Are there really any effective ways of eliminating moles in my yard ?

If you have a cat litter box Scoop the Poop and put it in the mole holes. Be generous. I did this about 20 years ago and they never came back.

We used to have a problem with moles and voles. Two very important things we did was to quit using bird feeders (they were eating what the birds kicked to the ground and tunneling through the yard). The other thing we did was to have our lawn treated for grubs. Drastic measures, I know, but they haven't been back. I also recall catching a few in mousetraps when the problem was at its worst. Now the birds eat the berries from our sergeant cherry trees and the seeds from our coneflowers, blackberry lilies and other flowering plants that never seemed to interest the burrowing critters.

Determine if you have Voles or Moles... They eat differently and are different pests. My method has proven surefire. Feed them tobacco is small quantities at first. Plant a tobacco bush in your neighbors yard then stop feeding them your tobacco. They quickly migrate...