Hi. Don't know if you want this question for your column, or just to answer, but we were wondering:

Is there any "cure" for moles? We moved here a year ago and have done lots of planting - flowers, shrubs, couple of trees, all of which are being ruined by moles. Whenever I see something looking droopy, or "just not right", I poke around and find that it has been tunneled under so deeply that the roots are just sitting in a hole, getting no water or nutrition at all.

We have filled the holes with potting soil, with sand, and have put in the holes about a dozen "old-wives-tale"-type 'remedies', all of which have NOT worked. Tried traps - nothing. Bought several of the tubes of pellets from Home Depot, which also didn't work, and even the guy in Home D said they don't work, because moles eat bugs, not pellets. Yes, we put insect killer on the lawn once, but that didn't do anything either.

Is there any way to get rid of them, before we lose every single plant we have?

Thanks.

Dear "Sarraiz";

You may have one our most perplexing problems, but before I get to moles, let me suggest another possibility.

Here in Florida in our sandy soils, air pockets around plants can be a problem. I have found large landscape plantings as old as 18 months (that is after planting) declining from these air pockets. There has not been any research that I know of done on this phenomena, but it does seem to pop up frequently. My guess is that many landscapes are planted by "assembly line" crews. That is one person digs the hole, another puts the plant in the hole, still another covers them over -- quickly, and finally another splashes a bit of water on them. This type of planting can lead to the formation of air pockets which can lead to the decline and finally the death of the plant. I am not saying that his is the cause of your specific problem, but if you are find more than a few tunnels, you might want to consider another cause.

In the meantime, a friend of mine, Dr. Bill Kern at the University of Florida's Ft Lauderdale Research and Education Center has recently published some thought on moles in a Factsheet found at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW080

Some of his comments include:

"The damage caused by moles is almost entirely cosmetic. Although moles are often falsely accused of eating the roots of grass and other plants, they actually feed on the insects causing the damage. The tunneling of moles may cause some physical damage to the root systems of ornamental or garden plants and may kill grass by drying out the roots, but this damage is usually minor.

When mole tunnels become an intolerable nuisance, moles may be captured and removed without a permit by homeowners, renters, or employees of the property owner. If a lawn service or pest control technician is hired to trap nuisance animals, that person must have a Nuisance Wildlife Permit issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). No poison (bait or fumigant) may be used on native wildlife without a Poison Permit issued by the executive director of the FWC. Because suitable traps are available for mole control, it is extremely difficult to justify the use of poisons.

Flooding the tunnels with water may force moles to the surface, but this method rarely works in deep, sandy soils like those common in Florida.

Moles can be live trapped using a simple pitfall. Find an active surface tunnel. Collapse a tunnel with your foot, then come back in an hour or two to see whether the tunnel has been reopened. If the tunnel has been pushed back up, it is an active tunnel. Dig a hole through the tunnel large enough to insert a large coffee can, wide-mouth quart jar, or similar container. Sink the can into the ground so the top of the container lies just below the bottom edge of the tunnel. Cover the area with a piece of cardboard or a board and the soil from the hole to keep light and air currents from alerting the mole to the trap. When the mole falls into the trap, the whole container can be pulled out of the ground and the mole carried to a forested area and released. Check your live trap often (several times a day). If this is not done, trapped moles may die from starvation or thirst."

Anyone have other suggestions?

Carol