Up at the barn, our new orchard and Croquet lawn has recently become covered with Molehills.
OK, they're cute little creatures with cosy patchwork waistcoats and bijou underground homes, but Moles are also a dreadful bloody nuisance.
There are various methods of ridding oneself of Moles; some more efficient than others. My own favourite, and at which I've been the most successful, are these English Mole traps (not for English Moles, you understand; but made in England). The French equivalents are hopeless.
My son Kimbo recently sent me the two above.
When set correctly, this is the result; a cleanly killed Mole who will no longer rampage beneath my lawn. If you have the same problem, I recommend these ones which we purchased through Amazon; don't buy the French ones.
N.B. If the above disturbs you, I'm sorry. But, for us country folk, Moles really are a pain in the rectum.
I can't believe you are allowed to kill a native animal, or are they introduced ? Here in Oz we can kill rabbits because they are a menace and are introduced but you may not kill any native animal, well you can get a permit for kangaroos which can be in plague proportions and eat not only introduced grass but native flora as well. With difficulty. There are birds who wreck trees and you can't kill them
ReplyDeleteWe have real problem here with three native animals; wild boar, roe deer, and moles. The idea is not to wipe them out, but to limit their numbers and the damage they do. No other creatures are targeted.
DeleteI should add that I don't hunt the other two.
DeleteWhere ever there is a lawn the moles are comeing. We also have them here but I am afraid to use those killer things that you have.
ReplyDeleteKnowing 'exactly' how to use them is the important bit. In the wrong hands they can be cruel and nasty.
DeleteMine sure are the wrong one.
DeleteTry explaining to city folk why we kill kangaroos up home. Bloody Nuisance and over populated.
ReplyDeleteAny creatures that become humanised in children's books (waistcoats, cosy homes, cute offspring, exciting adventures, etc) are then regarded as untouchable by many townies. One only has to see the naive reaction to fox hunting back in the UK. They have NO IDEA.
DeleteWe've had moles. I think they left when the dog started digging down through their mounds. I try not to kill anything (even wasps get caught in a fishing net and thrust outside), but I appreciate the need when they invade your home (could have done without the pic of the dead mole though!!).
ReplyDeleteI can remember those from Lingfield. No moles here thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteI remember Father's brand new turf lawn at Lane End being completely ruined by them... I can't remember his solution. Maybe Fuller dealt with them.
DeleteI hate killing things as well but living in the middle of farmland we suffer the same as you do Cro. I found that trapping is the only real way to curb them. All my neighbours feel the same as I get repeated requests to sort out their grounds as well, no charge of course.
ReplyDeleteLumberjack has need of your (paid) services.
DeleteAround here we use these traps. My cats also present me with big fat moles. A cst never eats a mole. As for foxes we are totally OVERRUN with them.
ReplyDeleteThat photo is really sad....I'm pretty uncomfortable with what we humans do to wildlife...obviously they are a problem for you...and you need to deal with them.. shame there is no other solution .
ReplyDeleteIt's not something I enjoy, but I'm afraid occasionally certain solutions are inevitable. We also have lots of them in a field, but they can stay there with impunity.
DeleteThey are ugly (and destructive) little creatures.
ReplyDeleteI would not have thought you had the sort of suburban mentality which hankered after the perfect English lawn, but life is full of surprises.
ReplyDeleteI don't. I just want a lawn without hundreds of brown lumps all over it.
DeleteGet rid of the dogs as well, then!
DeleteI've trained them to shit on other people's lawns.
DeleteTrain the moles to visit your neighbours from hell?
DeleteThe farmer's view too Cro, as he sets out each morning with his trowel to go round his mole-traps in the fields. Sometimes he wins, more often he loses.
ReplyDeleteA few years back we had a terrible problem with them, and I was catching them by the bucketful. Then they seemed to stay away, until recently when they came back. We have to be vigilant.
DeleteThose look much simpler than the much larger contraptions we used when I was growing up. We have plenty of problems with varmints here but our trusty black lab loves hunting moles so we haven't had much trouble with them.
ReplyDeleteNeither our dogs nor the cat seem to be interested in actually catching them. They are fascinated by the moving earth, but it ends there.
DeleteWe get them here too.....the cat used to take care of them. Now we just ignore them.
ReplyDeleteThose are some fancy traps. Never seen that variety here. The ones we have have fork tines that spring down in to the tunnel. I never managed to eliminate a single one with them. My most successful method up to now has been to put a garden hose in the tunnel and flood them out and then when they come to the surface play whack-a-mole using a spade.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds more like 'sport' than 'pest control'. I have a friend who does much the same with rats.
DeleteMoles rank right up there with rats, the only good one is a dead one. I don’t think of them as native wildlife either and there has been many a fine horse end up with a broken leg after stepping into a fresh mole hill while running in a field. My great grandmother used to fire her double barrel shot gun with it stuffed in the mound.
ReplyDeleteSad. Maybe instead have a different view and learn about their life and how they actually have a purpose. It is simple enough to just step down the lump of soil they produce-than killing something you obviously know nothing about. If you did, you would not be killing them. I will just chalk your behavior up to ignorance. Moles are beneficial and eat certain invasive beetles as well as improve the soil. Spend a month researching about them, read books and connect with nature in a new light. You’ll be surprised what you learn.
ReplyDeleteDear Lisa.... 32 comments, and just one dim-wit. No doubt you're a townie as well.
DeleteAt my farm, the moles dig tunnels that appear as twisted and turned underground roads, slightly risen above the ground. The gophers leave peaked mountain like piles of dirt, and I've trapped a few near my garden. The cats and dogs take care of the moles though. I can set the trap, but my husband has to go get it. I can't look at the poor creatures.
ReplyDeleteLast year the moles dug up many brussel plants, most of my leek crop and all of the strawberry bed.
ReplyDeleteOur cat is a good mole catcher I am pleased to say. We have those mole traps, but have no moles in the garden at the moment and we don't mind them in the field while there aren't too many.
With reference to Doc's comment, did you know that William III ( of Orange) died from injuries sustained when his horse tripped over a molehill ?
We were saying yesterday that our lawn must resemble a giant Aero bar. I hadn't really thought of the 'danger' side of things; poor William.
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