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There are very cute designed vole traps. They are narrow and fit into the tunnel.
Have my word - barrows under the topsoil that raise it even some, WILL be problem for mower as mover creates suction effect. So loose dirt and rocks get sucked up into blades.
Unfortunately, I am the big guru of how to mow mole infested property. 5 acres of mowing, to be exact. I have mole mounds in hundreds. And mine are apparently some sort of mound making bodybuilders, as some mounds are like tarricones.
I also happen to be guru of how to rid of them. That being - nothing works. I am down to smoke bombs spring time, will see how that goes. Poisons, traps - and I am VERY good at setting them up, other home made deterrents, US one, whatever - NOTHING works. I'll call anyone who'll tell me otherwise, after fight with them since 2005. On maybe acre, I got them with traps. on 5 - no way.
I am down to harrowing mounds before mowing. Not that blades are expensive or I can't shrpen them, it's removing them that makes it hard. And my flail has 64 blades. Try that every 2 mows.
The only real solution is traps...mouse traps...and it is hit and miss.
Try to find where they go underground, into a drain, into a hole under a stoop or similar and set your trap there.
They are insidious little beasts and nothing really seems to work with them. Cats won't even eat them for some reason.
Sadly it is just one of those things you have to live with, and they are awful in a lawn.
People tell me that cats are the best solution. The neighbor and I both used to have cats and we never had this problem. The cats caught chipmunks and I'm pretty sure only voles, and would leave them in front of the doors. Moles have large claws for digging tunnels and I never noticed the cat catching them.
It doesn't seem that mousetraps would be effective since they seem to be underground the majority of the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoisite
Nope, that's not a nest. Moles make their nests deep, deep down underground. That pile of soil on the surface is called a mole hill and it is literally tunnel tailings. It's all the loose dirt that they have excavated out when they are digging their tunnels. They push all that loose dirt through tunnels up to the surface and leave piles of loose dirt (mole hills) sitting on top of the grass above a tunnel entrance.
It is wonderful dirt to use as potting soil for containers or in the garden because it will have no stones, no chunks of wood or plastic garbage in it, no insects or insect eggs, no slugs, no grubs and (unfortunately) no earth worms either. Just PURE, clean, loose, fluffy rich soil that the moles have cleaned up before depositing it on the surface.
What you are doing - setting mower to highest setting - does more harm to your lawn than good and it is a lazy thing to do. So don't be a lazy slouch by setting your mower to the highest setting to mow over top of the piles of dirt because that doesn't solve any problems, it creates more problems, and it won't get rid of your moles. What you need to do is you get out a bucket (or wheelbarrow) and a shovel and you shovel up those piles of loose, fluffy soil and put that soil in your garden beds. It's really easy to do and the soil is rich so your plants will love you for the new food. Then you will have no mole hills on your lawn and you can mow the lawn at the lower setting that you would usually do.
If you are disabled and unable to take up the mole hills with a shovel and can't get somebody else to do it for you then your other alternative is to get a rake out and you (or somebody else) rake the mole hills flat and spread the dirt out evenly all over the surface of the lawn. Then water the soil down into the grass.
Under each pile of soil you will find the tunnel entrance that they pushed the soil out of. After you have removed the mole hill stick the end of the garden hose down inside that tunnel hole and flood the tunnel with water. That will either drown or discourage the moles and they will go away.
Interesting about the mole hill description. I have lots of tunnels but currently only have one mole hill. The tunnels are high enough, however, that unless you tramp them down or use a roller, your mower blade will hitting the tunnels.
Regarding mowing my grass on the highest setting, I normally mow at 3.75" or 3.5" until late fall. I than lower the blade to help mulch the leaves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fisheye
Although the OP looks like they have voles and not moles; I use my riding mowers to get rid of my moles. I simply keep driving over their tunnels and move only far enough so my wheels crush every square inch of their tunneling system. By rolling over all of their affected area like that I either kill them or discourage them from coming back.
I don't think you're killing them or discouraging them from coming back. They just redig the tunnel. I wish it were so easy.
.I don't think you're killing them or discouraging them from coming back. They just redig the tunnel. I wish it were so easy.
It has worked many times for me. Of course maybe it is related to the weight of the mower? I did have a heavier lawn tractor for many years; about 500 pounds heavier than most lawn tractors. I guess you could even try it with a car or pickup as long as you were not sinking into the soil.
Give it a try if you have moles; if you have a riding mower. Just go back and forth until your tracks have covered all of their tunnels and see what you think? I might have had to do it more than once; it has been several years since I have had problems and I forget. But I do remember that my 'problem' went away quick.
If he has voles, it won't be a problem. With moles it is a real pain. I have a mound of dirt in my back yard right now that is about five inches high. I assume it is their nest. I had to mow most of my yard on the highest setting, which is 3.75 inches on my mower.
Voles are a real problem and almost impossible to get rid of them, I know, believe me!
They’ve killed a bunch of new shrubs that I’ve planted. They eat the young fresh roots and you normally don’t notice until the shrub dies and falls over since the root structure is virtually all gone.
I’ve found it much easier to get rid of moles than those really destructive voles!
It has worked many times for me. Of course maybe it is related to the weight of the mower? I did have a heavier lawn tractor for many years; about 500 pounds heavier than most lawn tractors. I guess you could even try it with a car or pickup as long as you were not sinking into the soil.
Give it a try if you have moles; if you have a riding mower. Just go back and forth until your tracks have covered all of their tunnels and see what you think? I might have had to do it more than once; it has been several years since I have had problems and I forget. But I do remember that my 'problem' went away quick.
You can flatten the tunnels however, they remain in the area and just start in with new tunneling. They are very efficient at tunneling and they are excellent at reproducing as well!
Voles are a real problem and almost impossible to get rid of them, I know, believe me!
They’ve killed a bunch of new shrubs that I’ve planted. They eat the young fresh roots and you normally don’t notice until the shrub dies and falls over since the root structure is virtually all gone.
I’ve found it much easier to get rid of moles than those really destructive voles!
I see your point. With moles they tunnel in the dirt and the grass usually survives. Vole are more like grubs because they eat the grassroots.
You can flatten the tunnels however, they remain in the area and just start in with new tunneling. They are very efficient at tunneling and they are excellent at reproducing as well!
Possibly? But after I flattened their tunnels I had no problem. Maybe luck? I don't know but I have done it several times in my 72 years.
Thanks for all the feedback -- it's been an interesting discussion. We are going to let the cat out more at daytime (coyote food at night in this area). This link had a great description of voles and moles:
Given voles are stealthy and do most of their eating under the cover of snow, it's probably a waste of my time to try to beat this with traps, finding them, etc. I'm hoping (per the link) the grass stubble they leave behind at the crown will be enough to promote new growth come spring.
We have a pickup load of permatil (small rocks) that I use every time I plant something new now. Supposedly, the voles don't like it when they encounter them and thus move on to a new location.
We have a bed lined with hardware cloth on the sides and bottom with hostas in the shade end and lilies and irises in the sunny end, and So far so good.
I've planted hostas in wire mesh bags but they don't seem to do well in them.
We've set mousetraps at the entrance to the vole holes with upside down flower pots over them to keep it dark. Have caught a few that way.
Have planted society garlic and onions all over as they are supposed to repel them.
Have those solar stakes that that buzz and supposedly send tremors through the ground. Not sure they do a thing but annoy me.
We used to put bottle caps with a few morsels of rat poison in them down the vole holes but no longer do that since our new neighbors have an outdoor cat that patrols the place and occasionally brings back a bloody vole carcass.
Voles seem to love my parsley, hostas, irises, lilies, oxalis, and shrubs.
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