In the past i have never had moles in the yard. over the last couple of years however they have started making a home there. this last fall it looked like a city with all the tunels dug as roads. i have tried giving them chewing gum. i was told that would work, but it didnt. i want to stay awy from poison if possible but they gotta go. i am planting man more fig trees this spring and if i lose any due to the critters i will be on P'off guy. any advice on how to get rid of them.

Dude, Mellow out. Go online and research voles. 
After you read up on those post again and I'll help.

ok read up a vole is not the same as a mole.

Dave, I'm not sure what your post meant. I have had vole night mares from h#$l. They will destroy your fig trees. I was serious when I said I'd help. 

looking at the net i have seen that tey are not the same and how each operate and solutions. i am pritty sure it is a mole problem as wild cats hunt voles as do snakes. there are enough wild cats in the town to well im not going to say that but there hundreds and alot of them stay under my trailer. and  snakes i cannot mow the grass without running one over. the traps seem to short term, and i want to avoid poison at all cost. a neihgbor put these mini windmills up in his yard and he dont have em any more but every body else has the worse now. these windmill things are very costly as well.

OK then

dave you have to trap. all the noise makers do is cost you money. the tunnel and the clamp type trape are what i use. the best thing i have used was the gummy worms not the candy gummys but the poison ones but i stopped using them because thay cost to much.    that is if your are talking moles. i think its  on going at my place, but you just keep at it. so i hope that helps. take care of yourself.

I agree with eithieus. Trapping is the way to go. There is a tone of information here:
http://www.gopherslimited.com/

Moles do zero damage to trees, they eat insects.  If you have gophers, then you've got a problem and they need to be trapped as they will eat the roots of your plants.

http://www.thegopherguy.com/pages/pestid.html

I have not lost any plants to them yet that's why I think its moles. But they have been tearing up the yard and growing beds. So I thing I will use some grub killing firtilizer on the lawn in spring in a attempt to dwindle their food supply in my yard and that might get rid of them. The problem has only gotten worse over the past few years.

GW,
I'm not sure how much good killing grubs is going to do. Trap trap trap. As stated above moles just do damage to your beds and yard with their tunnels. If you have healthy soil then there's going to be plenty of worms. The only solution that's worked for me has been getting very aggressive and being relentless and involving the neighbors. No easy fix without poison.  

I have moles too. I didn't get around to it last year, but there is this stuff called milky spore. You treat the lawn it kills the grubs and lasts 20 years. It takes a while to cover the whole property, but I figure it's a start. I'm doing it this year for sure. Then I'll see about traps.

dave,

check this link. i don't have pest issues. and not sure what can be done with mole, but this article seems to indicate bait and trap.

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/ppdl/expert/moles.html

GW,          

I rarely get moles -gophers are my problem - but I do recall watching a show a few years back  about moles.  They said the key to eradicating moles was ventilation.  A large portion of the tunnels and mounds that you see is their means of providing proper ventilation (fresh air). They recommended castor oil in the tunnels as a deterrent.   

Good luck.                                                                                                                       

Sting 'em

Dave,

If memory serves me, I think garden lime is the answer.
I had a mole problem a few years ago and I am 99% certain I used garden lime on a spreader.

I think the lime irritates their skin and they go away.

look into it.

vaporize 'em.

Pete's trying for a bloody mess!  ;)

when you truly want to reach out and touch some mole.. there's nothing that says "l love" like mcmillan 50 cal :)

Do you remember the movie Predator? Well you can set one of these up to shoot BB's and attach a 25.500 shot pack to it. Yup over 25k rounds at a time! That will cure your mole issues.

i never understood why they call them "miniguns". nothing "mini" about them.

Compared to a full size gatling gun it is pretty small. 30lbs -- small enough for a big guy to carry. Well a really big guy, I suppose.

Here's the thing: Moles tunnel. They rarely surface. Plinking them with a 50 cal, 223 or BBs won't matter. You can't see them to shoot. Get a good ratter, a little terrier or miniature dachshund . They may dig up your yard from the surface down, but the moles will get the idea after a while. Milky spore does ahve degree of effectiveness, if you want to wait long enough. Another option is to camp out in your yard, wait for them to be active near the surface where you can locate them, then black them in and spade them up.

smoke bombs perhaps?