Moles - bless 'em!

For anything to do with the garden and pool
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CarolineH
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Moles - bless 'em!

Post by CarolineH »

It's that time of year again, when the moles find the ground soft enough to start extending their homes. This has reminded me to share something with you. If you a furry friend lover, please close this topic now :wink: However, if like me you are plagued with mole hills (sometime 1/2 metre in diameter) and tunnels all over your beautiful lawn - I have found the solution.

After 10 years of trying all sorts of traps, exploding devices, smoking devices, bottles waving in the wind, diesel poured down holes (not very eco-friendly, but I was desperate) ... you get the picture :D

I found this http://www.piege-a-taupe.com/ It's only 20 euros for two traps and it really works - you need to watch the video to learn how to set it up properly, but last spring I caught 13 of the little monsters.
domino
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Post by domino »

Oh dear, I am a 'furry friend lover' and really couldnt bring myself to look at the advert demo :cry:
Our farmer neighbour has a rather dangerous approach to mole elimination. He was seen recently, young hunting dog at his side, shooting at the ground directly in front of him. I dont know who was at more risk, the young excited dog or the mole. :?
Our moles are a bit of a pain but the soil they throw out is often very fine and is great for containers or for use in planting shrubs etc. Theres always a bright side eh :)
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CarolineH
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Post by CarolineH »

Oh gosh! I feel I need to defend my cruel image. I don't mind them in the orchard or in the fields, but I have 4 acres with two beautiful lawns that I have had ploughed and sown and of course they like this because the ground is soft.

I got one today, and have cleared his little mountains : which has given me two heaped builders wheelbarrows of soil! The lawns are slowly getting lower and lower... occasionally you fall down a hole.
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wallypott
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Post by wallypott »

My three spaniels are excellent mole hunters, but for some reason believe that all animals on our property should be allowed to flourish. So, when going for a walk we often manage to find a couple (carefully put back - beautiful soft spaniel mouths) while the ones at home get off scott free. We have the equivalent of New York Molesville happening in the field, and only the odd stray on the lawns. I have trained the cats to pee in the mole hills which seems to help.
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CarolineH
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Post by CarolineH »

wallypott wrote:I have trained the cats to pee in the mole hills which seems to help.
:shock: Wow how do you do that ?!
linda que linda
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Post by linda que linda »

wallypott wrote:
I have trained the cats to pee in the mole hills which seems to help.


Shocked Wow how do you do that ?!
__ :lol: Too funny! However it's done, it's comments like these that keep me addicted to this forum.
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

As a photographer who has specialised in the underground environment for many years, I feel a close affinity with moles! Indeed, many tunnel boring machines are referred to affectionately as 'moles' and Eurotunnel adopted 'Marcus the Mole' as their mascot during the construction of the Channel Tunnel (albeit an unpleasant Disney-like manifestation). I remember being told that moles have the ability to survive in a much less oxygen-rich environment than humans, which contributes to their successful tunnelling ventures.

We have the usual damage here from moles (sometimes bringing mowers to a shuddering halt) but I confess to feeling affection for the 'little gentleman in velvet' who means us no harm. He's only going about his business and I give him an easy life.

Jim
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wallypott
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Post by wallypott »

linda que linda wrote:
wallypott wrote:
I have trained the cats to pee in the mole hills which seems to help.


Shocked Wow how do you do that ?!
When they were small and teaching them to do their business outside, I used to put them on the molehills, and because it was easy to dig and cover, they automatically used them. I am taking far too much credit re the training aspect
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

wallypott wrote: I have trained the cats to pee in the mole hills which seems to help.
Nice one if you can do it! One of ours lurked around a molehill until the poor blighter emerged, then grabbed it quick as a flash. Oh well, made a change to its usual diet of shrews and robins.

I get a bit cross with the moles sometimes, but I'm a "live and let live" type and I shift the "hill" onto the nearest flower-bed (lovely fine tilth) and then brush the remnants over the lawn surface. I end up with a hole a few cms in diameter which is easy to plug and the lawn grows over it in days. Not worth getting into a sweat about.

Mol(e)s :lol:
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Moliere wrote: I end up with a hole a few cms in diameter which is easy to plug and the lawn grows over it in days. Not worth getting into a sweat about.

Mol(e)s :lol:
It is when overnight you suddenly have 20 molehills in the lawn.
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

Well, I've had a dozen or so at one time, LV - it's a pain sure, but they're just living their lives and it's no excuse to kill them.

Mols
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
la vache!
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Post by la vache! »

Moliere wrote:Well, I've had a dozen or so at one time, LV - it's a pain sure, but they're just living their lives and it's no excuse to kill them.
Mols
I don't like killing them either, but I have a nice lawn and have to keep guests happy. Blowing them up is the only way to deal with the problem, unfortunately.
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

la vache! wrote:I don't like killing them either, but I have a nice lawn and have to keep guests happy. Blowing them up is the only way to deal with the problem, unfortunately.
Are you Alfred Nobel reincarnated? Chucking dynamite down their runs and garnering a peace prize into the bargain?!

A few tiny holes in the lawn won't bother your guests, and after a week or so they'll move on (the moles as well as the guests) so let 'em be - as a bonus they eat all sorts of nasty grubs which attack the roots of you plants (the moles not the guests!)

Mols 8)
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
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CarolineH
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Post by CarolineH »

They don't move on - they've been here for 10 years - several generations of them - they just enlarge their worming ground. My lawn has large areas where the ground has literally fallen away underneath the grass.

Such depressions in the lawn lead to my guinea pigs escaping under the sides of their run and me spending hours crawing on my hands and knees in a hedge trying to catch them - but that's another furry friend story :wink:

LV - does blowing them up work for you - it never worked for me!
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Moliere
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Post by Moliere »

That's interesting - I've never had moles staying around for more than a couple of weeks, then they move on and don't come back for 6 or 7 years.

Obviously you lavish the same care on your subterranean guests as you do on the surface ones, perhaps you'll get "Five worms" reviews on Moliday-Lettings and Trogadvisor!

Mols :wink:
Jumping is just dressage with speed-bumps.
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