Holy moly!

I was up real early in the morning, around 6.30. Had just removed the plastic mulch from the melons and watered them. A day before I noticed that the my foot sank when I stepped on the soil in front of the newly installed backyard wall. I gathered I had not stomped hard enough but took it positively because I'd rather have loose soil than hard clay.
However, since this particular place was next to the wall's post, I want it to be solid so I started stomping the ground around the post to compress it. Realized then that the soft soil seem to have a pattern. A long and narrow one, which I recognized from last year. Mole tunnels. Oh great. Well nothing to do but to learn to live with the damn things. I read somewhere that if the soil quality is good the moles will not find enough food in it and will go elsewhere. Not sure if it is true though. I think they eat the grubs that lie deep in the soil and those grubs are not gonna leave if I have good quality soil even...
Anyway, I had just finished watering the backyard and was putting an extra thin layer of soil in stead of the mulch to keep the moist for now. After that was done, shovel in hand I made my way back to the main area when my eye caught a tiny quick movement on the soil. Just one bump.
I immediately connected the dots. That must be the mole. Without thinking twice I charged and hit the soil that had just moved with the shovel. It moved again. I used the shovel to block whatever was there from going deeper into the ground, and instead forced it out. And bam! hit it once with the back of the shovel. I had read that moles are very sensitive to shock and get heart attack from even small amount of pressure applied. It seems to be the case here cause the mole was just lying there twitching for a couple of seconds and then died. I check it closer. No blood, no sign of broken limbs of extreme pressure. Nothing. Just a tiny heart attack I guess.
I cut it up and put it in the compost. Now I wonder how many more of them there are....
I have already felt a tunnel between the pond and the hanamizuki tree. Will keep an eye out.

Caught it right at the wall post in the background

Not so big, but bigger than I imagined

The traps I set last year didn't work and just rusted. I guess I will have to just rely on chance encounters to kill them off.