Northamptonshire,
United Kingdom 
As I've previously mentioned we've recently inherited a large garden, it was mainly laid to lawn with a few apple trees in the middle, a row of fir trees along one side and and end, and surrounded by a ten-foot high stone wall. On one side of the path we've raised the turf and created a fruit and veg patch, the original greenhouse needs some tlc but is functional enough, and we were lucky enough to have a pile of unused gravel to surround the beds. Apart from the occasional query, for which we get outstandingly brilliant help from the members of this very site, all is rosy (or it would be if we had any!) OR SO YOU'D THINK.
Having always owned two large German Shepherds, and just homed a particularly excitable but adorable rescue, we've never held out much hope of owning a bowling green lawn, but something at least vaguely resembling a patch of grass would be nice! The new arrival digging holes I can cope with, but the little blighters that are ruining my far-from-perfect lawn are MOLES - the damn thing looks like a battlefield! One of our cats took an interest in them and began bringing one home each morning, but I think he's got bored of them, Rabbits seem to make a better target, I think they're a bit stupid which seems to suit his hunting philosphy (I'm sure I've seen him leaning up against one of the apple trees wearing a trenchcoat and a fedora whilst pretending to smoke a carrot).
We invested in one of those sonic sticks you plug into the ground, which seemed to work for about a fortnight, but I think the moles have started wearing earplugs, because they're returning. And not only are they returning they're branching out and exploring - they've got a travel pass and they're damned sure they're going to use it! The lovely gravel area surrounding the fruit and veg beds, which I put a membrane beneath, looks like a tunnel scene from The Great Escape every morning.
Bearing in mind the pets, which I rather like to keep around, does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with the litlle sh..., I mean adorable furry little things!
4 Jun, 2010
Answers
you can get physical traps that kill the moles and leave the corpses in the hole . im afraid there isnt a nice strate forward answer im afraid .
5 Jun, 2010
"Anti-mole bulbs" are available. See
http://www.gardenoasis.co.uk/antimole-bulbs-p-416.html
I've seen them in the Ken Muir catalogue too.
I've heard that mole tunnels can be a danger in fields where horses' legs can collapse them - and farm vehicles too, if they are abundant.
10 Jun, 2010
same as prairie dogs longleaf and horse feet . these little ground squirrels homes have up to 4,000,000 inhabitants with interlocking holes so just think yourself lucky you dont live wear they do .i dont think mole holes would bother tracters but horses legs have know marrow in them so they cant readily mend . im just saying realy there are always people worse of than you . i believe that moles only have tunnels that are close to the surface wear there food lives ie worms . if you had access to the outside of your land biggar maybe burying some wire in the ground going out away from your property at 45 degrees would stop them . this works on rabbits as they only dig near the wall or fence and havnt got the brain to realise to follow the angled wire back . you could then get rid of any straglers with humane traps or otherwise as my lmt knowladge of moles tells me most deterents dont always work . i know this may take you a while to do but you could do it in bits at a time .you mite not even have access . good luck anyway .
11 Jun, 2010
You will need to try moth balls, find their tunnels and put one in each. There are also mole smokes which you can use in the evening, your garden must have a very good supply of worms. For rabbits, try to keep them out with wire netting fencing, tell your cat they are good to eat, you could catch them and eat them yourself.
4 Jun, 2010