes on a roof for an underlayer, and then sand, so we couldn't have ground squirrels digging all the way up to the pool.

 

[ssabin]

Well, the mouse traps aren't working. The first night, however, some sort of critter got under th pail because the pail was knocked over and the trap was about 15 yards away. Probably a raccoon.

So now I may move to the tunnel spears.

 

[Swimgirl]

Check out this video: http://billycreech.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/you-asked-for-it/

The idea of how to hunt ground squirrels could probably be applied to moles! :lol: :lol: