Wire Tek 1001 EasySet Mole Eliminator Trap
by Commerce Corporation - In Network
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List Price: Our Price: $28.95 You Save: $8.04 (22%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $26.95 (click here) Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Wire Tek 1001 EasySet Mole Eliminator Trap
Customer Review: I got my lawn back, finally!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Normally I don't waste my time writing reviews since others have far more time on their hands. This little miracle gadget deserves a great deal of praise.
I bought two of these items with the hope that doubling down on the traps would mean faster eradication but little did I know that my mole problem would be solved in 4 days time. On day 1, I set out both traps randomly in different areas of the yard. About 4 hours later I caught my first one and wasn't sure if it was beginners luck or if the trap was just that good. I emptied the trap out (very easy) and reset it elsewhere in the yard and went back inside. Before bed, I went outside just out of curiosity to see if I got a 2nd one but no such luck. The disappointment of two kills in such a short amount of time would not last long because when I woke up the following morning, I had caught another mole!
I reset the traps and left them in the yard but for the next 3 days I didn't catch a thing. Perhaps this was because there wasn't any new mole tunnels that emerged (I stomped down all the mole tunnels after the first two so I would know where new moles were burrowing). On day 4, I noticed two small tunnels reappear from where I had previously smashed the soil down and immediately I removed the two traps and placed them near to eachother in the new section where I knew a mole to be. 6 hours later I am about to get into my car to get my son from day care and I noticed that one of the traps popped up and was ecstatic. The mole must have literally just set the trap off because when I pulled it out of the ground, the mole was still squirming. I immediately got a shovel and put it out of its misery but needless to say the trap worked.
For those that have the money to throw at this, I suggest getting two of these so you can boobytrap the yard at different sections. It will certainly work fine with one but may take a few more days but the sweet smell of success knowing that there are no more of these critters tearing up your lawn is nothing short of SWEET.
For those that don't already know this:
1) spend $3 on a box of disposable rubber gloves to handle the trap(s). They have great smell and you don't want the oil of your hand on any part of a mole trap or they will avoid it like the plague. If you do touch it, throw it in a big pot and boil it in mild soapy water for 3-4 minutes and the smell will be gone
2) Waiting until late spring/summer means you will have to kill more moles because they give birth around April.
3) In the summertime moles will be much further underground for most of their life. They follow where the grubs and earthworms are and when the top of the soil is dry, they know not to be digging shallowly. If you plan to kill them when its dry out, wait until theres going to be a big storm and the ground gets nice and wet. The moles will come back to the surface and it will be your time to get them
4) Moles are territorial. There may be 3-7 moles in a quarter acre lot but each one of them have their own region of the lawn. Once a mole has claimed a region, it will ignore those "sonic" or "ultrasonic" stakes that they sell at the hardware store because they were there first and will fight if needed to keep their land. Once a mole is gone, the stakes may be helpful to keep new moles looking for territory away.
5) Mole sprays actually do work well on existing mole infestations and are a more humane way of dealing with them. They work by changing the flavor of the insects in the ground via active ingredients like "castor oil" and "capsicum". These ingredients give the insects a spicy putrid flavor which encourages a mole to search for food in another lawn. If you use this spray, you likely may turn your mole problem into your neighbor's mole problem!
One final note:
For the folks that read the review of the one user who claimed that he/she caught nothing with it and then switched to the Macabee trap and has been successful, keep in mind that this logic really doesn't make much sense. The Macabee trap is nothing short of AWESOME but it is for GOPHERS and really not ideal for moles. They are also a total pain in the rear to set up and require staking to the ground via a chain so the gopher doesn't run off with the trap. The point is, if you are going after MOLES, this is the device you want!
Customer Review: needs a little help
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this trap from a hardware store in my town. It was the last one in stock, so when I got it home and the flimsy spot welding on the trigger plate failed, it broke off the plunger on my first try. I didn't want to wait for an exchange and reorder so I decided to repair it myself: big mistake. Took a long time to get it fastened properly again. For the shoddy workmanship I can only give it a four star rating. The rest of the trap is very strong and sturdy.
Finally I did get to use it and I found activity around the trap but it never was sprung. The instructions said to move it if I didn't have any success in 24 hours and in order to handle it safely you have to spring it with a screwdriver or some similar device. I noticed it took a rather hefty amount of prising to spring the trap so I decided to oil the moving joints above the ground (if any lubricant is used below surface level I'm sure the moles can smell and would avoid it). That was the charm! Now it works great and springs easily. When I found my first catch the trap had sprung so violently it flew up out of the ground and landed a couple of feet away from where I set it--with the mole in its grip. It has been a learning experience, but I have now removed 2 moles already and for now the activity has ceased.
Other reviews I read said the moles simply tunneled around the triggerplate. I experienced that, too, but the cause was pressing too heavily on the tunnel and making it easier for the mole to bypass it rather than open it again. My solution was to scrape the dirt away from a spot the size of the triggerplate over the tunnel until it is level with the surrounding ground level. Usually this leaves a small hole in the top of the tunnel, but the triggerplate will cover that up. Then the pressure of stepping on the setting mechanism seems to press the tunnel down just enough to invite the "little engineer" to repair it and get caught. Another review said the mole was still wiggling when the trap was pulled up. That was some super-mole I must say! The springs on this trap are very, very strong and no mole I ever saw could survive the impact of those "jaws of death." It seems to kill instantly by crushing the lungs and spine instantaneously. One last tip: check for active tunnels by making a finger-sized hole in them with a screwdriver or garden tool. Mark the holes with a lawn flag or something that will help you locate them the next day. When the mole comes along later, the fresh air and sunshine pouring in will quickly trigger it to be repaired. If the holes are still there when you return, don't waste time setting the trap there.
Customer Review: I Am Legend!
Summary: 5 Stars
The moles that are left in my yard are going to attack my family because "I Am Legend." (Only makes sense if you saw the movie)
This trap is fantastic. I have lived here for five years and the moles have multiplied despite all my previous efforts and have turn my yard to pieces. There were so many of them and my old style trap was so innefective I just gave up. That was before I got this trap.
Here's what I did:
1. I started yesterday by cutting the grass as short as possible and using the yard roller to knock down all the mole hills and tunnels.
2. I went outside and looked around every couple hours to see if I could find new tunnels. (It has been sunny and about 60-65 degrees)There were so many areas with active moles that I had to pick one to concentrate on.
3. Lots of dirt dug up in a large radius (Not a mole hill though) with one or two longer tunnels leading away from it. I placed the trap on the long tunnels when possible.
4. Setting this trap is easy but be sure to rock it back and forth like a teeter-totter to clear an area for the jaws to clamp shut. I'm sure everyone knows this but you also have to place the trap so the mole runs between the jaws as it moves through the tunnel. Don't crush the tunnel any more than you have to and disturb as small of an area as possible. You don't want the mole to dig a new tunnel you just want it to repair the tunnel under your trap. Also make sure that the trigger plate is flat against the ground. Once the trap is set I gently lift it up a little and set it back down to make sure it's not compacted too much into the ground.
5. When the trap was set I went to the other areas in the yard with mole activity and marked them with a stick so I could easily find them again. Then I used the lawn roller over these areas so I could see which one was the most active while I waited for the trap to do it's work.
6. It took 1-3 hours to catch the moles. After clearing the trap I rolled the tunnels down again to make sure there were no other moles in the area and I moved the trap to the next most active section of the lawn.
It has been approx 36 hours and I have killed three of them and on the hunt for the fourth. My neighbors probably think I am off my rocker because I have all of these driveway markers in the yard marking the active mole areas.
Summary:
This trap is very effective. I only wish I had more of them.
Customer Review: Easy to set as described but doesn't catch moles.
Summary: 2 Stars
I "googled" "effective mole elimination" and found several entries that referred to this trap, including the original supplier/manufacturer. As a property owner who's yard is forever plagued with gopher (which may account for the moles taking over) squirrels and now moles. I don't relish killing these little beasties as in their own way they do the ground some good but the dirt piles and rocks they dig up play havoc with my mower blades especially when they are launched from the discharge chute.
After reading several reviews and testimonials (not the supplier/manufacturers website) I went ahead and purchased and received a couple of these traps at $28.95 each from a supplier in MN a couple of weeks ago. I notice that Amazon sells two types of "Easy Set" Mole eliminators; I bought the "Best Mole Trap" version which came in the box pictured, so I suspect they are one and the same.
As per the instructions, I located active mole runs between piles using an old screwdriver and using my heel, made a small depression for the trigger plate and set the traps accordingly. As the design is a hair trigger, I found that the traps would occasionally trip of their own accord and would require resetting. However, no mole was to be found as the dirt piles kept popping up and the feeder tunnels multiplied. I attempted to minimise my scent further by inserting the blades into the ground a few times, even though I suspect this is achieved as the trap is set anyhow.
Finally frustrated and as a test, I relocated the traps and also set a couple of my Macabee gopher traps in the latest dirt piles as I would for trapping a gopher. Twenty-four hours later, one of the Macabee's had caught the little bugger and the Mole Eliminators were still set. From what I understand about mole behaviour there was probably only one and the gopher trap got him/her. I shall be leaving the Mole Eliminator traps in place for now, but I plan to contact the manufacturer and my original supplier for a full refund.
I think this design of trap is probably adequate for thick turf and loamy areas and not for the soil type I have here in S. Oregon. (maybe the mole burrows round or under) so unfortunately I can't recommend it.
P.S. Update: I have since caught three moles in total with the Macabee traps and none with the Mole Eliminator - oh well, can't win 'em all.
Customer Review: UNBELIEVABLE...IT REALLY WORKS...
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this trap out of desperation. We moved to a new house last september and our lawn was torn up in 2 weeks... I called a specialist; he charged me 250- and gave a 1 year warranty. The cheapest by the way as the others all charged above 500- and only guaranteed for 2 months... He trapped at least 5-6 moles over teh course of the fall, because I kept calling to say I think they are back and they were. When the snow melted this year, it started again so I called the trapper and he said he wasn't going to be able to guarantee for the year because this was just unbelievable (ie our incessant mole problem). Then faced with the daunting reality that these moles were not going away and the cost of getting someone to trap them I started researching it on my own. By the way, it's not true that once you trap they don't come back. They do. I decided on this trap because I knew I would be the one using it, not my husband so needed something easy to set. I stepped down all the raised tunnels (this is what you need to do) and then the next day, looked to see if the earth was raised (it was). I knew all this from the trapper, because he showed me how he determined where to put the traps. The long tunnels are normally the "highways" while the circling ones tend to be where they are feeding so I set the trap per the instructions..very easy. Then, I covered it with a bucket with a rock on top (I have toddlers and a dog). The next day I went to check; I didn't see any raised earth, I lifted the bucket and the trap was up and there was the mole!!!! My husband couldn't believe it!! I let him take the mole out... We are thrilled! We will save sooo much money using this trap ourselves instead of paying a trapper:))