Do outdoor cats regularly kill moles? I got a mostly feral cat for that purpose and this past summer I didn’t seem to have as many. This fall has been brutal. Does anyone have an opinion whether they are worth it. I’m leaning towards no.

I had a neighbor once that had 2 cats that would catch them out of his yard . We have two barn cats now but I haven’t noticed a difference in the moles ,but the mice in the barn are less than before.

Yes mice are no longer a problem but them moles sure are pain.

Regularly? No if they get an opportunity they will but they don't eat them

Moles rarely spend much time above ground. They will come to a barrier obstruction like a driveway in their tunneling activity or clumsily make their way across a hard top road to access new feeding areas. etc. They then become prey for cats. Cats don't typically dig much. They will swat and paw at things.

A moles anatomy doesn't lend itself to running well. If you have ever examined one very well, you will see their large front paddle feet with huge nails are well suited for digging and floating thru the soil but not for running. Plus, they have very poor eyesight, so above ground travel is quite difficult and awkward.

They don't like being exposed to the open air and bright light environment very long, so their first instinct once above ground is to get back under ground as fast as possible. I have caught many that were freshly caught and not injured much, just to set them down to see what they would do once they were released. They dug into the soil and out of sight in a few seconds as fast as they could.

Our dogs would dig one up occasionally if they sensed and could see or feel one foraging just below the sod surface. We had an old beagle that caught several every summer that way. She had her system down pat.

Cats catch lots of voles and "shrews" which many mis identify as being a mole. I have not seen any of our cats bring a mole back to our porch or deck area to show off its prize. They do bring many voles and shrews however. Now if that mole just came to the surface briefly and that cat was there patiently waiting for an opportunity to pounce, it certainly would get it.


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Moles are quite large.5-6 inches long and have a very thick girth. Dark grey to black in color. Pointed shout with extremely large catcher's mitt front feet with very large, long nails, the rear legs have normal looking feet.

Shrews are very small, about 3 inches or so in length dark grey to black in color with a pointed snout but they have rodent like feet front and back legs.

Voles look like a small brownish grey stubby nosed guinea pig.

I seem to have less problems when I remove both. Not that hard.

Thank you Bob that is great info. I have seen voles that it left for us but no moles. What trap do you prefer? I have a couple victors and have had limited success and another style that fits into the the tunnel and has two body grippers one for each direction of travel. The biggest problem is finding their straight travel tunnels. What do you look for that says “place trap here?”

I have two outside cats, both are spayed females. Both are good mousers but one is a real killer. They rarely catch moles.

Mole trapping is a specialty skill. It can take some time to get on to being very proficient. I have used all styles over the years and can catch moles with any trap. I prefer and have used the Trapline mole traps now for many years exclusively. That is our preferred mole trap. Others have their preferences like the OOS or no mole traps.

You use two traps per set up back-to-back in the tunnel if using the Trapline traps. I catch many doubles with a two-trap set up also.

Yes, you need to find a straight trunnel run to enable you to set two traps close, from the same cut in area, they you can tether them from the same stake/marker flag wire.

If you can't find such a straight run area, then just set one trap facing the jaws to the left tunnel run area, then move a little further and set the second trap jaws facing the right tunnel run area. That way you are still guarding the same tunnel just not with 2 traps closely set together.

Thanks again Bob.

Certain cats specialize in them. That said, you have to go through a lot of cats to find the right one.

This^^^. We have to many cats . They bring up everything. The normal stuff of course but also frog's, squirrels, rabbits, moles, weasel, birds.

Some cats have favorites. Our frog hunter would come home soaked everything but her neck and head and 3 days a week we would have frog legs on the porch. She ate the rest. Another spent a lot of time up in trees I'm talking way up. Was common to see her 40 or 50 foot up laying on a branch. We got lots of squirl tails left on the porch back then.

They kill a few moles a year I fing out in the yard but they don't eat them or bring them up just kill them and leave them. They must not like how they smell.

Are cats worth it. Depends on your preference. I like cats and before our cats were moved to the farm you couldn't move anything in the barn without a mouse running out. Cats were moved to the farm and we seldom see a mouse in the barns now. Traps and poisons work also. But cats get the job done and to me every barn should have a few.

Our cats stay in their preferred places we have a few fhe like the main barn, some that like the garage certain out buildings.