Options for catching a mole using a homemade mole trap

Gardeners on whose property moles have settled are often at a loss as to what to do with the invaders. Moles are useful animals in nature, but in large quantities they cause severe damage to the garden. It is impossible to catch them, since they move underground. While you are digging in one corner of the garden, the mole has already reached the opposite one. It is very difficult to poison moles. They are obligate carnivores, consuming only live food. An earthworm filled with poison may die before the animal finds it. Therefore, summer residents have only mole traps and repellent devices at their disposal, which can be purchased or homemade devices.

The question is blunt: to eliminate or not to eliminate

Now let's move on from the lyrics to action. No matter how pleasant the mole may be and no matter how much pity we feel for it, we need to get rid of it. Get rid of it - the garden and your crops will breathe a sigh of relief. If you don’t get rid of it, it will rid your area of ​​worms, and then difficult times will come. It is not at all necessary to kill the animal; it is enough to simply catch it in one of the traps and take it as far as possible from your area. Catch it - and you can show the little animal to your children, who are always interested in such finds. In general, the process of catching can also be made enjoyable, especially by diluting it with the realization that now you are providing great help to your site. There is no doubt that the best means of getting rid of moles are mole traps. Unlike chemicals, they do not scare away the animal, but physically eliminate it or simply capture it. It all depends on the type of trap installed. Often traps can be purchased at gardening stores, but you can build something with your own hands. We bring to your attention one of these homemade products. It is not difficult to do it yourself, and the efficiency with proper installation will pleasantly please you.

Popular live traps

Operating principle of the device

If the mole has already moved in, then repellers are unlikely to have an effect. Subterranean animals that prefer silence become accustomed to the noise of windmills constructed from polypropylene bottles or low-frequency signals from ultrasonic devices.

You can save money, time and preserve the harvest using live traps.

Easy-to-make devices are useful for fighting moles in small areas: in the garden, garden, near the house.

Plastic bottle trap

In specialized stores you can find a trap in the form of a plastic pipe. You can make homemade mole traps that are identical in functionality with your own hands. The operating principle of a purchased one will not differ from a home-made trap.

What is required for the device to work effectively?

• You need to put bait in the middle of the pipe.
• If you design a trap yourself, consider the volume of the bottles so that the mole’s body can fit inside.
• You need to install the mole trap correctly.

While picking up a delicious meal in the form of beetles or earthworms, the mole will not be able to get out of the trap on his own.

How to design a trap

Available: plastic bottle fixture

How to make a mole trap from plastic bottles? Making a homemade trap is a little different from a purchased pipe. On portals dedicated to the topic of gardening, you will be able to find the necessary drawings, and before starting work, see what the result should be.

• Take three empty plastic bottles of the same size.
• Using a utility knife or scissors, cut off the bottom and top of the first bottle.
• The remaining two need to be cut approximately in the middle. Only the tops are required for the trap.
• Cut the neck, creating “petals”.
• Place the necks into the body of the main bottle on both sides.

When crawling into such a trap, it will not be a problem for the mole to bend the petal, and after the pest reaches the desired target in the main hollow section, the closed neck will not let it out.

Where to place the mole trap

A properly created trap will not guarantee that a mole will fall into it. To obtain the result, the correct installation of the live trap is required.

Preparation and placement of mole traps

It is advisable to bury plastic pipes in newly dug holes. Finding them will not be difficult, since they are located relatively close to the surface of the soil near the dug heaps. Where the mole made its way, the soil loosened in the tunnel will be slightly raised. Installation details can be seen in videos posted on the Internet.

Efficiency of the method

This self-made mole trap, proven in practice, is not inferior to store-bought counterparts. The use of simple, uncomplicated technology will allow you to get rid of the pest, while saving the life of an animal that accidentally entered your territory.

Common errors that prevent the trap from functioning:

• Having chosen an old move for installation, which the mole family has not used for a long time, the live trap will stand idle.
• There should be no dead end on the trap; access must be made only in two directions.
• For reliability, secure the edges with tape or insulating tape.

The effectiveness of live traps is the same as that of traps, and using this method of control, you will not reduce the mole population.

Catch a mole in a jar

Having tried the live trap represented by a pipe, an additional way to protect the crop will be a mole trap-jar. It's much easier to do. The basis can be a bucket, a trimmed five-liter bottle, or a glass jar. The main selection criterion will be open access from above for the animal.

Scheme for catching a mole using a made apparatus:

• Dig a hole at least 25 cm deep.
• You need to dig where there is a fresh passage.
• To prevent the animal from noticing the trick, compact the soil a little near the container placed in the recess.
• It is necessary to cover the top of the trap with thick fabric or wood so that light does not penetrate into the hole.

What to do with a caught animal

When the animal was caught

When installing traps for moles in a vegetable garden or garden plot, they should be checked for the presence of “prey” several times a day, otherwise the animal will simply die from lack of water and food.

Blind animals are not as harmless as people imagine. To protect itself from danger while freeing itself from a live trap, a mole can bite with sharp teeth.

The find should be treated with caution. It is best to take the mole to a remote area in a pipe or jar, and then release it into the wild

There is no guarantee that new individuals of the species will not settle on the site, but there will be no guarantee even if deadly traps are used.

Mole fences and other methods of site protection

The use of fencing is not so much a way to get rid of moles in the garden, but a means of protecting the area after the fight has been carried out. If there are already moles on the site, then, of course, they cannot be driven out by fencing.

But if you managed to get rid of moles using the above means, then the reappearance of pests can be prevented once and for all by creating an insurmountable mechanical barrier.

Fencing the area around the perimeter

The most obvious and very reliable way to create a fence is to dig a trench at least 80 cm deep along the perimeter of the site, then install a mesh with a mesh of 1-2 cm in it and fill it up. Instead of mesh, you can also use slate, crushed stone, concrete, but in the standard case, mesh is the most inexpensive option. The cost of fencing it is approximately 300 rubles per linear meter of the border (including the work of digging a trench).

In the same way, you can protect flower beds, greenhouses and garden beds from moles, and in this case the costs will be significantly lower.

Practice shows that if the site is fenced with a solid fence with a sufficiently deep (up to 40 cm) foundation, then this is also reliable protection against moles.

However, theoretically, the animal is capable of digging under such a foundation, and even under a fence buried to a depth of 80 cm, because a mole’s nest can be located at a depth of up to 2.5 meters. However, in practice, 80 cm in most cases is more than enough.

Protecting your lawn from moles

To prevent the appearance of molehills on the lawn, it is enough to lay a plastic mole net horizontally over the entire area of ​​the lawn at a depth of 5-10 cm from the surface of the ground. This mesh is covered with rolled turf on top, or covered with soil and lawn grass is sown on it. The mole will not be able to get out from under the fence, and even if there are passages here, no signs will be noticeable on the soil surface.

Sometimes a mole net is even simply placed on an existing lawn, and it quickly disappears (sinks) into the grass that grows through the cells.

For vegetable gardens and flower beds, this method is less suitable, since it is complicated by the need to plant certain plants.

Plants as a living barrier

Sometimes they try to protect a garden plot from moles by planting various plants on it (usually along the perimeter), which moles are supposed to avoid. Among such plants, the following are most often used: black beans, castor beans, imperial hazel grouse, marigolds, onions, garlic, daffodils, etc.

However, it should be said that this method does not have proven effectiveness, and there are no statistically significant cases of successful protection of an area with just such plants (there are only isolated mentions).

If you have personal experience of getting rid of moles in your garden (positive or negative), then be sure to leave your review at the bottom of this page, in the comments field.

How to get rid of moles on your property (an example of using mole traps)

• Means for controlling moles in summer cottages and gardens
• How to quickly catch a mole in the garden using simple means
• Effective traps for catching moles in the area

Remedies for moles:

Reliable design, can be installed instantly, operates in the tunnel on both sides, and is safe for pets.

A simple, inexpensive and yet very effective mole trap.

Highly effective sound-vibration mole repeller, coverage area up to 750 sq. m.

Wire 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. If the trap has a stopper, it rests on the bottom of the passage. If there is no stopper, then a nail is used instead, inserted into the spring and resting against the walls of the stroke.

The video below shows how to cock a wire trap into working position to catch a mole:

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.

Review

“In Moscow you can buy any kind of traps for moles. There are even devices that cost 8,000 rubles. You simply press them into the place where the move is located, and that’s it. But we make do with the cheapest ones, in Mytishchi they sell them for 55 rubles - such large loops, they look like pins. Three years ago we bought two of them, then the mole was caught. And this year I had to catch it again. A very convenient thing, the mole is caught in a couple of days and there is no need to install any repellers. Once in the spring they caught them and forgot about these comrades for a year. And these hinges are also indestructible - they simply physically cannot be broken.”

Alexander, Mytishchi

How to completely get rid of moles in garden plots

Some gardeners are annoyed by moles to such an extent that they decide to take extreme measures to physically destroy them.

They begin to use poisonous chemicals, which, along with their immediate purpose, destroy beneficial earthworms.

Someone (most likely fishermen) even throws their gear into the holes...

Peace to the world!

Natural enemies

Your pets can help you in the fight against moles; for example, cats and dogs (especially dachshunds and fox terriers) are considered to be quite dexterous and skillful hunters of these underground pests. Therefore, take your pets to the dacha more often and let them get their own food in the wild.

Video: Dachshund fights moles (at least he tries)

Harm of moles to plants

In general, moles are useful animals; they destroy pests, their larvae and field mice.
But, while digging their tunnels, they often damage the root system of plants. If there are a lot of moles, they can easily destroy half the crop. In addition, their favorite delicacy is earthworms, which loosen the soil and make it more fertile. Moles avoid wetlands; they live in places with dry, loose soil rich in worms, caterpillars, and insect larvae. That's why they usually settle in gardens and summer cottages. The first sign that moles have chosen your garden is the appearance of fresh earthen mounds on the surface of the beds.

Many gardeners believe that these animals gnaw the root system of trees and plants, which leads to their death. But this opinion is wrong; the animals are not rodents and do not feed on crop roots. They simply create a complex system of holes and passages, and the roots that fall into it become exposed and dry out. The more moles there are on a site, the faster they can spoil the green plantings growing on it.

The land in the long-term habitat of these animals becomes infertile after some time. This is due to the destruction of earthworms and the movement of the lower layer of soil depleted in nutrients to the top. In addition, moles are considered carriers of some pathogenic bacteria and parasites. And also their presence on the site negatively affects its landscape design.

Live traps

When making such mole traps with your own hands, only one quality is required: the absence of fear of moles. The most popular trap among people is made from a plastic water pipe.

Pipe

Live trap pipe
Why the name “Solomon’s trap” was attached to this pipe is a mystery. But it's not difficult to make. For production you will need:

• water pipe;
• tin can with both bottoms;
• a piece of wire;
• drill;
• metal scissors or that you don’t mind getting dull.

The diameter of the pipe must be exactly the size of the wormhole. Usually it is about 6 cm.

How to make:

1. Cut a piece about 50 cm long from the pipe. Drill 2 holes on both sides of the piece, on the side that will be the top. The holes are needed to secure the wire.
2. Cut the bottoms out of a tin can.
3. The height of the door should be greater than the diameter of the pipe, since it is installed with an inward slope. This is shown in the side view diagram. To secure the door to the wire, you also need some allowance. Accordingly, the door height will not be 60 mm, but 70-80 mm. The width of the door is cut slightly narrower than the diameter of the pipe.
4. Bend the top edge of the door around the wire.
5. Then remove the wire and assemble the entire structure, sequentially threading the wire into the hole in the pipe, the mount on the door and the second hole in the pipe.
6. Bend the outer ends of the wire so that the door does not break at the wrong moment.

To install the pipe, you need to open the mole tunnel and replace the tunnel dug by the animal with your own from the pipe. Open the passage carefully to cause the least amount of damage and not to frighten the animal. It is better to do this with a garden trowel.

The pipe is installed in progress. From above, so that the sun does not illuminate the tunnel, cover the trap with a piece of dense material and cover it with earth.

Plastic bottles

Bottle trap

A very fast and cheap way to make an analogue of Solomon's trap. A bottle trap is built on the principle of a fish trap.

To make a mole trap from a plastic bottle, you will need 2 or 3 disposable containers of 1.5 liters each. For a one-sided version you need 2 bottles, for a double-sided one - 3. In the one-sided version, the bottom of the main bottle is left in place. These are all differences, so you need to consider a double-sided option.

1. The “body” of the pipe is made from one bottle by cutting off the top and bottom.
2. From the other two you need the upper parts, cut off well below the beginning of the narrowing towards the neck.
3. The neck itself is also cut off.
4. In the remaining part, ribbons are cut on the tapering part up to the expanding part. After which the finished parts are tightly driven into the main bottle, as shown in the diagram.
5. The wormhole is installed in the same way as a pipe. The plastic is slippery and there is no need to secure the inserted parts. The animal, crawling along the way, will easily spread the “ribbons” and fall into the trap. He won't be able to get back.

Trap pits

Trap pits

To do this, you will need a 3-liter jar with a neck wide enough so that you can remove the mole clutched in your fist. The jar is buried below the mole tunnel so that its neck is level with the tunnel floor. You need to dig the hole carefully so as not to collapse the passage. The jar is placed at the bottom of the hole and sprinkled so that there are no holes left between the actual hole and the neck of the jar. The passage is covered with plywood from above.

The advantage of live traps is that the animals that are very useful in nature have a chance to survive. The disadvantages are the need for frequent checks and problems with release into the wild. The mole must be taken far from the site, otherwise it will return. But you can also kill an animal, but you will have to do it manually.

The disadvantage of a trapping pit jar is that you have to get the animals out of it by hand so as not to spoil a well-made trap. But if they manage to die of hunger, there will be no problems removing them from the jar.

Making a bottle trap

To create a mole trap, you do not need special tools or special skills. The whole process will take no more than 20 minutes, even if you are making the device for the first time.

We will need:

• Sharp scissors that are convenient for cutting plastic;
• 2 one and a half liter bottles;
• Awl;
• Strong thread or thin wire.

Step 1. Prepare the container

To create a trap we will need a 1.5 liter bottle. Its dimensions are perfect for placing a mole trap in the path of an animal.

Now we cut off the neck of the bottle at the place where it begins to narrow. We leave both parts, they will be useful to us in the future.

Step 2. Making a “door” into the trap

Now we need to make a “door” that will let the animal through only in one direction. To do this, take the previously cut neck and cut off the dense part with the lid. This can be done with scissors, or with a hot knife. The plastic in this place is quite thick and difficult to cut.

How to make a mole trap with your own hands

The mole trap is made with your own hands from a piece of plastic or metal pipe with a diameter of 9-12 cm and a length of 40-50 cm. Two holes are made along the edges, onto which the doors will be attached with hinges.

Below is a drawing of such a mole trap:

It is advisable to observe the indicated dimensions, since a large individual will not fit into a pipe that is too narrow, a short pipe will not accommodate several animals at once, and a pipe that is too wide is inconvenient for installation, since it will not correspond to the average diameter of the mole passage.

Further:

1. Two oval-shaped doors are cut from a sheet of aluminum or from the bottom of tin cans. The major axis should be slightly larger than the inner diameter of the pipe, the minor axis should be slightly smaller;
2. At the top, in the narrow part of each door, two holes are drilled;
3. Wire loops are inserted into the holes, the door is inserted into the pipe at an angle of the lower part inward, the loop is put on the hole in the pipe;
4. The same thing is repeated with the second door.

There is also an option in which not loops are used, but a nail inserted transversely into the upper part of the pipe. The door is hung on it using a special bend, which is made after cutting out the door, for example, using pliers.

The drawing below shows the second option for manufacturing the door:

In both cases, it is useful to make several holes with a diameter of about 1.5 cm in the upper part of the pipe - this will allow you to install the trap once and not constantly remove it for checking - the caught mole will be visible through the holes.

Also very popular is the option of a mole trap made from plastic bottles. In this case, not doors are used, but two necks from other bottles. They make 10-12 longitudinal cuts, first cutting off the hard part onto which the lid is screwed. The resulting “petals” operate as a door that allows access only in one direction—the mole climbs inside by simply pressing on them with his body, and cannot push them apart to get out.

Below is a schematic diagram of such a mole trap-pipe made from three plastic bottles:

The effectiveness of all these types of traps is approximately the same if they are installed correctly.

Homemade mole traps

Lovers of all things homemade can build mole traps with their own hands. You won't need a lot of money for this.

Shovel

Catching an animal with a shovel is the easiest and cheapest way to catch, but it requires certain skills and patience.

At the moment the animal moves, and this can be seen from the mounds of earth that appear, you need to stick a bayonet shovel behind the movement and throw the mole out along with the earth.

Two disadvantages of this method:

• It is likely that you will have to wait a long time.
• You may simply not be able to keep up with the mole, as they move underground at a decent speed.

Data:

• The speed of moles moving through their earth tunnels reaches 25 meters per second.
• In one day they can dig up to 30 meters of soil.
• The length of each hole reaches 200 meters.

Hooks

Considering that moles love worms, just like fish. Then you can try the fishing method - with a hook. Thread a thicker worm and run the line into the molehill. All you have to do is wait and react. The method is cheap, but tedious. It will be just right for those who like to meditate while fishing.

Alternatively, the fishing line is dug in and a bell is tied to the other end. If a mole rat is hooked, there will be a signal.

This is interesting! Moles, unlike small rodents, are very reluctant to lead a “mating” life. Scientists are still unsure whether they have a so-called “mating season.” Finding a female and leaving offspring is very difficult for them.

Plastic bottle

The notorious plastic bottle can serve faithfully. This is a humane way to rein in rampant moles. And given the cheapness of the “building materials”, several of them can be built, thereby increasing the catch several times.

ActionsExplanations

This miracle of technology is placed in a wormhole. An animal, once inside due to the movable “plastic petals,” cannot get back out.

Crossbows

There is also a very complex and dangerous method of destroying moles with crossbows. Let's consider it as an example of the lengths people go to when trying by any means to destroy the underground inhabitants on their site.

So, how does a crossbow work: when the animal moves, a pipe is installed, sealed on one side, into which gunpowder is poured and shot is loaded. A nichrome wire is connected to the gunpowder through a thin hole, and a motion sensor is connected to it, installed 20-30 cm along the hole. When a mole passes under the sensor, it turns on the battery, it heats up the wire and after a split second the crossbow fires.

It is clear that the mole dies after this. It is also quite obvious that the design of such a crossbow is many times more complex than the use of any other homemade traps. Perhaps, the use of crossbows today is more the lot of flayer enthusiasts who are willing to spend their time and effort on inventing more and more sophisticated ways of killing animals.

Loop trap and its design options

Traps in the form of loops are sold in several versions. The most common is the wire loop shown in the photo:

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

It is placed during the animal’s move, and after it is triggered, it either strangles the animal or simply crushes its body, which leads to death after a certain time. Some gardeners make such wire traps with their own hands according to ready-made drawings.

Loop traps of the following designs work similarly:

Odorous liquids and substances

First of all, it is necessary to determine the path of the animal. In each fresh molehill you need to make a small hole. You can use a stick or drill for this. You need to get to the horizontal gallery. Pour one glass of the special mixture into it. It is prepared from kerosene and fuel oil in the following ratio: 1 to 2. After this, the hole must be filled with earth, then trampled with feet. You can also put the following in molehills:

1. Shag.
2. Tobacco.
3. Bleach.
4. Rotten fish.
5. Pieces of mothballs.
6. Tow soaked in tar or oil.

Due to the bad smell, moles leave the area. At first, these measures will surprise the animal, and it will go away for a while. However, this does not exclude the possibility of the animal returning to its previous areas.

Effective control measures

It is important to understand that moles are just animals, they do not intentionally cause harm, so try to use humane methods if possible

Other inhumane, but fairly reliable methods include traps and molebreakers of various models, which are sold in large numbers in stores. They are equipped with a spring and are aimed at directly killing the animal that falls into the trap.

In general, the question of how to catch a mole that has appeared on a site is solved quite simply. Sometimes the fight against animals takes a lot of time, but thanks to humane methods it is possible to protect the crop without harming the animals.

There are many ways to get rid of moles in the garden:

• Sound methods in the form of self-made pinwheels made from plastic bottles will not always help get rid of moles. To effectively influence underground inhabitants, a constant presence of wind is required.
• Ultrasonic repellers, which can be purchased at specialized gardening stores. More effective, they act on moles without the intervention of external factors. Disadvantage - they can act as irritants on humans.
• Aromatic methods. The area is planted with black beans or imperial hazel grouse - the unpleasant smell emitted by the roots of the plants will help get rid of uninvited guests. Also for these purposes, rotten fish, meat, garlic or rags, previously soaked in gasoline, kerosene, or tar, are placed in underground passages.
• The usual barriers are in the form of underground fences that prevent the animal from further moving.

• Use of poison. To get rid of underground pests, stores offer various poisonous products that emit odors that are pleasant to the mole’s sense of smell. The poison can be mixed independently with crushed dried worms or insects, and the prepared substance can be carefully placed in the place where the animal is supposed to move.
• Dog baiting. In addition to barking, moles cannot tolerate the feeling of danger when they are being hunted.
• You can also get rid of moles using a watering hose, placing it directly in the hole you made. If you first scatter carbide along the length of an underground tunnel, then after the substance comes into contact with water, the effect of a gas chamber is formed. It should be noted that this method involves a long and painful death of the mammal.
• Installed traps and traps will help get rid of moles in the garden. If the first option implies the instant death of an underground inhabitant, then the second is a more humane method and is suitable for those who are wondering how to catch a mole without harming it.

Working mechanisms

If the mole population exceeds 5-10 individuals, then you cannot do without traps. They work flawlessly. You can make the structures yourself, but it is preferable to purchase spring triggers in specialized stores. Thus, you will not get hurt during the manufacturing process, the design will be durable, and in case of breakdown or failure to perform functions, you can always order repairs using a warranty card.

Trap for an underground animal

A mole trap is a ready-made device, upon contact with which the animal is killed by suffocation or fracture of the cervical vertebrae. The basis for traps is a wire base.

You can free territories from moles using scissor traps, plunger mechanisms, all kinds of nooses, and crossbows.

Catch with a scissor trap

By choosing a trap presented in a design similar to scissors, you will certainly know that it has worked. This type of mole trap is quite well known among gardeners due to its advantages:

• It's easy to install. You need to insert the handles into the soil and cock the mechanism.
• You can see that the trap has worked even from afar.
• Sensitivity is adjustable.

Disadvantages of the pest control method:

• The small size is sometimes not enough to place the device in a tunnel at depth.
• If you don't adjust the sensitivity, it triggers on leaves, stones, and nuts.
• In cold weather, frozen handles do not function.

Since the main harvest time is the summer-autumn season, and fresh passages are located near the surface, the disadvantages will not play a decisive role during the purchase.

Skat-1 system against the blind beast

Plunger designs

In terms of efficiency, plunger designs are not inferior to scissor traps. There are two main types: “Scat-1”, “Scat-2”. A mole trap, regardless of type, is designed to kill underground inhabitants.

The operating principle of Skat-1 is similar to the operation of a crossbow. To start work, you need to stick the legs into the soil on the sides of the mole's hole, cock the spring, which inserts the guard into the hole.

Hitting the guard, a spring is activated, which releases three spokes into the mole, killing the animal.

How does Skat-2 work? Catching occurs similarly to the first plunger design, only, having touched the guard, the staples clamp the pest, breaking the backbone or limbs.

This method of fighting is considered professional, although live traps will bring more results, since after the plunger mechanism is triggered, you need to re-tension the spring, but a large pipe can accommodate 2-3 adult individuals at once.

Will a loop trap work?

A suffocating trap for a mole is made of wire. This loop is easy to make yourself. If you don’t have enough time, then similar mechanisms can be found in agricultural stores; the price relative to other traps is not so high.

Like any type of trap, a wire loop is laid in the move. Crawling through a round hole, the mechanism is triggered, and the mole is squeezed by a deadly noose.

The device is designed for reusable use, so that by purchasing several traps, you will be able to clear the land of moles that prefer to settle in families.

Harpoon fishing

Another type will be various crossbows. This rather labor-intensive process of catching moles can harm even humans. How does a mole trap work?

Harpoon for catching underground animals

• A pipe filled with gunpowder and shot, sealed on one side, is used.
• Nichrome wire is connected to the gunpowder.
• In the same way, connect the motion sensor at a distance of 20-30 cm from the crossbow.
• As the sensor passes by, the wire heats up and the device kills the animal.

An absolutely inhumane method of fighting is not only labor-intensive, but in most cases it is useless, because if the mechanism does not work, the animal will be injured and will die for a long time and painfully.

A mole is not a fish

Particularly “sophisticated” hunting enthusiasts recommend catching moles with a hook. Such an action is inherently useless, since the animal is injured and ultimately dies. How do you catch moles with hooks?

Triple fishing hooks on the fishing line are lowered into the hole, bringing the rest of the fishing line out. While making its way in search of food, the mole runs into sharp hooks that pierce the skin. Trying to free itself, the animal begins to move convulsively, thus moving the stick to which the fishing line is attached.

It is almost impossible to pull out a hook that is caught in the muscle fibers of the animal, and the mole slowly dies for several days from the injuries received and lost blood.

Plunger traps, including Skat 61 and Skat 62

The plunger traps Skat 61 and Skat 62 are designed to kill moles, and therefore, generally speaking, their use in a civilized economy is undesirable.

The operating principle of these traps varies:

1. The Skat 61 mole trap uses the principle of a crossbow. Its legs are stuck into the ground on the sides of the mole’s move, and after the spring is cocked, the guard is inserted into the move itself. When the mole hits the guard, the spring is released and the mole is pierced by three spokes. In many cases, death does not occur immediately, and the animal suffers for several tens of minutes;
2. In Skat 62, the principle of operation is similar, but after touching the guard, the spring compresses the brackets, which crush the animal (or part of it) together.

The disadvantage of these traps lies not only in the inhumane nature of their use, but also in the fact that once triggered, the device no longer works until it is freed from the corpse and re-armed. For comparison: the same mole traps, pipes or pits, catch as many moles as the number of them that can fit in the trap.

That is, despite the fact that Skat 61 and Skat 62 are positioned as professional plunger traps for moles, they are noticeably inferior to live traps in terms of their effectiveness.

Three shovels

A method of catching moles from a series of oddities and for those who have nothing else to do in the country. They can also be classified as traps, although it would be more correct to call them an ambush. This method requires 3 shovels. We stick the first one across the mole passage and trample the earth on both sides. Now we wait for the animal to appear. His appearance will be noticeable by the movement of the earth.

It is unknown when the animal will appear. If you are lucky and the mole is discovered, we stick a second shovel behind the mole. Now, with the third shovel, we quickly dig out the animal before it has time to dig another hole.

Swissinno Mole Trap

The Swiss miracle of technology, the mole trap Mole Trap SuperCat, is a cross between the Skat 61 plunger trap and a mouse trap-squeezer. The principle of operation of the design is quite simple - the product is inserted across the mole passage, the spring is cocked, opening the entrance to the animal and setting up the guard. As soon as the mole hits the guard, the spring descends and crushes the animal's head or neck.

The trap is supplied with a probe for reconnaissance and a special device for quickly preparing a hole for the trap itself. It looks like the one shown in the video below:

On a note

The previous model of the mouse and mole trap Mole Trap from Swissinno worked on the same principle as the Skat 62 - it crushed the animal with two staples that closed like scissors.

In general, the Mole Trap is quite easy to use, but expensive. The price of the old version is about 2,000 rubles (which is twice as expensive as the analogue Skat 62), and the new one is about 3,500 rubles.

Other mole traps, their advantages and disadvantages

No less often than pipe-shaped live traps, slightly less convenient methods of catching moles are used: in buckets, deep pans, glass jars or wide plastic bottles with a cut neck. They are buried in the gap in the mole's passage, the edges are covered with a roller of compacted earth, and the opened passage is covered on top with boards so that sunlight does not enter it.

Moving along the way, the mole simply falls into such a trap “pit” and cannot get out of it. When checking, the animal is taken out with a gloved hand and taken away from the site. This method is also quite effective, although it is more labor-intensive to implement than using a good pipe mole trap.

Unfortunately, moles are also often killed with special traps (crushes, crossbows, snares...) Their designs are varied, but their main disadvantage is the inhumane destruction of animals, which are only to blame for the fact that they turned out to be a person’s neighbors in the area.

But various methods of repelling moles are for the most part less effective than traps. Many of them do not always work (for example, noise, as well as rotten fish, perfume, ammonia, carbide), others are harmful to the soil and its inhabitants (pouring kerosene, gasoline into holes, pouring Alphos tablets, fumigating with insecticidal and sulfur bombs). But the effectiveness of other methods is initially questionable: sticking reeds into the ground, burying feces in underground passages, etc.

In some cases, special mole repellers (not all models on the market) provide a good repellent effect. However, read more about repellers in other articles on our website. And before that, do not forget to leave a review about your personal experience of using a mole trap-pipe, if you have such experience (to leave a review, just write it in the comment field at the bottom of this page).

Another effective, but inhumane method is to catch a mole like a fish on an improvised “donka”.

Too much water can kill plants.

Catching moles using fish hooks

And another barbaric method of catching moles, which is not, in fact, a trap, but allows you to catch and mutilate the animal: a fishing line with fishing hooks (usually triple ones) is used, the end of which is brought out and tied to a pin stuck in the ground or simply to a lying one on the ground with a stick. The mole, moving along, runs into hooks that cling to its body and pierce the skin, and begins to jerk the line, trying to free itself. These jerks can be seen by the movement of the fishing line and the pin, and if you hang a bell on the pin itself, it will also ring at the same time.

When an animal is caught, it is simply pulled out of the hole by the fishing line (who cares if the hooks go deeper into the body or even tear the skin and muscles).

It is clear that the hook can only be removed from the mole’s body by tearing the muscle fibers, or even with a piece of meat. However, people who prefer to catch animals in this way do not really think about how to deal more carefully with the animal, and at best they will not mock it before killing it...

On a note

Even the advice of seasoned “sadistic gardeners” is known - they say, you can put worms on hooks so that the mole, eating the bait, clings to the hook with its mouth, like a fish. We can only hope that the majority of summer residents still realize that fishing hooks are not the method that should be used to fight moles on their property.

As a result, we can conclude that for successful, efficient and fairly quick catching of moles, it is quite enough to use mole traps in the form of a pipe or pit. Their effectiveness is approximately the same as that of traps (and sometimes even higher), and with their help you can get rid of pests without having to kill, in general, innocent animals.

It is also important to keep in mind that removing moles from a site once does not mean forgetting about them forever. If they once entered the garden, they will be able to do so in the future. To eliminate the possibility of moles reappearing, the area should ideally be fenced around the entire perimeter with a net or other barrier dug into the ground. This will help prevent a conflict of interests between the gardener and the mole in the future.

If you have your own experience fighting moles using any type of trap, be sure to leave your review at the bottom of this page - perhaps it will help someone draw useful conclusions.

Useful video: catching a mole in a pipe trap

Types of ready-made traps

There are quite a few ready-made mole traps, for example: scissor traps, tunnel traps, plunger traps, pipe mole traps (also called humane traps) or live traps, ultrasonic repellers. Let's look at each trap in detail.

Scissor trap

There are many options for such devices, which are most often found in gardening stores, etc.

The photo shows a simple example of a scissor trap

Advantages:

• Easy to install (just press the handles into the ground and cock the mechanism).
• You can observe the operation from a distance.
• It is easy to adjust the sensitivity of the device.
• Simple but reliable design.

Flaws:

• Although easy to use, the trap is difficult to install in a tunnel opening, especially at great depths. It must be located and hidden so that the moving parts are not obstructed in the form of stones, pieces of peat, or clods of earth. Due to the tight handles, it is difficult to completely hide the device without light entering the passage, ensuring reliable operation.
• If there are low temperatures in the ground, the handles freeze and the trap does not work.
• Heavy rain can wash away the soil, making the trap undetectable.
• Difficult to install in very shallow and very deep tunnels.

Tunnel trap

The most suitable design for a mole trap is one that includes a semi-tunnel. Such a trap is easy to hide; working parts for the most part do not jam from foreign objects.

Advantages:

• Easy to install in a mole passage. It is enough to pour a little earth on top to block the access of light.
• Quickly and effectively kills pests.
• It is easy to adjust the sensitivity of the mechanism.
• Working parts practically do not jam due to the ingress of stones, peat, etc.
• If you cover the trap with peat or a board, frost and rain will not affect its operation.
• It is used with equal success in deep and shallow tunnels.
• Can neutralize two moles at the same time.

Flaws:

• Complex installation, requires advance instructions. If used incorrectly, you can easily get hurt.
• The operation of the device cannot be seen from afar.
• Invisible above the ground, so if the pointer is lost, the trap will be difficult to find.

Plunger trap

If you prefer to use a scissor trap, then this effective device is worth a try.

This is what a plunger trap looks like Another version of a plunger trap

Advantages:

• The trigger mechanism is triggered in a different way from the previous two types. The trap is activated not by the movement of the mole with its nose or paws, but by pushing through the earth to restore the previously dug tunnel. Thus, the trap is very useful in the presence of moles that bypass the traps.
• A very powerful trap that requires a little practice to use.
• No need to adjust before use.
• Relatively easy to install, but requires a little time, especially when working on rocky soil.

Flaws:

• If there are stones in the ground, it can become stuck, as is the case with a scissor trap.
• If you do not have the skills to install it correctly, the device may not work, and moles will freely pass through it.

Humane mole trap-tube and ultrasonic device

Quite ineffective devices. The first is a hollow tube with movable doors on both sides, the second also has the shape of a tube that is installed in the soil. According to reviews from gardeners, it is almost impossible to get rid of moles using such traps, because moles bypass some of them, while they get used to others or ignore them altogether. However, there are also cases where ultrasound turned out to be effective, as long as it did not become addictive, like any surface noise produced by a person.

Example of an ultrasonic trapHumane tube (not very effective)Ultrasonic mole repeller device

Repellers made from plastic bottles: do they help?

There are two ways to scare off moles with plastic bottles:

1. Make pinwheels out of bottles that spin in the wind, make noise and scare the animals (moles hear well);
2. Or you can simply lay out large quantities of closed plastic bottles throughout the area. With constant changes in temperature in the morning, afternoon, evening and night, they make cracking noises, which presumably also scare away animals.

Many gardeners and gardeners note that such homemade repellers are really effective and help get rid of moles on the site. However, at the same time, many reviews indicate the lack of effect from the use of these funds.

Apparently, the truth is somewhere in the middle: moles can actually be frightened by the noise created by these devices and leave the area in search of more comfortable territory. But repellers can also be ignored, especially if there is a problem of survival due to lack of food. Therefore, the use of such repellers is a kind of lottery: it may help, or it may not give any visible result.

Features of mole hunting

Only a madman or someone who has no idea what this activity is like would go after this animal with a gun. It may seem to a novice hunter that hunting moles is a pointless and boring undertaking, but this is far from the case. If you taste all the delights of mole hunting just once, you will be captivated by this activity forever and will recommend it to all your friends and acquaintances. Perhaps if every skeptic tried this “strange” activity at least once, his opinion about mole catchers would change significantly.

Material dividends are not all that hunting animals can bring. From an emotional point of view, this type of hunting will allow a new look at nature even for those individuals who “see” it quite rarely. As a rule, moles begin to be hunted when the fields bloom with different colors, the smell of black currants is fragrant in the air, and young mushrooms begin to attract with their recognizable caps. This is the time when the aroma of freshly cut hay and meadowsweet is in the air.

However, despite all the above-mentioned romance, catching moles will not be easy. Like any other craft, this activity requires great dexterity and certain skills. It is worth knowing a lot about the biology of the animal, especially where exactly it lives.

Additional tips and tricks

Combinatoriality is important in catching moles. A combination of different types of traps will give maximum results.

If you want to catch an animal alive and unharmed, it is extremely important to use hard gloves when working. They bite hard. It's painful and unsafe. It is better for the catcher to take his trophy away from home, at a distance of at least two km. In this case, he will not find his old moves.

If there are a lot of moles in the region, then it makes sense to spend time and money, but solve the problem radically:

In any bad news there can be good moments. Experts say that moles are picky and will not settle on infertile land. So, if “guests” appear at the dacha, it means that the earth is full of vitamins and minerals. All that remains is to send out the uninvited comrades and start planting seeds for the future harvest.

Source

Choosing a location for the trap

During the hot season, it is best to catch moles along ditches and streams, as well as on trails used by people and livestock for travel. In such places the soil is not so hot, so moles will be found here most often. During the rainy season, it is best to place mole traps directly on the surface, where the prey will crawl out of the water-filled holes.

Permanent and feeding passages are quite often located in close proximity to each other, forming a complex interweaving between them. In order to determine the type of burrows, do not hesitate to dig up the ground and examine them from the inside. If you find a feeding ground, then be sure that there will be a permanent passage nearby. Remember that setting traps in feeding holes is a waste of time.

Habits of moles in nature

A novice hunter should know all the behavioral features of moles in natural habitats, which can be used in hunting this animal. For example, a mole prefers to settle in rich soil, which is rich in insect larvae and earthworms, but at the same time tries to stay away from the lairs of large animals.

As practice shows, in our area moles are most often found in alder forests. If you decide to hunt in the fields, then you need to look for prey along the boundaries, but if in the forest, then near streams, as well as near paths and roads. The most important thing is to be able to distinguish the mole's feeding galleries from the deep-lying permanent entrances leading to the nests. You will definitely find several animals in the nesting chambers.

Where do moles live?

In our country you can find 4 species of moles, but they hunt exclusively for the common mole. It is found throughout almost the entire territory of Russia - from the Don steppes to Arkhangelsk and from Transbaikalia to the western borders.

A mole can settle almost anywhere, but it prefers copses and forests. Small concentrations of this animal can be found in deciduous forests, but it has nothing to do in swampy areas. Moles are also often found in gardens and summer cottages. This pest loves to eat the young roots of bushes and garden crops, so people try to get rid of it in every possible way.

Stern passages

Based on practice, we can say that most feeding passages are located in the surface layer of soil, at a depth not exceeding 5 centimeters. Such passages have poorly insulated walls, since it would be foolish to spend a large amount of resources on insulating passages that would then not be used. They are often found in forests and appear as furrows of slightly raised earth. It is noteworthy that moles rarely use these moves a second time.

Several important features

At the end of summer, it is recommended to install mole traps in large numbers and check them more often for the presence of prey, since at this time the animals begin to break up into pairs and actively reproduce. On one turn, you can catch two moles at once, and then move the traps with bait to another place.

It is worth noting that you should not install mole traps on every move found, since in this case you may simply not have enough traps. It is best to find a hole that has the smoothest and most compacted walls. We install several mole traps in it, and trample down the remaining passages. This will force the animals to use the path in which your traps are located.

To install mole traps, it is recommended to use areas that intersect with dense soil, for example, paths, roads, and so on. In these places, several animals use the passages at once, and not just one. Why is that? The fact is that in dry weather it is quite difficult for moles to break through compacted soil, and they somehow need to move from one place to another. That is why near the roads there are most of the discarded heaps of earth that other moles left here.

It is worth noting that if you decide to install a mole trap near a road where heavy vehicles and tractors often pass, then be prepared for the fact that the traps may slam shut due to vibrations. To prevent this situation, you need to add a little earth to the trigger. Or you can use ordinary plastic mole traps made from bottles, which do not have a complex mechanism.

In places where livestock graze, it is necessary to install 2-3 sticks or perches above the traps. This way, the animals will step over obstacles and the traps will remain intact. Also, do not forget to put mole bait, otherwise you will not get much results from the hunt.

What to do with a mole after being caught?

Live traps should be checked every 3-4 hours. Since moles are very sensitive to hunger strikes, they need to be removed from traps as soon as possible - a mole cannot live for more than 24 hours without food due to its accelerated metabolism. At the same time, you shouldn’t look into the mole trap every fifteen minutes either, since such fuss will only scare away the animal.

Immediately after catching the mole, you must remove it from the trap: this must be done with thick gloves so that it does not bite through the skin. Then the animal must be taken outside the site to a distance of about 1-1.5 km - then the mole will no longer be able to return to its territory.

On a note

“Accidentally” forgetting to remove a mole from a trap, after which the animal dies of hunger - this is even crueler than simply and quickly killing it, for example, with a trap. Still, starvation is far from the most pleasant thing, so to speak. And if you don’t want to consider yourself a flayer, then you shouldn’t forget about these nuances.

It is advisable to release the mole in dense bushes or thick grass, where predators will not be able to immediately catch it and where it will have sufficient chances to burrow into the ground.