[jaycee]

I never see a mole hill but make no mistake they are there! I can sometimes see a run just under the soil but many a time it`s only when the healthy plants begin to wither that I find their roots are dangling in a hole dug by the mole.
They have invaded my poly tunnel. No sign on the surface of them when when I examine the odd stunted tomato plnt etc...there they have been.
Now any ideas as to how I can keep them at bay?
Don`t mention the wine bottle theory. A couple of years ago I put them all around the raised beds but didn`t lift in the autumn. Spring found me digging up broken glass where the bottles had broken by the frosts/cold. Moth balls in the run doesn`t work either
How deep do moles burrow ?(if that`s the word). I thought of digging in slates surrounding the inside of the polytunnel but not sure if this would work as the slates would probably only go down about 6".
I won`t trap so any suggestions would be welcome.

[bradleyt]

It is not an easy thing to keep the mole infestation at bay because some of the more useful things - like chemicals - can kill off your plants. If you can deposit mothballs in cheese cloth around the garden that could work. Another good alternative is to get yourself a good hunter cat like a bengal.

[jaycee]

Garden far too big bradleyt and have tried the mothballs to no avail. So still hoping someone will tell me if sinkings a barrier (like upright slates) all around the inside of the poly tunnel and cold frames would work.
I love cats but have so many birds visiting of many species that I haven`t the heart to get a cat,
Ah well.............

[Salmo]

Moles have a network of tunnels usually about 6 inches down. They travel along these and make shallow feeding runs where there is food i.e. where you so kindly put compost and water. I would think a barrier would work. Some heavy duty plastic sheet is an alternative. How will you know that all the moles are out of your polytunnel?

[aelf]

have you seen the sketch Jasper Carrot does about moles? He suggests sitting on a swivel chair in the middle of the lawn with a shotgun  I was once woken by a mole trying to burrow into my tent. No sensible suggestions I'm afraid 

[BobandJack]

Terrier?

[catllar]

Our local remedy is to put sardines (not the tinned one) into the runs and let'em rot. Supposedly the smell is repulsive to them - not too good for us either, come to that. My husband once adopted a very radical but entertaining way (unless you are a mole) of dealing with them - we used to have a large field on a steep hill. The mole runs were lethal ankle traps and as we didn't want to get broken legs we had to get rid of moley. All the usual remedies were tried until one day OH lost his rag completely and went out with a large can of petrol. He poured said petrol down the runs from the top of the hill and then set it alight (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME) The resulting explosions from random parts of the runs were amazing! We had no further trouble with moles here! Not sure this is a viable solution for land under cultivation, however?

[tode]

We've been fighting moles for 30 years now, and in the beginning we tried EVERYTHING.
The only thing that works is trapping. I know its not very agreable, but think of them as big greenfly. (Forget all about Wind in the Willows).
Barriers dont work because at 2 in the morning you can find them on the surface, looking for new hunting grounds I suppose.
The traps that work best (and are cheapest) look like a pair of strong sugar-tongs. You need a pair, so that you can put one in each direction of the tunnel.
If you dont trap the first ones in Spring, theyll just start breeding, and then you really do have trouble.
Good luck