Melons and moles

[MrB.Natural]

First of all let me apologize beforehand as I am kind of a beginner... so my question may be stupid.

I have a fairly large melon and cantaloupe patch in my backyard which is very sunny.

Anyway, my garden has moles in it. Last year I found small "volcanoes" and also long shallow tunnels all over the place. I have read that it doesn't have to be many moles as a couple of moles can dig a lot of tunnels, plus they are loners. The soil in my garden is hard clay, with lots of grubs in it so I understand why the moles like to live there. But they dig a lot and I am afraid my melons which have sensitive roots will suffer. I live near a train track and the garden gets a tiny and brief earthquake whenever a train passes by, which is 3-4 times an hour. So I know whatever mole lives here is not afraid of vibrations.
I set out a trap in an active tunnel but all it did was to rust.
I did by chance come upon one of the moles one morning and got rid of it but I am still finding new tunnels especially in my melon patch.
Very worried. Does anyone here know if the melons will survive moles, and I am worrying too much? Or if melons will be affected by the moles, does anyone have a suggestion how I can get rid or the remaining mole/moles?
PS. My cat patrols the garden frequently but I guess he is not interested in moles

 

[roadrunner]

I have tons of moles in my yard and I've never noticed them damage anything.

As far as I'm concerned they do more good than bad, since they are carnivores and they also aerate the soil.

 

[DirtMechanic]

This. aeration. They are small sensitive creatures that will go around a decent root. They eat bugs. Only when you lose plants do you have a problem.

 

[TomatoTango]

I haven’t had moles damage anything yet but the garden beds they got real active in I simply stapled hardware cloth to the bottom and problem solved. Traps usually won’t catch them.