[coppermaran]

does anybody out there have tips on keeping moles out of the allotment. please something that works there driving me mad hills coming up every where and i am not the only one suffering on the allotment

[Steveharford]

12 bore is very effective but you have to be patient. Traps work too. I use them all the time but at the moment I am chasing one around my patch and he is very illusive. Little b@gger

[coppermaran]

Cheers mate but the older ladds on allotment would have heart attack if they saw me coming with a 12 bore not know for my easy going nature hence moles really putting my back .catch another turns up within days

[Steveharford]

Aye. I know it was a bit tongue in cheek but I have used both methods to some effect. I have also been advised that pouring diesel around the boundaries would keep them away. Mothballs were also supposed to work when you were allowed to buy them but never tried them.

[Yorkie]

Please don't try the diesel trick 

[Redgoat]

Tried mothballs but never sure they worked.
Most effective method was poison but better suited to farm use.

I would go for a trap. One tip I would give is to use gloves when handling the trap and use a piece of turf or soil from the location your setting it to rub over the trap. The moles are very good at sniffing out something which isnt supposed to be there! If it does it will bury the trap with soil and dig round it .

[Goosegirl]

My farmer friend next door uses traps and puts a little stick nearby so you can locate them easier later on. She has quite a good rate of success, but I like Redgoat's idea of scenting the trap beforehand. I would lend you my cat Amber as she can sit most of the day near a mole-hill to catch it, but she doesn't travel well! 

[barley]

I use scissor mole traps - I have 6 of them and set at least 4 around signs of mole activity

I can honestly say I have 100% success rate using this trap

if they don't go off and the mole activity stops leave them set in the ground as moles often come back and use old runs

I did kill one once with a garden fork !!!! saw it moving as I was standing there with a fork in my hand - it made me feel sick - don't like to kill but they are such a pest in the patch

[jezza]

hi i use a product called sork its a small allium (onion)grows about 3 inch high ,if its used as a cordon sanitaire the moles wont come in or they can be started at one side and drive them out  lasts 2-5 years ,the company i use is Chaselink Uk 10 bulbs cover 500sq yds  if any growth seen do not be tempted to smell it eyes water for 1/2 hour  jezza

[Aled]

I have traps but havent had to use them for years for some reason we have not been affected. However when i see them on my neighbours land i call round with a wheelbarrow (i have asked permission) and  put the mole hill soil on my veg patch!
Cheers
Aled

[snowdrops]

hi i use a product called sork its a small allium (onion)grows about 3 inch high ,if its used as a cordon sanitaire the moles wont come in or they can be started at one side and drive them out  lasts 2-5 years ,the company i use is Chaselink Uk 10 bulbs cover 500sq yds  if any growth seen do not be tempted to smell it eyes water for 1/2 hour  jezza

This way sounds so much better, I know they do damage but moles are so lovely,can we not live & let live. This doesn't mean slugs though

[AlaninCarlisle]

They'd driven me mad for a couple of years. I'd tried all the usual things such as Jeyes Fluid dribbled into their runs plus all the barmy hokus pokus remedies including various plants, toy windmills, electronic scarers and so on.

Two weeks ago I counted over 40 fresh molehills and in desperation called in the local mole-catcher (mowdie gadgie). He laid about six tunnel-traps, caught one mole and said "problem cured!" I looked at him as if  he was mad as I was convinced I had at least a dozen of the blighters.

He said he was so sure there were no more that he wouldn't send me a bill for three weeks and if any new molehills appeared (he'd stamped on all the existing hills) he'd repeat the exercise with no additional charge.

Cost will be £35 in total as being £30 for the call-out and trap-setting plus £5 for each mole killed

[AlaninCarlisle]

I misrepresented the mole-catcher's fee. It's £30 call-out including 1 mole caught ONLY payable IF he traps a mole

[danny1936]

Just a shade off the topic but we have moles at the golf club. I note how nice and fine the soil is on the mole hill. Could that be used for setting seeds?

[Yorkie]

Yes, Danny, it can. (I think!).