Reasons for the appearance of moles on the site
The main reason for the appearance of moles on the territory is a favorable environment for their residence. They prefer chernozem soil, rich in insects and well moistened. This type of soil is oversaturated with earthworms, their favorite food.
Factors that provoke the appearance of moles:
- Animals appear in areas that are often loosened, moistened, and fertilized.
- Cultivated plants attract insect pests, which hide in the ground for the winter. Such insects are the main food for the mole.
- Absence of dangerous predators (foxes, wolves, etc.) in residential areas.
- Presence of small rodents.
The main problem is that it is impossible for an animal to remain without food for more than 15 hours, which means that it is constantly in search of food, which causes new and new holes to appear on the site all the time.
Herbivore or carnivore?
The entire structure of the underground “digger” indicates that it does not hunt for your carrots, but for earthly living creatures. In people's minds, this furry baby is just looking for an opportunity to feast on the roots of their garden plants. But this is just a myth, since the mole is not a vegetarian and eats plant foods infrequently .
Rare cases of moles eating plants are required only to compensate for the lack of certain elements, that is, for prevention. Let's take scientific facts that say that scientists never find plant particles in mole remains, only all kinds of worms and bugs. The animal loves to feast on insects that live underground, and they make up most of its diet. And in the ground, a real buffet is laid out for the little miner:
- Earthworms;
- Beetles;
- Larvae;
- Slugs;
- Medvedki;
- Other insects and invertebrates.
The diet, as you can see, is very rich in protein and other nutrients. Moles eat their own weight in food per day . The mole's favorite treat is earthworms, which he carefully cleans before devouring them. He squeezes the earth out of their body, pinching it between his two paws. These same worms go to winter food supplies.
An interesting fact is the paralyzing property of mole saliva, which immobilizes the victim. This is very convenient from the point of view of creating supplies - the victim is alive and does not spoil, but does not run away.
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A mole, like many small animals, must eat often, namely every 4 hours; in just 10-12 hours without food, it can die.
In addition to food, they need regular water intake . Usually one of the passages leads to a source of water - a river or pond. And if there is no such source nearby, then the mole adapts specially dug pit-wells for this purpose. Often, for this reason, a mole hole can be filled with water, but they not only dig well, but also swim.
The benefits and harms of moles
It is impossible to say for sure that moles are pests for summer cottages or flower beds. The main harm to animals is that, by digging holes with their paws, they destroy the root system of plants that they encounter on their way (moles do not feed on plant roots!). They use numerous passages for storing food and wintering. In a short period of time, rodents can damage trees, bushes, flowers and other plants. Minks in the ground spoil the aesthetic appearance of lawns and lawns on the site. The appearance of moles can lead to soil depletion; it will simply become unsuitable for growing crops. Moles are considered carriers of dangerous infectious diseases and parasites.
Rodents bring little benefit by eliminating mice and their nests, as well as insects that spoil plants: mole crickets, larvae, beetles, etc.
If you do not want to lose your harvest in the shortest possible time, then you should know how to quickly remove moles from your plot.
Little fluffy "digger"
Moles are carnivorous mammals that lead an underground lifestyle. The size of the individual generally lies in the range of 5–20 cm with a weight of up to 170 grams. He has very valuable fur, so you can find fur coats made from moleskin. The value of mole fur is its special plush texture - its pile grows straight, and the animal can move in any direction without any problems. As soon as it senses danger, the mole immediately hides in the hole, using the reverse door to do this. And in everyday life, he very often moves backwards, getting into the right “rooms”.
Blind but not flawed
The practically blind animal has a strong sense of smell , which compensates for the lack of vision. Powerful paws with huge claws work to make passages in the ground; the cylindrical body and narrow muzzle also help with this.
The front and hind legs of the animal are very different, and while the powerful front legs resemble shovels with large claws flattened at the ends, the hind legs are very poorly developed.
The head is small and elongated, with a completely invisible neck. The elongated nose is very sensitive, since the mole's eyes practically do not function, and it perceives this world through smell. There are no ears, but the animal hears loud sounds well. Both the eyes and ears are covered with folds of the body so that when doing excavation work they do not become clogged with earth.
In fact, for this reason they are not visible and it seems that this animal simply does not have them. Although there are also such eyeless individuals. Moles are truly blind, because their eyes do not have a lens or retina, and the tiny eye holes are closed by a mobile eyelid, or even completely overgrown. How do they survive with such a meager arsenal of sensory organs? Few people have a sense of smell and touch as developed as that of our hero. A person will not yet have time to see the prey with his eyes, but the mole will already find it using his sense of smell. He senses a bug or worm at a great distance only by the smell it emits.
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Moles do not migrate across all fields looking for food. Having found a good place to live, they set up permanent housing with rooms for rest, food supplies, many passages and hunting haciendas. The hole itself is most often located under a tree or large bush very deep in the ground. The bedroom is nestled with leaves and dried grass and surrounded by plenty of storage space .
There are two types of passages, feeding and running, the first are superficial (3-5 cm), which moles use to collect food, and the second are deeper (10-20 cm).
About the effectiveness of 15 ways to fight moles
The effectiveness of mole control, methods of mole control. A description of our persistent, long-term struggle against moles in various ways. Each method of struggle gave some result, most often the result was unexpected.
There have always been moles on our site. While construction was going on, they did not interfere with us, and we did not interfere with them.
The first stage of construction was completed, and we finally took up the site.
A year later, a garden appeared with two beds, currant and gooseberry bushes. The rest of the plot is lawn. And molehills immediately appeared, we simply leveled them.
In winter they dug a well. In the spring, two more beds were added. In late autumn there were eight of them.
A mole is a predator, it doesn’t touch plants, but growing something in a garden bed if moles are constantly visiting it is problematic. Planted seedlings of zucchini or cabbage very quickly ended up either on top of the molehill, or were covered with earth, and it was difficult to find them. And even if the planted plant remained in place, it did not grow, since a tunnel was dug under it.
Despite the fact that all the beds were mulched with a thick layer of grass, the soil dried out very quickly. When watering the beds with a hose, the water went to no one knows where.
Then we decided to try the first method of fighting moles. Drown them, fortunately there is a recently dug well, and every 4 hours you can download 1.5 tons of water.
The way to deal with moles is to fill the holes with water.
Every 4 hours I turned on the pump and poured water into the holes from a hose. This continued for 3 days. I would have continued further, but after 3 days the first result of my efforts appeared.
The neighbors' outdoor toilet surfaced.
That same evening we learned that there was a second result of my efforts - the lower ring of the well was covered with sand. The well had to be cleaned, after cleaning we learned the third result.
The water level in the well was restored not 4 hours after downloading, as was before, but after 40 minutes. It turned out that we “rocked” the well. This is a positive result.
What about moles? They continued to frolic in the beds and eat worms!
Three folk ways to fight moles
Sticks and pieces of reinforcement were stuck all over the site, aluminum beer cans were hung on them, and much more that constantly clinked and rattled in the wind. The bottles were buried in the ground at an angle, and in a strong wind they howled. Rotten heads and ridges of cod and herring are stuffed into the holes.
The result is that the site looks like a landfill. The moles threw the fish outside and sealed the holes.
Two ways to control moles - chemical
Two products were purchased at the store, one was called “Mole Thrower” and the other “Mole Thrower”. Both products are in granules, similar to dry cat food. According to the instructions, after smelling the Mole Thrower, the moles were supposed to get scared and leave, and after eating the Mole Thrower, they were supposed to die; both had to be poured into the hole and covered with mud.
But the moles didn’t read the instructions.
Everything was thrown out, and the entrance to the hole was sealed.
The result is money spent.
Here I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the active substance in “Mole Boy” causes internal bleeding. Therefore, I had to carefully collect all the granules from the ground. I was afraid that cats would eat them.
A way to fight moles is with strong-smelling substances
Acetone and kerosene were found in the barn, and ammonia was found in the first aid kit. Minks were dug up and rags soaked in ammonia, or acetone, or kerosene were stuffed into them.
In this case, the moles behaved differently. The rags remained lying underground, but then the passage was sealed with clay, and fresh piles appeared nearby. New holes were dug.
Result - while we were moistening the rags, we smelled ourselves...
A way to fight moles is with strong-smelling plants
Imperial hazel grouse, daffodils, and marigolds were purchased. So my mother-in-law planted beans every year. But you can’t plant hazel grouse and daffodils in a garden bed, so they planted them next to the beds.
The result was beautiful.
We noticed that the mole does not go into the beds with garlic and onions. But garlic does not react to single-planted garlic.
Meanwhile, the first apple tree withered. The seven-year-old tree was very pitiful. When the tree was uprooted, a “cave” was discovered under the roots.
The trunk circles of the trees were mulched, and there were worms under the mulch. And where there are worms, there are moles. It became clear that the tree trunk circle should be turfed, or even better turfed and densely planted with garlic. Garlic does not need to be removed; it is not for food, but for protection.
Method of fighting moles - ultrasonic repellers
I didn’t want to lose the rest of the apple trees at all, and the decision was made to spend money but get rid of the moles. We bought 5 different vibration-ultrasonic repellers. Each manufacturer promised that there would be no moles left within a radius of 20-30 meters.
The moles especially liked one repeller. It was dug in by moles literally in a circle, right up close! It was not a repeller, but an attractor! They didn't pay attention to the rest.
The result is a lot of money wasted. Spent a day traveling to Moscow and back. The constant squeaking in every way annoyed the neighbors.
A way to fight moles is firecrackers
Firecrackers of various calibers were purchased specifically for moles on New Year's Day.
In the spring, when the moles became active, my husband, two sons and I dug up holes, threw firecrackers in, covered the hole with a board and stood on the board with our feet. The explosion occurred inside, the blast wave should have gone further into the hole. The board under my feet tried to bounce. Two weekends disturbed the peace of the neighbors.
The first three days there was zero mole activity. On the fourth day the first fresh pile appeared. And off we go.
The result was a good weekend.
Method of fighting moles - mole traps
Two types of mole traps were purchased. One is a plastic pipe into which the mole must climb, but will not be able to get out, the second is made of thick wire. It was necessary to dig out a passage that runs horizontally, install mole traps, place a plank over the mole traps and cover it with earth.
The mole refused to climb into the pipe; he simply walked around it, digging a parallel passage. The work of the second mole trap meant that the mole, with its nose, when moving forward, had to release the spring, and the mole trap had to slam shut. The slammed mole traps were filled with earth. It felt like the mole was pushing a lump of earth in front of it when it moved.
The result is money wasted.
Perhaps we installed the mole trap incorrectly, perhaps there are other, more successful models.
It was the third year of the war with moles.
The way to fight moles is to set fire to gasoline
This idea came to my husband's mind.
Run more water down the passages, followed by gasoline. Gasoline is lighter than water and does not mix with water. Then set it on fire.
Flashes of fire were observed over a fairly large area, some more, some less. Fire burst to the surface from underground in the most unexpected places. Later, smoke came out from under the ground in thin streams.
There were no moles at the “experimental site” for a week, but we were happy early! Heaps began to appear, then more. The rate at which new heaps appeared grew rapidly. I understood. They don't restore old moves! They are digging a new metro at an accelerated pace!
The result is that we have ruined the earth.
The method of fighting moles is water after washing the septic tank
It's not even a septic tank. The toilet is outside, two rings are dug in. In the fall, a sewer truck came and pumped it out. The next step in the program was to fill it with water and pump it out again. The idea came to pump them into the holes. They pumped it out. The hose did not reach the garden.
Over a fairly large area, moles did not show activity until winter. They appeared again in the spring, they did not dig a new metro, they carried out restoration work.
The result is that we will assume that the lawns have been fertilized.
A way to combat moles - fumigation tablets
Read the instructions for use. Sold in packs of 3 so that a person does not get poisoned himself. They begin to act upon contact with air. The higher the temperature, the faster. They release a gas that kills everyone who breathes the air. The specific gravity of the gas is 1.3. Heavy, but not too much. Do not open packaging indoors.
You shouldn't put it in surface holes - it won't help. You need to find “mines” - passages that go vertically down or at an angle. There are no such passages in the beds; you need to look in the aisles or on the lawns. After placing the tablet, hammer a stone of a suitable size into the hole and cover it with earth, compacting it. Use constantly, because some die, and others quickly take their place.
The result is that with constant and proper application of tablets, the number of moles can be reduced to a minimum. It won’t be possible to destroy everyone, you’ll miss it a little, and there are already as many of them as there were.
Other methods of fighting animals
Fighting moles in the garden involves the use of a variety of means and techniques. If more humane methods do not give the desired result, then poison can be used. These animals feed mainly on earthworms, and they can become bait. To do this, you need to carefully cut the worm and place a little poison in it, which can be purchased at a specialized store for farmers. Such baits should be placed near the entrance to mole holes and covered with soil.
In addition, many people use smoke bombs. This product is simply lit, placed in the mole tunnels, and the hole in the soil is tightly closed. The smoke will spread through the passages, scaring away the animal or poisoning it. Some people prefer to use exhaust gases. To do this, they are driven into the passages through a hose connected to the exhaust pipe of the car.
In some cases, a fairly effective method will be to flood the holes with water, which often leads to subsidence of the soil and the creation of slight waterlogging. Dogs or cats can also successfully catch moles in the area. Dachshunds and fox terriers do this most effectively.
Pest or helper?
There is simply no clear answer to this question:
- firstly, all living beings are important and necessary. One has only to remember the disasters that occurred after the extermination of the “field pest” sparrow in China or the imbalance with wolves and rabbits in Australia;
- secondly, the mole does not intentionally harm your plants, but by breaking through tunnels, it can cause great damage to the roots. It is even useful because it eats the larvae of garden pests, as well as mole crickets and slugs. But it also eats earthworms, which are very valuable to farmers. Here, as they say, it’s a double-edged sword, but there is no intentional harm to plants from this “digger”;
- thirdly, he digs up the soil on a grand scale, loosening and aerating it better than any special equipment.
Both in free land and in your garden, it can dig up to 20 meters of new tunnels. One can only imagine what this could lead to.
As you can see, the mole, strange as it may sound, is both harmful and useful for agriculture. One thing is obvious: the extermination of this species will lead to another biological imbalance . In Germany, for example, moles are protected. Nevertheless, we sell many repellers and traps that help in the fight against these animals.
Often a completely different animal is mistaken for a mole - a mole rat. He is the one who steals the harvest, and not our hero at all.
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