Moles
Joyce Goldenlily
Posts: 2,933
These pesky creatures are about to begin their Spring sorties on our gardens. They are a nightmare down here, mole hills will be appearing everywhere, gardens, roadside verges, bowls and tennis lawns and cricket fields.
I put empty plastic bottles on top of short canes and plant them around the garden. When the wind blows they rattle slightly which offends the little critters ears so they move on. Cheap, not overly attractive, but it helps.
I saw my cat sitting on a low wall last year gazing at the slate chipping path in front of her. I could not make out what she was watching until I saw the path move. It heaved heavenward and back down. I went out and stamped on the path which discouraged the beast below, fine on a path but not on a flower/veg. bed.
It is very expensive to have a mole catcher come out, around £25.00.
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We have had moles in the garden in the past. One tip I read was to put some crushed cloves of garlic in the holes as they don't like the smell. I did that and we haven't had any molehills since. It may have been a complete coincidence and there was another reason for them moving on (lack of worms) but I would try it again.
Good luck Joyce
I'm going to give the garlic a try, we've been overrun by the little pests for months and they're still active; we have molehills everywhere!
I have 5 cats and a couple of them a really good at catching moles. The big, fat, lazy one is ace, as it gives her a good excuse to sit in one place for a long time! Last year they caught 8 or maybe 9.
Personally I like moles and think they are amazing creatures, but they do make a horrible mess of our grazing field in the spring. The molehills are great for filling planters and odd dips in the turf though.
I'm ashamed to say I'm too soft for that Welshonion. Even when we've had field mice in the loft I set humane traps and trek a good distance till I find a likely spot to release them
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WE caught a Mole once put it in a box and drove it up the road to our field where we released it......it shot out the box and at the speed of light buried itself we hardly saw the going of it ! Another Mole we had threw a Mole trap up with all the soil it had been heaving up ! They have a great sense of humour
At a previous house we also suffered from moles. Tried mothballs as advised by a neighbour but didnt do much good. My husband found a device on internet which you put in the lawn. I think it made a noise which we couldnt hear but the moles could. It seemed to do the trick and they moved on i am glad to say.
We will have to re-seed that part of the lawn, which was newly laid in September 2013 at great expense as it measures 165 sq. metres, and I look out each day wondering when the first of this years molehills will appear.
We didn't have as many Crane flies last year as previously, probably thanks to the moles eating the larvae, but we are having the back lawn re-turfed later this year, as most of that has now been eaten up with leatherjackets, despite dosing it with Nematodes.
I posted on here when we first had the problem, and someone said we would never get rid of the moles. I can but try.
Years ago, when I was living in Zimbabwe, we could purchase pellets similar to mothballs which were inserted into the damp earth of a mole hole. The hole was then covered over, and the 'mothball' would react with the damp soil and emit a noxious smell. The moles disappeared. I wish I could buy those 'mothballs' here!
Having said that, I honestly do not know whether the pellets were killing off the moles, or just persuading them that there were better areas to live in.