12 gauge gopher/mole trap!

[RICKRWS]

I have tried everything to get rid of moles in my Yard. One you hook up to your car exhaust that did not work. Dried Blood and chananne pepper which made my nose burn. Spring loaded traps with spikes. Battery opperated noise spikes that goes in the ground, they did not work. I windmill that makes noise that did not work. Baits and chewing gum that did not work. Smoke bombs they did not work. I have caught acouple with my claw traps but I am fighting a losing battle. I kill one and another comes from my neighbors lawn and makes my yard his new home. All these traps are quarteed to kill moles. I am not sure i want to spend a 100 bucks for one trap.

 

[dyeager535]

I have tried everything to get rid of moles in my Yard.... I am not sure i want to spend a 100 bucks for one trap.

SAME story as the guy I work with that has the Molecat. He tried everything you mentioned and more prior to this year.

Obviously need more than just a couple of months of use to see if the device is actually getting rid of the moles. One anecdote however is that he set the Molecat up next to his concrete walkway. Appears to both he and I that the moles hang out under the concrete walkways around both our houses. In any case, he set the trap in one of the new mounds next to the walkway. Next morning he came out and the device had fired. Not 10 feet away, on TOP of the walkway, was a dead mole, with no visible injuries. Could be coincidence, but would seem to me that would be a HUGE coincidence that a mole just decided to crawl out of the ground and expire on the surface that close to the Molecat. He is using no other control methods in his yard, and his house is centrally located on a 5 acre lot, so whatever the neighbors are doing (he says nothing) it wouldn't have affected THAT mole most likely. He told me the comment his Wife made shortly after he had started to use the Molecat..."How come we don't have more Molecats??" He is a very hard to please individual, he demands only the best, so his endorsement of this product is pretty powerful to those who know him.

I personally tried the "clamp" type traps but had no luck...in my yard the tunnels are so far down I had to destroy my yard just to set them. I eventually scraped some new mounds down, then opened up the hole under it to see if somehow the mole behavior would let me set the traps there. I left those tunnel openings exposed, and did nothing to mask my scent, keep light out, etc. Sure enough, most every hole within the next 12 hours was plugged up. Obviously they were pushing the dirt to plug the hole from deeper in the tunnel. I thought of how I'd make my own Molecat before I found out that someone had already done it. It's far simpler than most other methods to simply open the holes up, and let the mole do the rest of the work. Try opening a couple of new mounds in your yard and see if they plug them back up. I personally can't see a flaw in the design, since the Moles act to plug the hole up, which is exactly what the Molecat exploits.

It is certainly hard to justify buying one of these things at $100/each, which is the reason I don't have one (yet). Once the moles start tearing my yard up again, I will buy one, that's all I'm waiting on. There is never a guarantee that the same thing is going to work for everyone, but since I've verified the moles plug open holes up in my yard, I don't see why the Molecat won't work for me.

Oh, FYI, a 22LR fits inside the fired blanks, so I'm guessing they .27 caliber blanks. I suppose you could use .22 blanks then (drill out the base of a fired .27) but apparently blanks have a variety of "power" levels, and no clue what the Molecat uses. The more powerful the better I figure.

 

[Allfat]

My Dad has one of the molecats, and he has used the shotgun traps for years. He puts a .22 magnum shell in the molecat and he says it works pretty well, but not as well as the shotgun shell.

 

[slingshot1943]

An old guy showed me a 12 ga device that was factory made and appeared to be very old. He siad it was a gopher gun. Was very simple. That was about 10 yr ago.

 

[dyeager535]

An old guy showed me a 12 ga device that was factory made and appeared to be very old. He siad it was a gopher gun. Was very simple. That was about 10 yr ago.

I believe these are all illegal unfortunately. Probably not going to get hassled unless you happen to have someone injure themselves on it, but that's a fairly large risk to take depending on where you live.

I had heard the same about using live rounds in the Molecat, may be a bit destructive to it though, since the metal "nose" is fairly thin metal. I like the projectile idea, especially 12 gauge though.

 

[Izzy]

THAT"S IT!!!!!

 

[kenno]

I used to do this work at a cemetary. I used a piece of steel tubing with one end wired so that a road flare would not fall through. I would stick the pipe into a tunnel with a lit road flare and use a generator powered shop vac to blow the smoke through the tunnels and yes it did rise through the sod. It would kill young gophers but the adults would just relocate, then come back in a few months.

 

[hermannr]

I used to do this work at a cemetary. I used a piece of steel tubing with one end wired so that a road flare would not fall through. I would stick the pipe into a tunnel with a lit road flare and use a generator powered shop vac to blow the smoke through the tunnels and yes it did rise through the sod. It would kill young gophers but the adults would just relocate, then come back in a few months.

I have tried road flares too. One advantage to the road flare is you can see where the tunnels go so you can bait them later. I don't use bate any more. I don't want my cat or dog getting ill. I have killed a few by drowing them, by so far this spring my dachshund has caught 3 and my cat one. Earlier this spring the cold got another one. Unfortunately, this only happens when they are out and about during breeding season. Last year I saw some strange marks on the snow...finally figured out, they must have been made by the wing tips of our local Great Gray Owl picking up a meal.

 

[PBinWA]

My neighbor did the road flares and I notice the moles also stay away from his yard more. I think the sulphur contaminates the whole tunnel system.

I have good luck trapping and occasionally shooting them while they dig - I just nail them as soon as they come in the yard.

You kind of have to make a game out of it or they will drive you crazy.

 

[Cheesemaker]

I use the claw style with great success. One thing I was told by a old timer, was to fertilize heavy, and lay down a heavy dose of lime too. So far, the only place I get them now, is right along the fence line. Have to stamp down the dirt around the fence posts every fall. But the pattern is in the early spring to mid summer, they are easy to trap. Once late summer hits, they seem to avoid the traps.

I've seen great success with other means too. The 12guage traps work, but are highly dangerous, ask my friend Moose! He lost a finger and a half to one. Well, they could have saved most the fingers, but being a diabetic they took all damaged tissue. I've seen a family friend put a grease fitting in a mowers exhaust pipe, and while running with flexy pipe in the hole from the exhaust, he would pump grease into the fitting. Smoke them out!! And the most extreme was my uncle, who was using his oxy-aceltyne torch and was almost out of aceltyne, decided to empty the tank in the gopher holes in his yard. Well, and hour later the tank was empty, and he put on a new tank, and went back to work. Thinking the gas, which is heavier than air would fill the tunnels with gas, and kill them. Well, it wasn't the gas that killed them, it was the explosion when a ball of slag fell into a hole and set off the gas. Well, he didn't have to worry about moles or gophers for a while, but he ended up having to redo his entire yard.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

ogre: 5

moles: 0

 

[xoddah]

Dixie Gun Works
now that is a "mans" mole getter

 

[xoddah]

Gas for a blast
if you have a acetylene torch and know "the trick" to make it detonate correctly
it will do the same thing as the rodenator, which uses propane and oxygen
...and baby... I mean detonate it will blow a big trench in the lawn ... consider a 1 pint milk carton, filled with the "stuff" will blow a metal 55 gallon barrel 4 feet in the air and deafen you for the day .. bad azz dangerous but cool as hell

 

[xoddah]

here ya go ,,, nuff said

Deaths caused by mole guns: three case reports.
Demirci S, Gunaydin G, Dogan KH, Erkol Z.
Source

Department of Forensic Medicine, Meram Medical School, Selcuk University, 42080 Meram, Konya, Turkey. [email protected]
Abstract

Possession of firearms is limited because of the technological requirements in production and strict laws. However, anyone can manufacture a handmade firearm by following simple instructions and has no legal liability. A mole gun is an unusual weapon used to kill moles in agricultural areas. It propels pellets in a similar way as a shotgun. This study presents three cases of death caused by mole guns. Two of the cases were accidental, and the other case was suicidal. The first case involved a 51-year-old man who was checking the mole gun when it fired, injuring his left eye and the left region of his face. He died in the hospital after 3 days of medical treatment. The second case was a 78-year-old man, who had been intermittently treated for depression over the last 15 years. He died instantly after placing the mole gun vertically against his head and firing it. The third case was a 43-year-old man who had been trying to set up a mole gun device in his potato field when the weapon accidentally discharged. The victim was injured seriously and died in the hospital a short time later. In conclusion, because the mole gun may cause lethal wounds in humans when fired from a short distance, the researchers believe that its production and use should be in accordance with firearms laws

 

[roar9roar]

Homemade rodentator: For those that do not know, your acetylene reg will screw into a propane bottle. Buy a propane tip for your torch as this will save you acetylene costs anyway. Total cost for your adventure will be less than 20 bucks if you own the cutting rig already. Figure out the best cutting flame and mark your reg with a magic marker. Find a nice fitting 3' tube that fits over the end of your tip, snake it down the hole as far as you can and give it a couple of minutes. Pull the hose out slow and TURN IT OFF. Quickly light a weed burner and touch it to the hole. Safety glasses and hearing protection a must. 60 on the o2 reg, 10-15 on propane. You are shooting for 95/05 o2/propane mix. Propane is heavier than air and will sink down into the burrows. The beauty of it is if the soil is not compact you collapse the tunnels and they have to start from scratch. Or they die in the tunnel and ward off others.

Do not do this near anything that you dont want cracked or close to structures.

I am still trying to find out if there is any legal issues with doing a homemade vs commercial unit. I cant see why there would be but you never know. If anyone has any insite please chime in.

Not for city use and it will piss off people with horses. It can be much louder than a shotgun. Thats why I am waiting to find out the legal side.

And you may crack a rib laughing so hard. It just cant be helped.

 

[roar9roar]

Also, does anyone have a homemade schematic for the shotshell pushrod trap? As I understand it is illeagle if you dont use blanks. It classifys as a landmine. I would cut it at the wad and use the concussion for legal and safety purposes anyway. Plus that would suck to hurt someone or one of my dogs. I have seen the diagrams before but cant seem to find them online. This is what I want to use near my house.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

You guys are funny. Just use the regular mole traps. There is a reason us professionals just use the simple claw pinch traps.. they work.

But I love hearing all your stories and innovations. And heck, this is America so why not right! Over kill is just fine as long as it accomplishes the same job but in a cooler method.

 

[roar9roar]

I have 4 diff types and have used the noise makers and such with zero results. The moles also have rats that use the tunnel systems so it is hard to tell which is using it. Standing with a shotgun has been the only 80% effective method for the moles so far. And I have one stomping episode as I had no weapon at the time. The tunnel system is too well established.

 

[Key-Hay]

I took a Firework fountain from the big box of Costco fireworks we bought. Lit it and stuck the fire end in the hole. Have not seen the mole since!

 

[xoddah]

Also, does anyone have a homemade schematic for the shotshell pushrod trap? As I understand it is illeagle if you dont use blanks. It classifys as a landmine. I would cut it at the wad and use the concussion for legal and safety purposes anyway. Plus that would suck to hurt someone or one of my dogs. I have seen the diagrams before but cant seem to find them online. This is what I want to use near my house.

I made one, Here is a picture of ...another similar one... look closely at the picture
not really difficult to make in a couple of hours NOTE it has to be heavy, like 15 - 20#
lets just suppose for a moment that a 3/4" pipe coupler is about the same diameter as a 12ga shot shell I'm jus sayin...