Voles or moles?

voles are like mice w/o tails ...

moles can be like that.. or as big as your foot ...

the spear thing is for the big ones ...

ID is always the beginning to hunting ...

ken

We're asking for ID because the habits of voles and moles are very different and they can't be controlled in the same way. Voles eat plants grasses, tubers, bulbs, and rhizomes. Bark at times.

Moles feed on insects, snail, spiders, earthworms and grubs - the rabbit food type or grain-like baits are useless with them, there are no vegetarian moles :). That is not to say they can't damage your garden beds with their tunneling and mounding, just that they don't actually eat the plants they may damage.

Placement/location of the trap may be more important with moles than voles too - can you tell us what evidence you are finding, exactly what they are doing in the way of damage?

I think they are moles. They don't really eat the plants, they just tunnel under them, destroying the roots and what not. The tunnels are big! All over the garden and probably 7-9 inches in width in some spots. I have set the trap many ways, making sure the spikes have a clear pathway and making sure the trigger is placed level with the stomped down ground in the main tunnel, nothing works. They have killed so many of my pepper plants from uprooting :(

There are feeding tunnels with moles, and traveling tunnels - it's the traveling tunnels where you want to trap. Not the easiest thing to locate when they are in a garden area as opposed to lawn where you can often find the 'traveling' along a sidewalk, edge of house etc....I know from experience when they are in beds and not taking paths of least resistance, it takes some practice to get that trap set in the right place.

This is the video that came with the product I bought, you might get some helpful ideas from it - should work for any trap, I'm not suggesting you buy this particular product or putting in a pitch for it :) Use the ideas, and the traps you already have on hand.

I'm still lousy with the placement, I just don't seem to have the feel for it. The best trapper in the neighborhood - the mother of the woman who lives behind us. She's a nurse, don't ask me why she is so adept at placement, but seems to have a real skill in bringing good results.

Here is a link that might be useful: video on trapping

People have been trying to "get rid" of moles since at least the 16th century with very little success. I have a friend that every year for the last 40 years has put out traps, in an attempt to eliminate those pesky moles, and has every year for the last 40 years caught 40 to 50 moles. Keep in mind that as quickly as you kill one mole you most likely will get another, especially if you provide a good habitat for the moles primary food source, earthworms.
The only way to "get rid" of moles is to poison your soil so there is no food source for them.

If your friend has caught 40-50 each year for the last 40 years, he must be in some kind of mole mecca. I hope you meant that he had caught 40-50 over the last 40 years total - it wasn't quite clear to me.

Many times we've trapped or removed one or two and had no further damage issues for several months or until the next season. Depending on climate and soil type there might be more than 2 or 3, i.e. 3 - 5 moles per acre in the Plains States is thought to be a high population, they are not social animals.

Here is a link that might be useful: Moles