My name is Rick Paulson. I live in Columbus, Ohio with my wife Karen and our golden retriever, Biscuit.
Four years ago, I woke up to find mole tunnels running across my front lawn.
I wasn't panicked. I figured this was a normal homeowner problem with a normal solution.
I bought Victor traps from Home Depot. Watched YouTube tutorials. Set them on the active runs exactly like the videos showed.
Caught nothing.
Okay. Fine. I tried Tomcat poison worms next.
"Can't use those," Karen said the moment she saw the box. "What if Biscuit gets into the tunnels?"
She was right. I put them back.
So I moved to castor oil granules. Spread them over the whole yard after a heavy rain like the instructions said.
The moles left for about two weeks.
Then came back.
I hired an exterminator. $160 for the first visit. $95 per month after that. They used baits I couldn't even have on the property with Biscuit around, so Karen made me cancel after the second month.
I tried a solar ultrasonic stake from Amazon. $19.99 for a pack of four. They rusted after one winter and stopped working entirely.
By year three, I'd spent $580 and had more mole damage than when I started.
I stopped walking out to check the front yard in the mornings. I used to love that. My coffee, the quiet, the lawn I'd spent weekends building.
I stopped having people over to the backyard.
I started parking my truck at an angle to block the view of the front lawn from the street.
My neighbor Tom who'd had a decent lawn for years now had a better lawn than me.
That was hard to swallow.