Effective traps for moles

Next you will learn:

What effective and time-tested methods exist today that allow you to catch a mole in the garden, doing it quickly enough and without significant financial costs;
The principle of operation of a pipe mole trap and what design options for this trap really give the desired result;
How can you easily catch a mole in a bucket or in an ordinary glass jar;
What is important to know about the correct installation of traps on the site so that their effectiveness is as high as possible;
What to do with a mole after it is caught;
What traps and lethal and crippling traps are most popular and is there really any point in using them (including fishhooks);
How can you reliably protect your garden from repeated penetration of moles.

In general, catching moles can be considered a much more effective way to combat these pests in the garden than using all kinds of repellents, including sonic and ultrasonic repellers of various designs.

First of all, if you catch a mole, then a situation typical of the use of repellers will definitely not arise, when the mole simply moves to the other end of the garden and digs there (or temporarily goes to a neighboring area). In addition, by correctly using mole traps, it is sometimes possible to literally reduce the size of the mole population to almost zero, not only in one’s own area, but also in general in the immediate surrounding areas.

All the ways to catch a mole

Generally speaking, today the following popular methods of catching moles in the garden and dacha are most widely used:

The so-called mole trap is a pipe into which the mole crawls, but can already get out;
A pit trap into which the animal simply falls, moving along its underground passage, and then cannot get out of it;
Traps that kill animals immediately or slowly (this also includes a wire mole trap);
Tackle made of fishing line and fishing hooks: the mole clings to the hook either with its skin (skin), running into itself while moving through the tunnel, or with its mouth, collecting earthworms strung on fishing hooks (and this is just one example of the flayer approach to catching moles);
Perhaps it is also worth mentioning an ordinary shovel - with the proper dexterity and experience, with its help it is possible to dig an animal out of the ground alive, and then, for example, place it in a bucket.

It is noteworthy that the effectiveness and ease of use of all these options is approximately the same (with the exception of fishing with a shovel - this method is the least effective and requires a lot of time). Any trap is simply installed in the garden, catches the mole in one way or another, and the gardener can only check from time to time for the presence of a “catch”.

Accordingly, the question arises: if a live trap catches a mole as simply and quickly as a mechanism that pierces the animal with a knitting needle or breaks its back, then why use lethal traps at all? Unfortunately, in many cases, the answer lies in the gardener’s banal laziness - he’s just too lazy to carry the caught moles a kilometer away from the plot every time, because it’s much easier when the trap “delives” a ready-made corpse, which is easy to dispose of, for example, by burying it in the far corner of the garden.

On a note
Some gardeners justify their actions to destroy moles in the following interesting way: they say, in wildlife it is customary to protect your plot from the encroachments of strangers. Well, they say, I also protect the results of my work (beds, crops) from pest attacks, I protect my territory.
Well, that's right - that's how it is in the animal world. The question is why compare yourself to an animal...

Alternatives to Traps

There are cases when traps, for one reason or another, are not suitable for use in a particular area. For example, when the owner of a garden plot does not want to kill moles, or does not have the time and desire to install traps himself.

In these cases, traps can be replaced:

Live traps - purchased and homemade. Moles can be caught in a pipe trap, or in a hole made from a bucket or pan, buried under the passage. Some craftsmen manage to dig up a mole with a shovel, simply by lying in wait and throwing it to the surface. The cost of industrially manufactured live traps for moles is approximately the same as that of traps (from 300 rubles and above);
By calling a special service, whose workers will do everything on their own. This is a more expensive option (the price of services here starts from 2,000 rubles), but it does not require any effort on the part of the owner of the site;
Mole repellers - in many cases, they effectively drive animals away from the area, although they do not provide such reliability as traps. It may be advisable to try using repellers before using traps, and if they do not help, then start catching moles.

In general, it should be noted that most mole traps have approximately the same effectiveness. This means that you should use those that are optimal for each site owner in terms of installation complexity and price. For most gardeners, simple, inexpensive wire traps are sufficient.

Tube mole traps, purchased and made by yourself

The classic mole trap in the form of a pipe has a fairly simple design: it is a plastic or metal pipe with a diameter of approximately 9-12 cm (the average diameter of a mole's stroke), with doors on both sides on the top hinges. The doors of the mole trap-pipe open easily inward, but do not open outward.

A mole trap made according to this principle is called a Solomon's trap.

In order to catch a mole, a pipe trap must be installed in the excavated passage of the animal. The mole, moving along the tunnel, comes across a door, pushes it forward and crawls inside the trap. The door falls down under its own weight, and the animal can no longer open it from the inside.

If the second mole follows the first one, it will also crawl into the trap and remain in it, and the animals can climb into the live trap from different sides.

On a note
There are cases when, when checking, up to 3 moles were found in one live trap at once. Sometimes shrews are caught in the pipe trap together with the mole. During the day, some gardeners managed to catch 6 moles with such a trap.

You can easily make a pipe mole trap with your own hands from scrap materials. In a piece of pipe you only need to make light hinges for the doors, and also provide a stopper for opening the door outward. The easiest way is to make the door itself higher than the pipe passage (in fact, oval-shaped), and hang it on a hinge inclined inward.

Variants of such traps available for sale cost approximately 200-400 rubles.

In the West, special plastic mole traps are made, from which you can get animals without digging the trap itself. The photo below shows an example of such a device:

It’s also useful to read: How to make a mole trap from plastic bottles with your own hands

Another version of a trap that works on the same principle is a design of several plastic bottles inserted with their necks one into the other. The necks of the bottles are cut with scissors in several places to create easily retractable petals. The mole, crawling into such a “neck,” presses the petals inward with the weight of its body, penetrates into the central section of the trap, and then cannot move the plastic petals apart to crawl back out.

This mole trap made from plastic bottles is exclusively a product of folk art. It’s easy to make with your own hands, having on hand three bottles of the same size, scissors and tape.

More expensive options

There are also more original versions of traps, and the more complex their design, the more expensive they are. For example, expensive options include:

SuperCat Vole Trap, costs about 1,500 rubles. Its main advantage is its ease of installation - a special device is supplied with the trap, allowing you to dig a hole for installing the trap with one easy movement. After this, the trap itself is simply lowered into the hole and the installation process ends;
Skat 63 in the form of two scissors (also costs about 1,500 rubles);
Talpirid mole trap for 1800 rubles is a complex trap that works on the principle of scissors, but is more convenient to install.

These devices make the gardener’s job of catching moles easier for additional money. Meanwhile, the efficiency of their work does not exceed the efficiency of the simplest wire traps.

Mole trap, or how to catch a mole in a bucket

This trap is also made from scrap materials. The main task here is to make a hole in the middle of the mole’s passage, into which the animal will fall and will no longer be able to get out of it.

Usually, to catch a mole in this way, they use a deep pan, a bucket (plastic or metal), a glass jar or a cut plastic bottle of large diameter.

The mole trap-pit is formed under the passage of the animal in such a way that its upper edge is at the same level with the lower edge of the underground passage. From above, the entire “excavation site” is covered with a sheet of plywood or other opaque material (so that the mole is not scared off by sunlight). As a result, the animal, simply moving along the way, falls into the installed container.

The photographs below show how a regular three-liter jar is installed for this:

Such live traps are as simple as possible to manufacture and do not require financial investment. Often, a couple of such traps allow you to catch not only all the moles in your garden, but also shrews, voles and other living creatures.

On a note
If a mole and a shrew fall into a pit trap at the same time, then, as practice shows, with a high probability the shrew will soon become a source of food for the mole.

Trap-scissors and its variants

When triggered, this trap squeezes the mole’s body from the sides, as if with tongs. The animal usually dies from injuries to internal organs and hemorrhages within a few minutes (less often, within several tens of minutes).

A scissor trap has no obvious advantages over a harpoon trap; it costs about 1,000 rubles. This type includes both domestic traps (for example, Skat 62) and imported mole traps (for example, made in the Czech Republic).

These devices are installed similarly to harpoon traps. Before installing such a trap, its scissors need to be pulled apart and a spacer-guard inserted between them. In the excavated passage, the scissors are installed with their claws, and the entire trap is covered with a bucket on top. When a mole encounters a spacer, it either tries to remove it with its paws or climbs on top. The spacer falls, the claws compress and kill the animal.

These traps are now well represented in online stores, and can often be purchased in hardware stores in large cities.

Review:
“I would like to leave my review about the mole catcher from the Czech Republic. My husband and I bought it at a construction supermarket in St. Petersburg, the price was 820 rubles. The seller showed us how to use this product, how it works and how to correctly place it in the mole hole. Even then I had the idea that the mole would not die quickly in such a trap. A week later we were at the dacha, put it in one of the moves, did everything according to science. They covered the top with an old saucepan so that the mole would not be afraid of the light. We decided to check it in the morning. Well, the next morning I go out into the garden, lift the pan and see that the staples on top have come apart. That is, the trap worked. I take it out and... I begin to lose consciousness. These scissors literally crushed the mole, its head and front legs stick out in front, but the worst thing is that it is still moving, moving its nose, waving its paws. Nightmare! I threw this trap, ran after my husband, together we pulled out the mole, he, poor thing, cannot crawl, he tries to row with his paws, but it is clear that he is already dying. I couldn’t stand it and went home. I don’t know what my husband did then, but I definitely decided that I would no longer allow such carnivory on my property. Now I looked on the Internet, there are a lot of means to catch a mole alive, and no mole traps are needed ... "
Anna, Gatchina

It is also useful to read: Using a mole net and reviews about this method of protecting a site

How to set traps correctly?

In order to quickly catch a mole in a summer cottage or garden using a trap, when installing it you need to follow a few simple rules, ignoring which can significantly reduce the chances of success.

These are the rules:

The mole trap needs to be installed in horizontal near-surface passages between molehills (preferably fresh ones). It is almost never possible to catch a mole if you set the trap in the very heap of discarded earth;
When excavating a passage, you should create as little destruction as possible. It is advisable to work with a garden trowel rather than a shovel;
Having made a hole, you should try to restore the adjacent areas of the mole's path as much as possible. It is advisable to line the edges of the trap itself with earth, lightly pressing it flush with the walls of the container;
The place where the trap is installed must be covered on top with a material that is completely opaque to light, and additionally sprinkled with earth around the edges (practice shows that even the slightest gap that allows sunlight to penetrate inside the pit greatly reduces the effectiveness of the trap - although moles have poor eyesight, however, they are able to distinguish light from darkness well);
If you want to increase the efficiency of the mole trap-pipe or pit, then it is recommended to put several earthworms cut into pieces inside the trap - the smell attracts moles (these animals feed mainly on earthworms).

An important point is that after installation the trap must be checked every 5-6 hours. The fact is that moles, due to their very fast metabolism, die of starvation in the absence of a food source for about 18-24 hours. So a day without food for a caught mole is certain death, and any “live trap” without proper supervision can easily become a torture chamber, guaranteeing the animal a slow, painful death.

Considering that after being removed from the trap and taken out of the area, some more time will pass until the mole can catch its first prey, it is advisable to keep it caught in the mole trap itself for no more than 6 hours.

On a note
Some commercially available mole traps-tubes have special holes through which you can see whether a mole is caught in the trap or not, without digging out the entire structure from the ground each time. Therefore, when making a homemade trap from a pipe, it is advisable to provide similar inspection holes in advance (see example in the photo below).

Tunnel trap

This trap is generally inferior to the two options described above, but, nevertheless, it is also quite effective.

It has two main disadvantages:

Relatively high cost. The price of one trap is about 400 rubles. However, such a trap works in two directions, that is, it replaces two wire traps at once;
There is a certain complexity in the establishment.

The advantage of a tunnel trap is that it does not need to be covered with anything after installation. It closes the mole’s passage from light with itself, and additional cracks can be covered with earth or turf - the spring will work anyway. That is, its installation itself is somewhat simpler than that of previous devices. The effectiveness of such a trap in operation is similar to previous means.

The great advantage of a tunnel trap is that its operation can be judged without digging the trap itself: if the spring has risen above the ground, it means that the mole is most likely caught.

What to do with a mole after being caught?

Immediately after catching the mole, you need to remove it from the trap - before doing this, it is advisable to wear thick construction gloves, since the animal has sharp teeth and can bite painfully.

A caught mole can be placed in any high container (for example, a bucket) and taken out of the area at a distance of at least 1 km from your dacha. It is this distance that guarantees that this individual will never return to your site (in the worst case, after several seasons, the descendants of this mole may wander into your area).

It is preferable to release the animal either in a field with loose soil, where it can quickly burrow into the ground, or in a bush, where it is least noticeable to predators (mainly birds of prey). At this point, the task of catching the mole can be considered solved: the garden is rid of the pest, the animal itself is not destroyed, not maimed, and released into the wild, where it has a high chance of survival.

On a note
There is no need to worry that you will have to remove moles from the garden 20-30 times. As a rule, 1-2 moles live in one medium-sized garden plot (only in rare cases more - when the offspring of one female grows up in mid-summer). Accordingly, if you manage to catch at least 10 individuals, this will already be a very significant result, which will most likely save not only you, but also all your neighbors in the area from serious problems with moles.

After catching all the moles, pit traps must be dug out of the ground so that various beneficial insects (as well as shrews, which bring a lot of benefits to the garden, although many fight with these animals out of ignorance) do not get caught in them and die.

Mole trap. How to determine the progress of a mole and install a mole trap

When preparing material about moles and measures to combat these animals, information from the last hundred years was used. Books from libraries, websites and forums corresponding to the topic were shoveled. Take note of the advice of experts. Therefore, the acquired knowledge must be modernized to the realities of today (this especially applies to chemicals, etc.) and in relation to a specific site. Let's talk about the most effective way to save a site from moles - about mole traps. Let's find out how to determine the current move of a mole, how a mole trap works.

Setting traps in early spring will help eliminate females that are ready to breed, and this will effectively reduce the problem later. It is very important to choose the right place for the trap; for this you need to determine which of the feeding tunnels is actively used by the mole.

Mole trap. How to determine the current move of a mole

The current (active) surface movement of a mole can be determined as follows: press it down with your foot or spatula, mark this place with something bright (old tape on a stick as a flag) to make it easier to find them later, and then inspect it. If the mole restores its movement within 1-2 days, then the movement is active. Setting traps in permanent or deeper passages is most effective, since such passages are used several times a day. To determine the main path leading into the yard or some part of the garden, find a permanent passage that runs in a generally straight line or connects two mounds of earth or two feeding areas (side passages). Main passages often follow fences, paths, foundations and other man-made boundaries. Sometimes the main path runs along the perimeter of fields or lawns surrounded by bushes and trees. The winding paths on the lawns are “tests” that may no longer be used. Setting traps on such test runs may not be productive.

Mole traps are one of the most effective means for combating small numbers of moles and shrews.

Rice. 1. Standard mole trap:

A—in an alert state; B - in a wary state; 1- input ring; 2 – pressure lever; 3 – hook (protrusion) of the guard; 4 – alert; 5-ring spring (curl).

The most common fishing gear is a standard wire mole trap (Fig. 1), consisting of a frame and a guard. The frame is made from a piece of steel wire with a cross-section of 3.5-4 millimeters. Between the support and pressure levers there is a spiral spring consisting of two and a half turns. The spring should provide an alarming force of 4-5 kilograms and press the animal to the bottom of the entrance ring with a force of 2-2.5 kilograms. The upper (support) lever forms a round input ring, and the lower (pressure) lever forms a U-shaped clamp. When alert, this clamp is raised up and held in this position with alertness. The guard has an earring on which it is suspended from the support lever, a protrusion for holding the clamp and the ring. The guard is located at a certain distance from the entrance hole so that at the moment of release the mole is already inside the entrance ring. Pushing its head alert, the animal releases the clamp, which slides off the ledge and presses it against the entrance ring.

Mole trap. How to alert a mole trap.

The mole trap is alerted in the following way: they take it in the left hand, and with the right hand they pull the pressing (hitting) lever to the crest of the support lever. Then, with your left hand, set the guard and secure it with its protrusion to the pressure lever. The mole trap is put into action. The animal, pushing the ring with its head, knocks down the guard, and the pressure lever presses it against the ring.

Standard mole traps should be adjusted before use. If the spring is weak (this can be checked by hanging a weight of appropriate weight from the pressure lever or using a spring scale), then it can be deployed. To do this, the pressure lever should be removed from the ring, pulled to the side and inserted back into the ring. If the spring force is excessively large, it is necessary, on the contrary, to move the pressure and support levers. The pressure lever must be in the center of the input ring, and that part of it, to which the protrusion (hook) of the guard is hooked, must be parallel to the plane of the input ring (if necessary, this can be corrected by hitting a hammer).

READ How to install a hotpoint ariston hob

To speed up the alarming of the mole trap, the bend of the pressure lever, to which the alarm hook is attached, is marked with a file notch. If the guard frequently jumps off the shoulder of the comb, a notch is made on the ridge with a file.

An interesting device for inspecting mole traps was proposed by V.G. Bogachev. It consists of a piece of wire 10-12 millimeters long, which is attached to the end of the pressure lever of the mole trap. In a guarded trap, this wire is placed vertically so that it rises 3-4 centimeters above the passage. When a mole hits or the mole trap is lowered, the wire lowers. This serves as a signal to the mole catcher to check the trap.

Before use, all mole traps must be cleaned of rust and placed in a bag in pairs.

In a small area, it is enough to have 4-5 pairs of mole traps. When 15-16 individuals are caught, the local mole population degrades and raids practically stop. But mole traps must be in the holes at all times.

Photo 1 shows mole traps and a file. A file is an integral device necessary for alerting a mole trap.

Important! The heel of the guard and the stop on the shoulder of the crush are carefully cleaned of rust with a file in the LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION, and not in the transverse direction, which contributes to a more accurate and soft operation of the mole trap, and forces the animal to hunt more intensively.

Photo 2 shows how to install mole traps.

Important! The spring of the mole trap is pressed into the ground AGAINST the movement of the animal through the hole!

Rice. 2 Installation of mole traps

Catching moles with a shovel

This method of catching moles is as simple in principle as it is complex in implementation: a gardener with a bayonet shovel waits near the mole’s passages when the animal passes through one of the galleries close to the surface of the earth. At this moment, the ground above him rises slightly, and the movement of the animal is clearly visible. The catcher’s task is to stick the bayonet of the shovel behind the mole and quickly throw the soil with the animal itself to the surface of the earth.

It is also useful to read: How to reliably get rid of moles in a summer cottage or garden plot

The main difficulties of this method:

Usually you have to spend a lot of time before you can notice the movement of the mole along its course. As a rule, moles inspect tunnels once every few hours, but they may not visit individual branches for days at a time. So there is no guarantee that a person on duty in a certain part of the garden will wait for the animal to appear;
In addition, the mole needs to be dug up very quickly - the animal moves underground quite quickly, and can avoid the fate of being caught if the gardener is slow.

Nevertheless, the experience of a considerable number of gardeners shows that this method is generally quite effective and widespread: many people catch moles with a shovel.

The design and principle of operation of a mole trap in the shape of a pipe

The essence of the work of a mole trap-pipe is that a mole can very easily, almost effortlessly, climb inside it, but is no longer able to get out. This effect is ensured by a special door design that operates in the “entrance” only mode.

The schematic diagram below shows that the mole trap door has a length slightly greater than the diameter of the pipe, and therefore is in a slightly inclined position, resting against the bottom of the trap:

As a result, such a door cannot be opened from the inside by simply pressing on it, which is what a mole tries to do. The only way to open the mole trap door is to lift it from the outside:

An important point (in case you decide to make the device yourself): the doors should be located at both ends of the pipe, because it is not known in advance from which side of the underground passage the animal will enter the trap. In addition, the length of the pipe should not be too short - this is necessary so that, on occasion, several moles can fit into it at once. A properly made mole trap-pipe can catch up to 5 or more animals in one installation (usually not only moles are caught, but also mice, shrews, voles and other living creatures).

Lethal means

Products that kill moles upon capture are available in various variations, and they implement different principles of action.

Let us note the most popular of them:

A plunger trap is installed above the mole's passage, and a guard is lowered into the passage itself. As the animal passes along the way, the guard descends and the brackets on a powerful spring crush the mole’s body. After this, the animal suffers from several seconds to several hours, after which it dies;
A harpoon trap (it is also sometimes referred to as a plunger trap due to its design features) is installed above the passage, and when lowered, the guard pushes out several harpoon spokes. These harpoons pierce the animal, which, as in the previous case, often does not die immediately, but only after some time;
Crushes - most often these are ordinary mousetraps and rat traps, buried in passages, less often - special (and quite expensive) imported devices;
Wire mole traps - kill the mole by squeezing its body (they can also be called nooses or a type of disease trap);
Loops that, when triggered, forcefully tighten on the animal’s body and lead to suffocation;
And, finally, the so-called crossbows (firearms), usually of quite complex designs - they shoot the animal in the face. They are not commercially available and are made by hand; they require the use of gunpowder, shot and a motion sensor. They are dangerous for people and therefore their use is prohibited.

Any of these means allows you to catch a mole and kill it immediately, on the spot, without the direct participation of the owner of the site. As a rule, such devices are actively used by comrades who are not burdened by ideas about the need for humane treatment of animals.

Here is a clear example of using wire traps:

A few words about homemade mole traps

Wire traps for moles are the simplest and most inexpensive.
They are an elongated spring with a loop, a guard and a pressing foot. After winding, the spring is held in a compressed state by a guard, which, if the trap is installed correctly, represents an obstacle to the movement of the mole. When the animal tries to push it, the spring unclenches and presses the mole's body against the loop with its paw. The mole eventually suffocates, and its ribs often break and the peritoneum ruptures with injuries to internal organs, which leads to hemorrhages and death of the animal in a few minutes or hours.

You can buy such traps for about 50-100 rubles apiece, and for effective operation it is recommended to install at least two traps simultaneously. In this case, the mole will be killed regardless of which direction it approaches them from.

To install the device, it is necessary to open one of the animal’s feeding passages, place traps so that their loops close as organically as possible with the walls of the passage, and cover the excavated passage with some opaque material. When two traps are installed, they are placed with loops in different directions so that their springs touch.

You can make such a trap with your own hands, but it is relatively difficult due to problems with making the spring. And given the low price of industrially produced devices, it makes no sense to engage in such production.

The effectiveness of using wire traps to combat moles is quite high. If the mole cannot be caught within 1-2 days the first time, then the trap is moved to another move. Usually 2-3 permutations are enough to catch.

As a result, the advantages of wire traps are low cost, availability (can be purchased both in regular stores and online stores), efficiency and durability. The disadvantages include a certain complexity of their installation. In general, of all the lethal traps, many gardeners consider these products to be the best option.

You can also make a mole trap with your own hands. Moreover, the complexity of the manufacturing work is directly proportional to the complexity of the structure itself.

In most cases, wire traps and crushers are made at home. These works involve difficulties in manufacturing springs, and to obtain a truly working mole trap, it is necessary to harden the wire at high temperatures.

Sometimes such independent production is limited only to finishing a standard mousetrap (or rat trap) with an adaptation for fighting moles. In more rare cases, craftsmen even make harpoon traps and scissor-shaped traps with their own hands.

In any case, making a mole trap yourself in most cases is irrational. The cost of industrial options is low, and the time spent at home making a trap will be more expensive than the money spent on a high-quality purchased device. In addition, even the simplest commercial traps are very effective - the same wire trap for 50 rubles will work just as reliably as a product that would take a whole day, or even more, to make yourself.

We suggest you familiarize yourself with: Traps on trees for pests

Is it worth catching moles with fish hooks?

There is another cruel way to catch a mole - catching it with a fishing hook. The principle is simple: a small hole is made in the arch of the passage, into which a fishing line with several fishing hooks is lowered (usually tees are used to be sure), the end of this fishing line is tied next to a metal pin driven into the ground or simply to a strong stick lying on the ground.

The mole, going along its course, runs into a fishing hook and it digs into the body, piercing the skin. The animal cannot free itself and tugs on the fishing line, which is visible on the surface (sometimes a bell is tied to the pin, which at that moment begins to ring). After this, the gardener can only dig out the passage with a garden shovel and pull the struggling mole to the surface directly by the fishing line.

During such manipulations, the mole's side or abdomen is sometimes literally torn apart with a hook. And it is quite obvious that the knackers who use such a means of capture will definitely not stand on ceremony with the animal after it is caught.

There is an even more sophisticated way of mocking a mole - using the same fishing hooks with earthworms pre-attached to them. The animal will try to eat such bait, and the hook will stick into its mouth or throat.

On a note
Perhaps somewhere here lies the line when cruelty to animals begins to border on sadism: if a simple gardener at the dacha is able to catch moles in such ways, then why are we surprised when somewhere in a foreign country a live seal’s nose is sawed off with a grinder or They skin foxes alive on fur farms.

Let us only add here that in terms of efficiency and labor intensity, catching a mole with a hook is comparable to using live traps. But if adequate gardeners try to save the life of the animal and not injure it, then sadists, of course, will be more interested in figuring out how to catch a mole with fishing hooks.

Baits with poison

Not the most humane, but definitely an effective method aimed at destroying the pest. You can boil the wheat and add pesticide or rat poison to it. And spread the porridge over molehills or bury it around the site. Moles will find traps themselves. After 2 weeks you need to re-lay out new ones.

Ready-made poisonous preparations are also sold:

gel Green House;
paraffin briquettes Russian Trap;
Anti-Mole Modifi pellets.

When using baits, you must ensure that pets will not be harmed.

How to protect the area from repeated penetration of moles

It should be understood that catching a mole and removing it from the site does not mean protecting your garden from these animals forever. If one mole somehow got into the territory, then in the future other individuals will be able to get here, it’s only a matter of time.

Therefore, even if you managed to catch, it would seem, all the moles in the garden, immediately after that it is useful to take measures to protect the area from them:

Dig a plastic or metal mesh into the ground around the perimeter (to a depth of 70-80 cm and protruding 15-20 cm above the ground surface). Sometimes slate or roofing felt is dug in instead of mesh;
A narrow, not very deep trench along the perimeter of the site also helps protect against moles - it is covered with crushed stone or broken bricks;
A more expensive option is to pour a concrete foundation around the perimeter of the site and then install a fence;
Laying a lawn mesh over the area also helps - to do this, remove the top layer of the lawn (5-10 cm), lay the mesh, and then put the top layer back.

Such measures will guarantee that moles will no longer appear on the site.

If you have personal experience of catching moles in one way or another, be sure to share it by leaving a review at the bottom of this page. Perhaps this will help someone who is in the same situation.

Interesting video with an example of using a mole trap-pipe

Mole crushers

Hunting for moles is quite possible with ordinary mousetraps or rat traps such as crushers. These products are also very inexpensive, sold almost everywhere and very effective.

However, their use is more specific compared to wire traps for two reasons:

The guard in standard crushers is triggered when it is pulled, not pushed, and therefore it usually has to be modified with one’s own hands so that it is triggered taking into account the specifics of the mole’s movement in the underground passage;
The pressing bracket itself, when thrown, should not cling to the arch of the underground passage or the opaque material that covers the installation site of the trap.

It is also useful to read: Using a mole trap-pipe to combat moles on the site

The first problem is solved by filing the loop that secures the guard and onto which the bait is placed. In this case, the guard is triggered when the mole simply tries to remove the loop from its path with its paws. You can also simply put an earthworm or beetle on a loop so that the mole tries to eat it and lowers the guard.

To prevent the bracket from catching on the arch of the passage, the installation site of the crusher is usually covered with a bucket or pan - as a result, the space above the trap is more than enough for it to work normally.

Like wire traps, it is better to place such devices two side by side, with guards pointing them in different directions. In this case, they will almost certainly allow you to catch the mole if it passes along this path.