The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Techniques and skills => Topic started by: Buffy the eggs layer on July 26, 2010, 09:37:58 pm
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Hi All,
can anyone recomend the most effective treatment for a mole epidemic in my garden? I would prefer to deterthem with a solar powered sonic device if possible but I dont know if they are any good and suspect I may need to try more drastic measures.
Any thoughts?
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Jasper Carrot had some ideas but you may be too young to remember................."there's only one way to get rid of a mole..............................blow its bloody head off!"
Sorry, not much use but the memory made me snigger.
I'm going now :)
Ian
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I was going to put exactly that but thought I was probably the only one who would know what I was on about ! ;D
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We had a huge problem with moles in our pastures for a while. Our vet called our place The Mole Sanctuary. Because we don't use chemicals, in particular Ivermectin wormers, we have plenty of earthworms (their diet) so the moles came to us from all the barren fields around. Eventually our local mole catcher volunteered his services and they were mostly gone. Widespread earthworks over 9 acres were caused by just a couple of dozen moles.
Every now and then we get some back and one of our terriers has found a new reason to live - catching moles !
She will sit for hours waiting beside an active hill, until the mole thinks the coast is clear, then when it pops its head up she pounces like a mini Polar Bear. You need to use the same technique to shoot them and most people don't have the time to sit and wait that long.
If you have only a small area to defend against moles you might be ok with a sonic device - they will stay away from vibrations. You will get rid of them more surely with traps, but probably best to get someone who knows the tricks to do it. They can be poisoned but I would never use such toxic substances in my garden. It's something like arsenic they use, or one of the very lethal poisons
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I have seen people stick childrens windmills into the ground. The vibrations deter them. Here in Orkney we have no moles so I cant tell you first hand that it works.
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Without doubt, the best way to get rid of moles is with the standard mole trap. The sonic "novelty" deterrents don't work, as one of my friends found out after spending a small fortune on them. We lost one of our dogs and almost lost another due to someone in our area using mole poison. We never found out who it was. Moles in the field are easy to dig out, as they often go in a line. I have dug out lots like this, but it's harder to do it like that in the garden as the runs are more complicated and you can't tell which direction the runs are going. Mole trap every time.
LB
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the poison that used to be used was strychnine, and used properly was very effective however dead moles were a problem for any scavenger that found it... and the dead scavenger was a problem for the next .... so it was banned. Phosphate gas isn't very effective and has now been licenced so joe public can no longer get it. I prefer the barrel mole traps over the scissor traps but the scissor traps are easier to check....you can get humane traps that don't kill but then you have to decide what to do with the enemy.... no point in just letting him go
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Thank you all,
helpful and informative as ever!
So let me get this straight...., I think what you are saying is,
dont wast your money on sonic devices - if you want a low cost vibrating device in your garden -buy a childrens windmill
if you are serious about getting rid of them - buy a trap, a terrier or hire a proffessional
if all the above fail to work - buy a jasper carrot DVD
Thanks folks,
will let you know how I get on
ciao
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We used to have a big problem with moles on our lawn,since having the geese on there no more moles. :)
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I am interested in Fleecewife's comments regarding the number of moles because you dont use chemicals. We reguarly use herbicides to control weeds, especially docks, in our grassland and pesticides to control pests , predominantly in newly reseeded pastures - and we have plenty of moles >:(.
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Along with all the other chemicals we don't use, we don't use Ivermectin wormers for our sheep. Ivermectin persists in the dung and kills earthworms (and compost worms if you stack the manure) so farms where dung from animals wormed with the Ivermectins is spread on the pastures have few earthworms. Our smallholding is surrounded by larger farms where they use Ivermectin wormers. When we had our mole plague it was strikingly obvious just by looking to see that the moles all lived in our fields and not the neighbours. One neighbour tried to say that moles were spreading out from our place but had to admit that the traffic was in the other direction ;D As moles make their tunnels and patrol them in order to capture earthworms to eat, their presence on our holding but not the surrounding land demonstrates that we have plenty of earthworms (a sign of a healthy soil) whereas they don't. This is confirmed by digging.
Many years ago when we first moved here, we bought a couple of loads of muck from a neighbour's byres, to use in the vegetable graden until our stock had produced its own. At first I didn't understand why it simply didn't rot down as it should, but was still remarkably unchanged after a couple of years. Eventually I found out that they use Ivermectins and its effect on the resident earthworm and compost worm populations.
So it's not the pesticides and herbicides which affect the moles, but which wormer is used in the animals providing the fertility.
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Thats interesting, and as we dont run any stock what you have observed could well have some basis.
regards
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Every year when the fields next door get ploughed all the moles take refuge in my garden - it is really really annoying! I used to tolerate it, but now I use traps. Tried the tunnel type ones which are a bit difficult to use, but by far the best ones I have found are the Talpex type traps. Good luck!
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We have a coouple of Egyptian Mau cats that are fantastic at catching moles - 6 in the last 2 months. I'm not sure how they manage it but they very kindly bring them in for us and leave them under OH's desk ;D
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Humn.., Mau cats eh?
tell me more. Would they eat my bantams and their chicks?
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They would probably take the chicks - I certainly don't trust them with ours.
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We had a mole problem; my father and sister tried to catch them with traps and couldn't. So my mother bought a trap (sadly one that kills the mole), set it in the run and put an earth worm in front and behind it. It caught the mole within hours and was very effective. It was sad to have to resort to that, but we didn't want to use chemicals, and our Labrador doesn't have the patience of most terriers.
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Well,
I can certainly see where the need for a little light relief in the form of a jasper carrot dvd comes in! My lawn is coverd in holes ( a number made by the moles...the majority made by us when setting the traps!) We havent caught anything in 3 days though the traps are being sprung. We have a very light sandy soil here so worms are not easy to come by unless you do some serious digging, which means bating the trap will be tricky. I know some of you have suggested calling in the experts but I think this will be an on going issue so I feel I need to master the art of mole charming or it will cost me a fortune in pest control.
Will set somemore traps this eve ....wish me luck!
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Hi Buffy. Apparently you need to make sure the traps have no human smell on them, so they must be dirty and you need to wear old rubber gloves, also preferably smeared with soil, when handling them and the turf you lift.
Our worms would just wriggle away if we used them as bait ;D
Waiting to hear if you are successful.
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Good Luck Buffy :)
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Hi Piggy - You mention geese, and I have some this year for the first time.
How do the geese get rid of moles - I am interested to put mine on mole duties
All the best
Sue
Dark Brown Eggs
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Hi
Not sure what it is but only thing i can think of is that its the movement of the geese that deturs them,we have 6 on there and still so far so good no more moles,hurray
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Hi All,
just thought I would give you an update. We tried 2 different types of traps which so far haven't caught anything. I have used gloves to set the traps and burried them in soil for a week before setting them to get rid of any smells but to no avail.
I have finally resourted to smoke bombs which work but are expensive for the number we have to use. As you have to bury one for every 3 mole hills, I think the secret is to use them when you only have a few hills not a field full!
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Hi. Might not be suitable for a field but my grandad used to put a length of bramble down the mole hill ( I dont know if he pushed it into the run as i was only young...many moon ago now!) As moles are heamophiliacs (sp?) they bleed to death. It worked for him. It might upset some animal lovers but moles are a nuisance and it is a cheap and chemical free way to get rid of moles....albeit a bit cruel. Hope this doesn't upset anyone.
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Hi Buffy, the guy who cleared my dad's garden a few years back coated his traps with some sort of worm extract which he bought at the local fishing tackle shop. He swore by it. He said it gave off a strong odour that the moles couldn't resist.
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Last year I was inandated with molehills. tried everything to no avail. I have geese and still had moles. The cat caught and killed 2 moles. Now that the snow is thawing I CAN SEE i have still got moles. I think a trap may be the only deterent.
Cheers Helen
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Hi Helen,
I have finally decided to get "a man in" to tackle the moles and the rabbits ( I have 4 warrens now!) as the moles seemed to have been very busy under the snow. I dont see this as a defeat but mearly a tactical withdrawl and a chance to bring in the cavalry.
My plan is to learn from him so I can tackle them myself in future. So I'm loosing the battle in order to win the war. :D
I will pass on any tips.
Buffy
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We tried everything including the little gizmo that you find in greeting cards.( put it down the hole and let it play until the battery runs out) Eventually my husband was persuaded by the the farmer next door to remove the top layer of soil and look where the runs were. then he put the traps across a run and recovered the ground. Next day we had caught two of the blighters!
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I know this doesn't remove the moles as such, but I find if instead of stamping the soil down hard, (which of course is what one is tempted to do) I now remove the soil from the mole tump (it can be stored in a bin for seed compost making) and eventually the problem settles itself down a bit.
My theory is that they build their tunnel network and if it is left reasonably undisturbed they don't need to re-do it.
All the best
and Happy New Year
Sue
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My Uncle Tot (his nick name cause he liked a tot of whiskey) used to be a mole catcher back in the bad old days when they were licenced to use strychnine, I remember helping him prod the ground between mole hill with a thin stick to find the runs then set traps.
Like the windmill idea - let use know how you get on.
Cheers Tim
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Just been out in the woods with the dogs and spotted this whopper - I reckon it was 2 and a half feet across and about afoot and a half high. I was amazed at the number of molehills along the track, never saw any in the summer.
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Now the snow is away and I was out clearing any waste hay, found we had quite a few mole hills - OH had a wee chat and spelling lesson with Bang Bang the cat (spelling out M O L E) and lo and behold 1 hr later dead mole on doorstep - I'm not joking - we'll continue the lessons ie 2 M O L E S tomorrow and see how we get on - at least one less though
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no use catching live moles where are you going to relocate them i belong to the shoot them kill them in-nilate them side (moles starlings magpies crows foxes rats mice (people that think they have a better right to my property than me) ) i have caught two live moles one shown to my children the other was on a building site showed that one to workmates also on another site dug a hole to bury waste sitting having lunch and three moles fell into the pit not killed
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Just been out in the woods with the dogs and spotted this whopper - I reckon it was 2 and a half feet across and about afoot and a half high. I was amazed at the number of molehills along the track, never saw any in the summer.
Thats the size of the ones in our paddock ::) ::) The first one I thought i'd just kick it flat - OOWWWwwww OUCH!!!! it was frozen the jarring went right up to my neck :o :o. Since the thaw I've raked them all out - certainly got me warm. So am reading this thread with interest - seems the best thing and quickest is to 'get a man in' as soon as the 'new years day' weekend is over I shall be ringing the local 'mole man'.
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Don't rake the mole hills flat - the earth has been superbly tilled and is ideal for potting on - plant pots, hanging baskets etc.
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weve had very mixed success failure with trapping its a real art, as said before soak traps in muck water mix to rid of scent and only use old gloves to set. you can find mole runs easily using an old piece of 15mm copper water pipe by pushing into the ground it will suddenly drop in easily when a tunnel is found. clear away all mole hill soil either use it later for potting or putting back into lawn at later date as you will gets dips in it. moles hate draughts when you clear the spoil away open up the hole so the wind blows across it, moley will come back down this run to seal it up so set a trap in it. Ive used spring traps and barrel traps, spring traps are easy to set but you may need to move the trigger ring one way or the other and experiment with it, i found small moles almost impossible to catch with these but had great success with adults. barrel traps are prob best though fiddly to set, if no success within 2-3 days move your traps, the reason we dont get much activity in the summer is they hate the vibration of the ride on mower and tend to go back into the paddock away from lawn. even a small area can hold large numbers of moles dont assume its 1 or 2. If its bad infestation i would invest in at least 6 traps. best of luck nothing will try your patience more than moles....................neil
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Don't rake the mole hills flat - the earth has been superbly tilled and is ideal for potting on - plant pots, hanging baskets etc.
If I kept it all I could start a potting compost business ;D ;D and there would be no soil left in the paddock.
Interesting about moles not like draughts - garden cottage- i'll make sure I expose the hole - thinks I've located someone who will lend me some traps -so will have a go with them - had a further 8 hills to flatten since yesterday - not all in one paddock or together so presume atleast 3 moles...or it's a very speedy gonzales mole ;D ;D
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Don't rake the mole hills flat - the earth has been superbly tilled and is ideal for potting on - plant pots, hanging baskets etc.
We use ours for tomatoes in buckets
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Hello and good morning,
As this thread is also about Moles and catching them wethougth it may be useful to you if we repeated here an entry we made in another thread recently......
"After the very cold weather and the quick thaw at the start of this year we have been stunned over the last month or so with number of enquiries about moles and molehills.
We noticed that this forum thread is asking about catching moles and setting traps as well - we thought you may like to know of our website which helps those with a Mole problem in paddock, field, garden or smallholding to find a TRADITIONAL Molecatcher in their area. - Not always easy these days.
www.britishmolecatchers.co.uk (http://www.britishmolecatchers.co.uk)
The website contains much background information on Moles and Molecatchers and also details of our Training courses.
There is no charge for using our website and finding a Traditional Molecatcher in your area is easy. You can, however, be sure that any Molecatcher that is on our register will use only Traditional methods of Molecatching. Any arrangements you come to with them is obviously something you have to discuss directly with that Molecatcher."
Hope this information will be helpful.
Kind regards
BTMR
You will be amused that our motto is "We don't make a Mountain out of a Molehill" as per the title of this thread !!
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Hi BTRM,
thanks for the information. I will look at the site. Despite my ambition to learn how to trap moles when I started this thread I have been unsuccessful. eventually the combided damage caused by rabbits, moles and pidgions was devastating and I had to call a pest controler in. As I am out at work then he sets his traps I have yet to learn the tricks of the trade so perhaps your site will help.
Buffy