Hello I am fairly new to this trapping activity to save my friend's yard. The destruction is overwhelming and she's been dealing with this problem for over 20 years. I found these forums looking for help and I have to thank all of the members who spend their time sharing knowledge so that a city slicker such as myself has a chance to catch these little pests.
Since February this year I have been setting traps I use a Maccabee and felt like I was on the right path because my traps were getting buried with loose dirt. Some advice said leave the holes open while others said cover them up so I tried both ways more than once. I came up with a little fur on my traps twice and knew I was getting closer. I sharpened them up and continued to set active holes. One resource I utilize was a cat from a neighboring ranch. He would come in our yard and sit for an hour on a hole. I noticed increased activity in the evening and over the night. The information I was reading suggested I had a mole and not a gopher in one area of the yard. There was small round mounds of dirt. He buried the Maccabee trap a few times. He was working in a shaded part of the lawn that was more moist than the rest of the yard his runs were shallow and zigzagging. I would come to the forums and read and then compare what I read with what I was doing. I found that I was not setting the traps in the right places most of the time. That brings me back to the cat. Where he was sitting and watching a hole there was a very good tunnel that went down at an angle but was very solid. I was able to set the trap down about 8 in and the following morning I got my first pocket gopher. Almost 3 months of trying I finally had a little success. I put the Gopher in the hole and buried it closing the hole. The next morning there was a small hole that reappeared where the other hole was. I thought that was strange and I closed it. The following morning the cat was sitting there and I watched him sneak up and attack something and SWAT it. I watched him do his thing for a little while and then approached to find three baby gophers that it came out of the hole that the cat had got and that made me really happy. I know this is long-winded so I apologize. My neighbor gave me a trap not sure what you call it but it's like a plastic tunnel. It has like a Nissan the end and a trap in the middle that springs it. I said it over in the moisture where I thought there was a mole. I tried it open to the air and it got buried I tried closing it and it got buried. Finally he didn't bury it he went into it and it was covered. I got my first mole. I haven't seen any digging since this but I'm sure there's probably more it's a very large yard. Again I want to thank the members who contribute their time and expertise and sharing their knowledge that allows somebody such as myself to find success even though it took a while.
Thanks

Congratulations on the catches! Great job!

Moles and gophers are too different animals. They take different traps set different ways. Not sure which you are asking about. Although you dd catch a gopher, which is good.

Well I actually caught a gopher and the Maccabee trap and a mole in the trap I don't know the name of. It was a plastic round tunnel with a trap door and when the mole crawled into it it has a noose that triggers up and that's how I caught the mole.

WTG

WTG! It's a learning process, being in Californiastan, be careful with the neighbors and what they can see.

Hi Bob is that Missouri for your home state? That's where my father was born. Christian county nixa area if my memory serves me correctly. I'm doing this on two and a half acres don't really have neighbors