Smart Mole

I have been Trapping Moles for a good 12 Years.....I need some help with one I can't figure out....My State has been in a Heat wave & very Dry this year...The Mole Im after
Has Mounds...I have been setting my OOS & Trapline Products Between them, I have opened the mound found the run to set traps with no luck at all....There is very few short
runs in the Yard to set any traps.. I like to Catch them with Steves Albiano Traps....Any Ideas or Tricks would be appreciated. Thanks Guys !

In dry weather conditions many mole mounds are made from deeper runs that go down in an angle. They wont spend much time tunneling near the surface in our area. It is too hot and dry to inhabit these areas to long until it gets rain enough to soak the ground to make it suitable for tunneling and foraging once again.

I find the freshest mounds and brush the dirt away to find the tunnel and set it facing down into the run and leave the tunnel open. If the mole is still excavating and bringing dirt up the run you should catch it if you set it properly.

I get a few of these every year in the same conditions that you describe.

I've had to use a tile spade at a few summer mole jobs, runs 14 to 18 inches deep. An easier trick: have the owner put a lawn sprinkler out in an area of the lawn the moles frequent. Go back afte 3 or 4 days of watering.... it will be there!

Water the lawn. Bring him to the surface.

Anyone use cinch traps on mounds, I agree water the area.

The mounds that we work usually go down at an angle. I just pilot the hole once it is located under the mound and put an albano mole trap going into the run. The run has to active and still being excavated with dirt being pushed to the surface.

Sometimes I catch them in older mounds that I dig out and leave the light and air in to the end of the tunnel. Many times they will come by and up the run to seal it off once again.

I was thinking that the cinch trap has the trigger set back because the pocket gofers push sand in front of them. Just something to add to the bag of tricks. May give it a tray once it cools off.

Probe around the mound with a 18" long skinny smooth screwdriver. Probe everyb2 inches til you drop in the tunnel and then once found...probe around that spot so you know the direction of the horizontal tunnel and dig down to open up and set traps in it...i use oos exclusively and i am catchin em deep now too...we are averaging about 40 moles a week right noe and with rain we are having calls will go back up. We are up to almost 900 moles for season. We only have the eastern mole.

Thank you TRapper for the Tip...I caught the one That had been giving me the Run around i will try your Tip the next Mound. I learned by doing what I now know about catching

them.....Thanks Again, LBEE

TRapper:
I have not had good luck with OOS. I think it maybe because of our sandy soil in most areas. I think the wall the pan sits on maybe failing or is not high enough. I have modified some with SS dog and pans. But I still use them now and then. Most lawn I am working as the present time have sprinkling systems. Service are is very small. I may take some water with me to firm up the wall for the pan to site on.

Pm me about how i bend the pan...removes the need for a modified addition to it.