Getting rid of moles in the lawn?

Question

I've seen this question which seems to be our canonical mole page but I have additional questions/details I hope you can answer here.

I'm not a native English speaker so forgive my expressions. In particular, it seems that "moles" are ones that make tunnels that are visible on the grass? The moles I have make tunnels 10-20cm under the grass so I can't tell where the tunnels are except when I dig out one of the earth piles.
--> What's this kind of mole called? Just so I can phrase my questions properly.

Also, I'm not in the US so some of the products mentioned don't exist here (Austria) and I can't figure out whether my "local" Amazon.de has anything similar.
--> Knowledge of European alternatives are much appreciated!

My lawn is new: rolls of pre-grown grass rolled out over a thick layer of new soil in the summer of 2013. There are a LOT of earth worms (which is a good sign) but also at least one very annoying mole that perforates my (expensive) lawn.

• I have tried old spring-loaded mole traps borrowed from my neighbor, but they were triggered by soil and not by the mole itself.
• He also gave me a concussion trap (powered by a round of gun powder, no projectile) that got jammed by soil and didn't blow.
• Strongly-scented cotton balls seemed worth a try but also ineffective.
• Burying a deep container in the mole's path in the hope of trapping it (advice from a pest control person) didn't succeed either.

Here's an image of a revealed tunnel going under the boys' sandbox. I've placed a plastic stick in the path for visibility. I know that the mole passes through here and I placed a slab over this hole while I figure out what to do next.

--> What can I do to get rid of this mole? Trap/kill/move/chase away - whatever you can recommend.

Answer 1

Find some briar canes, cut them about 10 to 12 inches long and stick them vertically into the moles tunnel that is used frequently. The blind mole will tire of bumping into the thorny stem and leave. Remove the canes when the job is done so they won't root.

Answer 2

I have found that black box spring traps work well with my gopher problems. Gopher and mole seem to be used somewhat interchangeably. Our pocket gopher is a vegetarian, living on roots mostly. There is usually no hole in the mounds they leave. Almost never seen in daylight, about 12-18 cm long (not counting tail) and weighing about a quarter to half a kilogram. This description also matches moles. But look at the paws (second link)

Pocket Gopher on Wikipedia

Gopher versus moles

There is a technique to setting them:

1. Work around the mound, poking a long tip screwdriver (20-30 cm long) You can find the tunnel this way.

2. Excavate a chunk of the tunnel. The face with the hole in it should be close to vertical and flat. Cock the trap. Place the open end against the tunnel. Bury the trap with loose dirt, but do NOT cover the open hole at the back.

3. In operation the rodent senses that his tunnels are open and will come to close it off. Because the open hole is behind the wire loop he sets off the trap while investigating.

The trap is fairly humane, usually crush the rib cage and asphixiating the gopher in a couple minutes.

Caveats: Local dogs, coyotes, and foxes soon learn that a buried trap is a possible box lunch. And if the gopher detects the trap, he will bury it. I now tie the trap to a brightly painted stake to make finding them easier.

Answer 3

Gag me!! Poison should never be used...let me try to change you paradigm here about moles and lawns.

I used to be paid BIG BUCKS to aerate, bring in top soil, dump it in piles all over this newly aerated lawn. Moles, gophers, and other soil mammals do all of that FOR FREE. Hello? And when you see a lawn with lots of mole hills...there are ONLY ONE OR TWO MOLES doing all of this work I used to do for LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY!!

Just take a rake every other day and rake the hills dispersing the soil thinly over your grass. I'd use this opportunity to aerate manually before major knock down. Quit worrying about a couple of very industrious little mammals!! Fertilize your lawn with extended release fertilizer!! Not the fast synthetic stuff! Water deeply and allow to dry out before watering again (10 or 15 minutes is not enough to water deeply, especially with clay!) Soak your lawn then allow to dry until you can see your footprints left after walking on your grass. 1" water per week!

Mow on the highest!!! setting. Depending on your type of grass, I am assuming the same stuff we use in the Pacific Northwest...if it is the same mow NO SHORTER THAN 3 inches! I kid you not!! Read this site's stuff on lawns...particularly Blue grass, fescue mixes. These grasses need at least 3" top growth to feed their genetic large root systems. Then they are able to outcompete all kinds of weeds...I mean it...3"...and you'll have the most luscious grass you can imagine. I did this for a living...3" and the soil will be shaded so that weed seeds aren't able to germinate.

I have a hard time killing anything! But poison is so very very wrong. Think about a cat or dog or hawk eating that poor little inocuous mole. The poison will kill again. We really need to relax an awful lot more. The landscape is so very different than the interior of one's home where you CAN be king. You are able to control all. Not so in the landscape and us humans can really screw ourselves royally trying to control versus understand the environment of which our homes are a part...I am just sayin' from an entirely different point of view...grin! By the way, these little guys eat larvae/grubs that could put your lawn at risk...

Answer 4

Since it appears you aren't afraid of killing them, you can feed them poison peanuts, which I see are available at Amazon.de: