I've been trying the compressed spring/spikes type mole trap but no luck so far. I've found it tripped a few times over the past week or two but no dead or any sign of injured moles yet. The only thing I can think of is maybe the mole is tunneling deeper than the trap spikes reach when tripped.
The only real luck I've ever had that I knew for certain I either killed or put a serious hurt on a mole has been visibly catching them actually digging and quickly jabbing straight down right where they were tunneling with a manure/hay pitch fork.
I have had to dig down in a tunnel in order for the spring trap to work. When I set one, I will stomp the tunnel down first, then place the trap in position, move the spears up and down in the tunnel in order to get the ground good and loose as to decrease resistance, then set the trap. It takes a lot of patience.
