Started trapping moles when the ground was partially frozen...that waxed dirt sure comes in handy out of "trapping season".




One stop, 8 moles out of 23 set traps....good way to start the day!

Below Black & white photos : David Schweggmann (local paper news photographer) A good day's run on a 3 day check.






The below photo is how I finish all my mole traps, 3 coats of Formula 1, then once they've dried a day, 2 coats of bright orange paint, followed by another coat of Formula 1 on the bottom half. Here is one hanging out to dry. Ok Barkstone, lets see those white traps!

Steve, finally caught a few moles in your new trap...worked real well on our eastern moles. Will try to post a picture later.

Who is the Ugly Guy in the top Picture???????.....Never Seen his "Face" on here before.......

Here's some moles I took off a huge estate today. Yes, there are a couple of weird looking ones.

you fellows are killing me. i got 3 outosight traps and i should have gotten 300 of them. everytime i set one in a tunnel the moles dig another direction.

Am i doing something wrong or just need more traps. i am setting the tunnels but you cant set where there isnt a tunnel. any advice would be appreciated a needed.

Dont over compress the tunnel area below the trap trigger pan. Some commonly do this and cause a refusal or dig around,over or under the tightly compressed area. When I compress a tunnel I use my thumb and fore finger to pull and tear the soil and push down until there is a finger sized hole left at the bottom of the tunnel.This is a nose probe guide and lets them know the tunnel is still there and can be reopened easily. Push and position your trap while firmly placing the trigger on top of the depressed area.

Just sounds like a mechanics problem with setting I believe.Some dont catch on to mole tunnel setting quickly. Some do. Also make sure you are setting at the level of the tunnel for good interception. At times you need to dig down to allow good positioning to occur also.

thanks Mr. Jameson. never have trapped these rascals before. I guess it is just like the other critters, takes a little learning to get it down.

It may not be a problem with trap set-up..... sounds like you might be setting one-time feeding areas instead of the main (long, straight) travel routes. An important part of being successful at mole trapping is learning to "read" the tunnel systems and locate the main travel routes. Often the "fresh" sign is from a mole foraging for food..... those zig-zag and bicycle spoke looking patterns are not productive locations.

that is where i have been setting is in a short straight section that zig zags through the yard. i cant seem to find a long tunnel. i guess they may be a bit deeper than the foraging tunnels.

Thanks Mr. Scheller.

i aint quitting, i have all summer to figure these buddies out.

Heres a good mole catch with Steves new trap. A very good chest clutch catch in a very wet run.It appears they are sized right for our Eastern moles.I will continue to work with them but all indications are they perform well if set properly.

I too slid a very wet mole out a run today with Steve's trap, and was impressed with its grip!

Bob J.

Is your dog trained to indicate if you have a mole or not to save from having to dig to check a empty trap?

Yesterday I had two kills in Steves traps and the dirt above those two traps were pounded with cat tracks, which told me I must have a mole and sure enough.

Jason

Yes she can tell me real quick. This is something she just started doing on her own. She is only 4 months old but has great hunting instincts.

Great, glad you guys are catching moles in my traps. Let me know if you have any problems or any questions about them.

Bob, I took a stab at making up a live-catch mole trap along the lines of what you posted, as I had a grad student call me who's interested in getting some live moles, but no luck so far. Today I had one with about the first half of the wire cylinder packed with dirt, and the swing door in the up position being held open by the dirt the mole pushed in. Don't know if the mole ever went inside the trap or not. Anyhow, I'm going to keep trying, as I have at least a couple of moles in my own yard to practice on.

clean the tunnel well prior to placing the wire trap and make sure it is pressed into the dirt well on the bottom.

Does the dog catch moles too? Or is that just his companion? Yes seems I've met Mr. Jameson at a few conventions and he did have a Golden Retriver of some sort!

You tellin' me you went 2 days without checkin' traps. That must be the biggest pile of stink in town. After 24 hours here they start to stinkin' so bad you can't touch them without gloves and you don't want to put them in the back of the truck and shut the cap doors. And I thought I had the stinkiest garbage can around.

If its possible, I leave the carcasses in the tunnel. Moles and gophers are territorial, so its my theory, that the smell of the dead moles will keep new moles from invading the un occupied area. It seems to have worked in most cases.

New personal best for me today.

20 moles at one stop.


I had caught 10 moles at one stop a few times in the past, and those were in a single yard each of them, Today was actually a sub-division contract I got after the first guy they chose to do their moles got turned down because he did not carry insurance. The 20 moles caught today alone cover my entire yearly insurance cost. BTW I am up to 49 moles there now in 3 visits.

Congrats Barkstone. That's pretty impressive!

Has everyone stopped trapping moles?

Mike. Many times I have pulled a mole from a tunnel to find it has been partially consumed. I assume it was from another mole or a shrew. I would hate to leave food behind for them. I have also found that ants love dead moles and swarm the carcus untill it's consumed. This could create another issue for a customer.

Partly eaten moles are not eaten by moles. They are eaten by chipmunks and or voles.

And nope I have not stopped trapping moles. The only thing that keeps me from trapping moles is drought (not a lot of that here this year if you had not heard) and frozen ground (not much of that here in July either LOL)

Well my new work truck is finally done. Just got the graphics on the cap yesterday.

what kind of traps are you guys useing an were i might find them, I heard of a t-rex trap but not shore on how to set it, any help would be grearly appreciated, My moms yard is loaded so i wanna practice so i can charge the neibhors, an how do charge for a mole removal, thanks steve

Very nice logo, Animals Only.

Any one out there still doing any serious mole trapping? Been pretty dry this way!

Ya killed em all Lt.

Nah, couldn't be that lucky!

Wait 'till rains of Sepember come..........

Is Steve from California still on here? If so PM me, I'd like to find out about your traps.

Whitfield, PM sent. I have a new website up for my traps at www.traplineproducts.com

The site is not finished and I'm still working on it, but the online store page should work fine if you want to buy traps.

Thanks!

Well, I am going to add mole trapping to my list of control species next year, but I am getting in some practice on some yards of customers that I met this year. A good relations builder and, as I said, practice, since I have never trapped moles before. I set 6 traps in this yard yesterday. I checked the traps this morning with nothing in them. She looked at them around noon and found one snapped. I checked and there was this little monster in it.



It is interesting to find that the things you learn about a species are true. For instance:
1. They really do travel on their sides through the ground.
2. Their fur is VERY soft. Is there a market for it? I would love to have a pillow case made from the fur. How many would it take?

LT will be proud! LOL

Ive been setting traps to catch moles at a friends house and caught two moles and set the trap again a caught a chipmunk from the same hole is this normal for chipmunks and moles to use the same hole?

I got a contract for live mole removal this week. Boy is that exciting.

You mean to tell me that you got some of Jameson's live traps...or did you build your own?

I built my own. BUt I used Jamesons Idea.

OH yeah, he's got some good ones alright!

From the research I have done on Live trapping it seams to be a common "thing" in the UK...............

Yep, those people are softies over there....not so much the trappers, just the goverment and commoners!

Where's the guy who buys mole heads? Is he still on here?

Now that sounds like a fun hobby!

Hey LT, my mole count is up to 3. I have only 4,997 or so more to go before I am as good as you! And I am not even doing it professionally, yet!

Ha!....well, add another 358 to that,(just from this year alone)... No, really.... there is a guy on here who is a biologist or some type of scientist who buys mole heads... just the heads (and another guy who buys squirrel stomachs, Worm man, I think he's called).

No one ever heard of these guys???

No one knows this guy, I guess...

LT GREY-
I haven't dealt with him, but here are a couple of links.

Flying squirrel/mole skulls

Mole skulls

I don't buy them, but every once in a while when I trap some fresh, I do skin them and use the fur to tie up some amazing dry flies and nymps!

DT!!! He's alive ...he's alive......

Yup. I am alive.

Man, I set up a mole job today in a snow squal. 36 degrees and the ground was nearly covered by the time I got done.....

Got the check though!
Gonna be in the 20's tonight!

I set up last Friday on a friends place. Will see what happens with the frozen ground...

DT, you still mole trapping? I am getting ready to start snaring and trapping coyotes out east, heavy so PM me with your phone # and if I get any mole calls I'll send them your way! With all this rain and 50 degrees temp, it's bound to happen!

I love this thread.

Mole heads for sale. Anyone else selling?

Whos using Talprid? Anyone? PM me if you don't want it public.

A lot of my customers, right up to the point they call me for an effective program.

Meaning you don't think it's effective?.... or the customer put it in the wrong place or placed it wrongly?

LT.... Probably a combination of the two: Poor customer placement (just like when they try trapping) and a somewhat less than advertised effectiveness of the product. Not saying it doesn't have ANY effect, but I know several of my customers were applying it correctly and had no measurable results after 4 to 6 months of use. One guy swears the moles were pushing the "poison worms" back out the top of the runs exactly where he placed them. I couldn't verify that, but this guy is usually not a "story teller" type. As with most chemical programs, it is often impossible to "measure" the success. Trapping, on the other hand, allows the customer to SEE dead moles and notice the damage ceases instantly following the captures. Even if the poison worked..... it is not a "cure-all" method. Neither is trapping, BUT trapping is much more environmentally friendly and no more costly than continuously re-applying chemicals. Just my humble opinion.....

Do you guys have any advice on how to properly set a Victor O.O.S. Mole Trap? I opened up the top of the tunnel, placed the set trap in with the jaws properly spanning the tunnel, then I placed the dirt back over the trap with the top sticking out of the ground.

So far the little bugger has popped up on either side of the trap but has yet to fire it.

Any suggestions?

Livetrap, we set the Out-o-sights by digging out a section of tunnel, then backfilling that section with loose rock free soil, then pressing the set trap down into the soil blockage so that the pan sits on top of the blockage. The mole will push his way through the blockage, firing the trap. Some do set them as you did into an opened up section of tunnel, and then cover with dirt after trap is placed, and that can work too.

Regardless of how you place the trap, one of the biggest factors in using the out-o-sights successfully is to make the triggers more sensitive. As they come from the factory, the trigger aren't sensitive enough, and moles will go right under the triggers without setting off the traps. When you check a setup, check and see if a mole came through your set. If so, the triggers probably aren't sensitive enough.

Before I started making my own traps from scratch, I used to take off the trigger bar and completely re-build the triggering mechanism on the out of sights out of stainless steel. I could make a much more sensitive trigger, and make one that never got out of "tune" due to rust on the contact point between the end of the trip bar and the lip on the pan, as happens constantly with the stock trigger mechanism.

I don't really use out-o-sight that much anymore, but I will still use them in really crumbly loam soil, as in those soil conditions, moles do have some tendency to dig around the inside-the-tunnel traps that I manufacture.

So you want the part of tunnel you dig out to have dirt fall back in, thus blocking the tunnel?

How do you set your tunnel traps Steve?

Yes, dig out a rectangle big enough for the set trap to fit, then filter the soil back into the dug out rectangle, being careful to remove little rocks. Re-fill back to just above the level of the tunnel, and then press the set trap down into the blockage. The pan should rest on the surface of the blockage, and the jaws of the trap should go down to just below where the mole will come through his tunnel.

On my traps, you set them just about the same way you would a gopher trap. open the tunnel, slide the set trap into the tunnel, bed the trap slightly into the soil, and then block off the end of the tunnel where you just slid the trap in.

Steve:

On my out of sights, I have been bending the lip outward
to give it a hair trigger effect. Seems to work, also have
grooved a cork down the center and taped around trigger.
Been having good luck with your traps just ordered more, like
the idea of less chance of injuring dogs or kids. That out of
sight makes me nervous. Have !M liability embrella but sleep
better with your traps out there.

Jerry

Hi Jerry, I got your order and I'll send out traps in the morning. Any chance you could post or email me some pictures of the Townsend's moles you're catching with my gopher traps? And yes, I'd be happy to throw in some samples of the larger of the two mole traps I make. Would like to get feedback on how well they fit into the tunnels of the Townsends moles. Thanks

Steve

I have a rather ignorant question, but it seems ya'll would be the ones to know. Is there a difference between moles and pocket gophers? We have a pile of the pocket gophers down here and the only way I have heard of controlling them is early morning shooting. Any info is appreciated.

Cody

Cooter, definitely two different beasts, and you have both in Florida.

For some pictures of gopher control in Florida with the traps I manufacture, check out the pictures sent in by Ken Emerson at the following link...

Florida Gopher Control

And for more information on distinguishing mole and gopher damage and trapping these critters, check out my website at...

Trapline Products

Thanks, I will have to save up and get some to try out here in the yard. I think it would be best to learn how at home before I start charging folks.

!

Caught my FIRST Mole ever. Small prize but it sure felt good! Thanks for the help everyone.

CONGRATS !!!!!!!!!!!! LOL that one is sure enough black....all ours here are brown...never seen a black one....dark yes....black....not me. Different species?

Feels great, doesn't it! Keep up the good work!

Not sure on the species but the camera adds a lot of shadowing. It was a graphite color through out. I couldn't believe how soft the little guy was.

Softest fur I have ever felt.....make great glove liners.

Livetrap

Swear that looks like one a Townsend, size and color.

Jerry W.

Field of dreams///////// or nightmares..........

Um... is that a good thing???

Vinke, best of luck. Let us know when you can work again.

Not if your name is Townsend. You're dead.

Vinke, are you working in that field of dreams? if you are how many did you catch? I assume these are moles but cant tell for sure from the pic. if i get pics on photo bucket i'll show ya some i got last summer on a gopher job. It was crazy, had to buy more traps to do it.

these are from the first two and a half days, started setting traps at 2:30pm the 9th; 10th and 11th

the following day the 12th

and the last morning the 13th. I ended this gopher job with 112 pocket gophers and 50 moles.

pulled in friday night at sundown, left sunday at 4pm. 138 gophers

This is four days on 40 acres. 99 gophers, and fumigated. only two caught on return the following spring. Happy Farmer!!!!!

Nice work! Nice rig too!

Dang, that's a lot of gophers, Gopherkiller. My one day record is right about 130 gophers and moles taken off a golf course. Did that in about 5 hours work, with three guys setting traps.

The highest population density I ever saw was on a driving range that was about 10-15 acres in size, and we took out 500 gophers over a period of about a month.

I dont know exactly what my one day record is but have taken over 100 in a day several times. usually this is on more than one job. i think the highest density i have encountered was in the above pic with 138. That job was only 15 acres, sandy soil with alfalfa. I caught so many so fast the customer kinda freaked out and wanted me to quit. He paid for my oxygen and helped open up tunnels while i blasted from noon till 4pm. I imagine i could have took around 300 there if i could have had a few more days. Another job i took 245 off 160 acres in october. There was a small 10 acre patch way in the back that the farmer gave up on mowing so it was too high to trap that fall. I came back in the spring and caught 136 mainly out of that 10 acres.

We had a few days of warmer weather here so i checked on a small property to pick up a few more gophers but 8 inches down we still have frost. I saw no, i mean 0 fresh mounds but did put in 7 sets caught 6 gophers and pulled out. Snowing today wee haaa!!! Havent tried your traps yet but will this spring, I really like how sensitive the triggers are, WOW! see ya...

Last weekend, I started my first official mole contract. It was going to be a little more challenging since it was at a daycare and I could only access the property when the children were not there. This meant coming in at 6 pm Friday night and pulling the traps by 5:30 am Monday morning.

On top of the restricted hours of trapping, the whole playground was a feeding area. I was having trouble finding the long tunnels to set the traps. The children kept the soil packed down nicely.

Well, it payed off yesterday morning. I finally got the little monster.

Good job!!! Q. if they were feeding in the playground where are they denning? The long tunnels or main tunnels are often times found in the edge. Edge is very important, many times there is a mole hiway directly under a fence line. Keep it up...

I think the den must have been under a small grass area in the corner of the playground. And you are correct, the main tunnel was almost along the fenceline.

There is surely something there for them to den under. alot of times there are stumps that are no longer visible or something like that. Anyway; word to the wise about your contract... you probly already know this but will inject it anyway. On a contract the more you are there working the less you are making. so make sure you get every one of these rascals before May 1st. no babies=no work till september when they come from the neighbors. later, Tim

Moles will often times follow a fenceline, as well as drive way, walk way and along the foundation of a house.

what he said.

Ha!
I think I just died and went to Heaven!

Anyone doing a lot of mole work? Got several more calls today.
I have 22 mole jobs out now.

I havn't gt that many jobs set up yet. Do have 2 golf courses set up & a couple of private homes. Spring is here.

11 more moles today...not my best, but it's a start to a good day!

Anyone see these "Mole Skin" slippers from the Netherlands?

Check it out @ ons-adres.nl

im glad we dont have gophers... =) thats incredible

Does any one use the dead mole(s) for bait of any sort?

i picked up my first ever pocket gopher, one of a billion to catch.

85 mole customers current and counting

Rat, dead moles make an excellent coyote bait!
....and why is it raccoons are always pulling up dead moles in traps and dragging them around?

I have some 'aged' in rain water 4-5 years...it's a sludge now, But I be it'll work well on canines down a hole.

LT, remind me never to eat lunch at your home!

LT, this one's for you

Ha!
All that damage...usually just one mole, tunnel is about 6" deep.

Watch the mounds....the next one that shows up will be on the end, (I believe closest to the bottom...although hard to tell 100% from a photo of that angle.)

You will be able to tell by the freshness of the dirt and how fast it drys out!

Dig down on the second mound back...set your trap there.
If you only had one trap to set, that would be where you will catch the mole.
Typically however, I set this type of damage with three traps...one in the middle and one on each end.
That mole will/should be caught in just a few short hours...less than 24 anyway!

By the way, I carry a few 5 gallon buckets and remove all those mounds when I set up the job. Easy to do by just laying a bucket on its side and raking it in.
The yard will look 100% better before you leave.

Also...that close to a public walk...it's better to have a trap such as NoMol or Steve's trap....out of sight, out of mind!

I figured you would like that
I set the job up about a week ago. Set steves traps at 6:30PM and had the mole by 8AM the next morning. Ended up getting him in the trap I had set under the pine in the upper left of the pic along the mulch bed. No activity since, traps pulled this am.

Well...there ya' go.....you can use that info another time!

hey steve! got the traps in. took a few out to a job where they just mound all over with no tunnels. slid a few of your traps in tand nailed one this morning along with a shrew. slick traps =)

i seem to be having trouble with my moles,for one they are very small, the tunnels are narrow,just big enough to put my index finger in,i believe that i am doing to much damadge to the tunnel when placing trap(steves)in.any ideas what im doing wrong

james jackson-
You either have one heck of a big index finger or you have a problem with something that isn't a mole!!! Mole crickets would be very hard to trap in a mole trap!

By the way- you need to add your LOCATION to your profile.

james, I think those are shrews, not moles!

thanks guys,I'LL try the covered mousetrap technique,I know what a molecrickit is

More good feedback for Steve's mole traps. I have used spear(harpoon) traps, out of sight, talparid and no mole traps. Steve's traps work SOOOO much better it's ridiculous. They have made what were difficult mole jobs easy. I can't say enough good things about them.

Also as a former lurker, I greatly appreciate all the advice on this forum.

That should make Steve pleased to hear that!

I also like Steves traps, I am a diehard out of sight mole trap user but will not be without some of his traps in my arsenal for certain situations. Great addition to any mole trappers tool chest.... reminds me I need to order some more Steve...

Help

Been trying to get one mole for two weeks. The property
is a million dollar house on 1/2 acre with sandy loam soil.
I have used steve's traps and Out of sights using every type
of set I have read on this forum. He digs around steve's
traps and fills the Out of sights. The damage is getting
out of sight, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Jerry W.

Jerry, in my opinion, moles are simply harder to catch in really soft sandy soils. Yes, they do tend to dig around my traps in that situation. Bed the traps really well, and that will help, but it's no guarantee in that type of soil. I would probably use a out-o-sight tuned to have a really hair trigger, and set it fairly deep.

I have been catching them in the sand with the oss. I still have a few get through but have taken some flashing and made pan covers for them. they are 1 1/2" wide and 2 1/2" long. i was placing them long ways as in lying on top of the tunnel but had the traps going off too soon. now i place the flashing cross ways over the tunnel and under the trigger. I still set the trap deep but have had great success in the sand. give it a try and see what you think.

Concerning sandy soil: With OOS traps, I always made a wedge out of clay and coated it with sand.

Thanks for the advice, will give it a try.

Jerry W.

Then post us some pic's!

Post us some pic's if you can!

I went to one of my customers home this morning to check the traps. She comes out to tell me that the Topeka Police stopped by yesterday. It seems that a concerned citizen complained that there were bear trap in the yard of my customer! Once the officer saw where the traps were located, he realized that they were mole traps.

That is a first for me! I don't know when the last wild bear was seen in the eastern part of the state.

Lions, tigers and bears! Oh, my!!

"oh my", indeed!

Obviously never seen a bear trap

No probably not! Ha!

well, im still waiting to get a call for mole removal... all i can do right now is land bat proofing and attic restoration jobs, im almost full time doing this but want to catch some moles!!!

I have a family, aunts, uncle and cousins, that I am doing their trapping for moles. It is nice, they are all within 1 block.

But isn't it hard to charge family?

It isn't my family. They are all related. Makes a great referral.

I caught this odd colored mole today. It has an orange face.

I see lots of orange on our eastern moles here. Some yellow as well.

We also get plenty of orange and yellow and even some white. Customers ask what the orange color is from, I tell them it is most likely from old clay tiles deteriorating in the ground but honestly I have no idea. Does anyone know what its from?

It's called DNA, Twavee.

i think i would tend to agree with LT grey

Well I ordered some traps from steve off of ebay last week, when I get them and catch the buggers I'll try to post pics.

JBR

Allright sounds fair enough, I didnt figure on that easy of an answer though.

It could also be a government order for your moles to wear protective colored clothing ( or fur)

Now that would be frightening!

How many catch alb i no moles?




Come on....you thought the pink i was catchy in Albino, didn't you?

i havent but if i do hes gonna get mounted and put in the trophy room in the basement!

The Mole Man of Cincy, caught two and that is exactly what they did with them.

All our moles are running deep now. We need some serious rain to make life a little easier on us.

just checked yard this morning and had caught 2! pretty decent sized yard with unbelievable amounts of damage. the back yard is a under ground LABRYINTH ... for you that know the word it a giant maze

What's this trap called and where did you get it??? Thanks.

Victor Out-O-Sight Mole Trap
http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/M...;Category_Code=

Also see-
http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/M...ode=MoleControl

I can't catch a mole for the life of me. Bought some of steve's traps a few weeks ago and it's a big ZERO so far.

JBR

Have you watched his video at http://www.traplineproducts.com/Moles.html

Many additional hints are offered if you have time to review all 4 pages of this thread.

JBR pm sent

I agree with LA on that one!

JBR, what kind of soil are you using the traps in? If you're in fairly solid soil where the mole tunnels don't crumble when you dig them out, then the Trapline traps should work well. If you're in really soft crumbly or sandy soil, then moles will often dig around our traps, and you may be better off switching to the Out of Sights. The Out of Sights are very good traps in my view, and I used them for 15 years in the service business, and still use some in sandy conditions. You do have to modify the triggers to make them more sensitive, though.

It's loamy soil on top of red clay. The tunnels don't really collapse though soil does tend to get pushed down them in front of the trap.
The tunnels are really small compared to the trap jaw width.

JBR

LATrapper I have watched the vids.

JBR

just caught a few in steves traps and some Victor O O S

Bud, send us some pic's on here!

hey LT i dont know how to post pics on here but if i email them to you can you post them?

I am actually having a giant mole "broad footed" mounted for demonstration purposes... taxidermist said $75.oo

Ha!....You don't actually think I know how, do you?
I have all mine done for me by an expert, who is also a member on here...but unless I get the ok, I won't name.
But I would be willing to help you out....


ltgrey1@yahoo.com

BUD24-
Check out http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthrea...html#Post435067
Photobucket is very easy to use. If you can send a picture by email, you can post it here from Photobucket. If you, or anyone, needs assistance with Photobucket; just let me know.

Pictures of problem situations will simplify folks providing advice. Pictures of techniques provide valuable information for those of us wanting to learn. Pictures of catches are always interesting. Post more pictures!!!

thank you guys!

Easy to use if you understand it....

lol... i still havent even looked at posting pictures... ive got some good ones