Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are the
moles that topple plants, disturb carefully laid small cobble patios, kill
perennials and shrubs. I can forgive the piles of dirt on the lawn because
grass soon fills in but killing much- loved plants is very discouraging. I
have tried everything I can think of - human hair, mothballs and gum in the
runs, flooding or gassing the runs, small windmills to create vibration, and
so forth. Nothing seems to work. I really don't want to trap them since I
think they probably die a terrible death. So can anyone suggest something
else that works. Many thanks for any help. Jean Vancouver BC Canada

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

In article HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90, clarissa
wrote:

Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are the
moles that topple plants, disturb carefully laid small cobble patios, kill
perennials and shrubs. I can forgive the piles of dirt on the lawn because
grass soon fills in but killing much- loved plants is very discouraging. I
have tried everything I can think of - human hair, mothballs and gum in the
runs, flooding or gassing the runs, small windmills to create vibration, and
so forth. Nothing seems to work. I really don't want to trap them since I
think they probably die a terrible death. So can anyone suggest something
else that works. Many thanks for any help. Jean Vancouver BC Canada

I used to suffer with moles in my lawn every year. Even though I
backfilled the mounds of earth, the tunnel network eventually became so
dangerous (frequent turning of ankles as the lawn collapsed), I decided
to open them all up and fill them in with topsoil. reseeding
afterwards.

The lawn recovered quickly but I waited in some trepidation for the
varmits to return, tunnelling through the lovely fresh soil I had left
in their tunnels. Two years on and I am surprised and relieved to say
that they still haven't returned. I still have the odd fresh molehill
elsewhere in the garden (and I catch the odd mole with traps) but the
lawn seems to be ignored. Perhaps there's a mole law which says Thou
Shall Not Burrow Where Thou Hast Burrowed Before.

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

In article , Stan The Man says...
The lawn recovered quickly but I waited in some trepidation for the
varmits to return, tunnelling through the lovely fresh soil I had left
in their tunnels. Two years on and I am surprised and relieved to say
that they still haven't returned. I still have the odd fresh molehill
elsewhere in the garden (and I catch the odd mole with traps) but the
lawn seems to be ignored. Perhaps there's a mole law which says Thou
Shall Not Burrow Where Thou Hast Burrowed Before.

Think yourself lucky (so far). I rotovated, levelled and set a lawn last
Autumn and a year on parts of it are more mole hill than lawn. I have to
spend several minutes kicking the hills flat before mowing it. This year
has been a boom year for moles.
--
David in Normandy.
(The free MicroPlanet Gravity newsreader is great for eliminating
rubbish and cross-posts)

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

"clarissa" wrote in message
news:HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90...
Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such
as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are the
moles that topple plants, disturb carefully laid small cobble patios, kill
perennials and shrubs. I can forgive the piles of dirt on the lawn
because
grass soon fills in but killing much- loved plants is very discouraging.
I
have tried everything I can think of - human hair, mothballs and gum in
the
runs, flooding or gassing the runs, small windmills to create vibration,
and
so forth. Nothing seems to work. I really don't want to trap them since
I
think they probably die a terrible death. So can anyone suggest something
else that works. Many thanks for any help. Jean Vancouver BC Canada


The only things that work reliably are traps and poisions. Don't take my
word for it...here is an report into methods used all over Europe by DEFRA
the UK government agency...

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-cou...ole-review.pdf

It looked at all the old wives tales like mothballs or flooding with water.
I read this and purchased 5 barrel traps and 5 sissor traps off ebay
(poisons appear to be banned in the UK?). I set all 10 and within about a
week the barrel traps had caught about 7 moles. On one ocassion I found a
mole in a trap, reset it and cut the lawn, while putting the mower away I
noticed it had gone off again and yes it had caught another one! Now all the
moles are gone! All were caught with the barrel type, none with the sissor
type. Not sure why.

When we lived in Belgium I tried the ultrasonic things and they didn't work
.. The moles created hills either side of the usless things. The above report
says they are "not effective" - I believe because the sound waves don't
travel very far.

Neither type of trap is really easy to set, very easy to trap your fingers.
Both types are quite crude devices and need "fine tuning" (bending etc) when
delivered to get them to be sensitive enough yet not too sensitive that they
go off while you set them. The main advantage of the barrel type is that
it's much easier to put the earth back over them - the half barrel stops the
dirt falling into the run.

Good luck

Colin

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

"CWatters" wrote in message
...
I read this and purchased 5 barrel traps and 5 sissor traps off ebay
(poisons appear to be banned in the UK?). I set all 10 and within about a
week the barrel traps had caught about 7 moles.

Just to clarify... I didn't not set them and leave them for a week. You must
check them every day, dispose of any caught and reset the traps. After a
week I'd got around 7 or 8 and no more were caught the following week. Most
people use short bamboo canes to mark where the traps are because if it
rains it can be hard to find them again.

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

Jasper Carrot on catching moles...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ftivL8...elated&search=

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

In message HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90, clarissa
writes
Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are the
moles

I find it very sad that gardeners are so intolerant of moles. Certainly
in England they are one of our few indigenous mammals.

We make strong objections to native peoples of other parts of the world
not tolerating the animals they live among (think elephants and farmers
in India and parts of Africa), yet we persecute and exterminate our own
more humble wildlife.

Why not just be proud to have them in our gardens?

--
Philip Lund
Cambridge

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

"clarissa" wrote in message
news:HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90...
Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such
as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are the
moles that topple plants, disturb carefully laid small cobble patios, kill
perennials and shrubs. I can forgive the piles of dirt on the lawn
because
grass soon fills in but killing much- loved plants is very discouraging.

Are you sure it's the moles doing the damage? They don't eat plants just
insects and worms. I guess the tunnel might cause problems. They won't
effect a well laid patio. If they do it wasn't laid properly in my opinion.
As for the lawn. Thats the main problem area grrrr.

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

"Philip Lund" wrote in message
...
In message HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90, clarissa
writes
Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such
as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are
the
moles

I find it very sad that gardeners are so intolerant of moles. Certainly
in England they are one of our few indigenous mammals.

We make strong objections to native peoples of other parts of the world
not tolerating the animals they live among (think elephants and farmers
in India and parts of Africa), yet we persecute and exterminate our own
more humble wildlife.

Why not just be proud to have them in our gardens?

--
Philip Lund
Cambridge

Have you seen the damage they do to a lawn. It's not the mole hills that are
the problem. The tunnels collapse and you get quite deep lines across the
lawn. They can live on my paddock if they want but not my lawn.

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

In article , Philip Lund
wrote:

In message HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90, clarissa
writes
Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are the
moles

I find it very sad that gardeners are so intolerant of moles. Certainly
in England they are one of our few indigenous mammals.

We make strong objections to native peoples of other parts of the world
not tolerating the animals they live among (think elephants and farmers
in India and parts of Africa), yet we persecute and exterminate our own
more humble wildlife.

Why not just be proud to have them in our gardens?

My garden is surrounded by fields and I benefit from all kinds of
wildlife, including resident rabbits which eat my plants and make
unsightly scrapings in the lawn. And yet I leave the rabbits alone - I
enjoy seeing them around the garden.

But moles are different in that their excavations present a serious
risk to injury for me and my family. When the lawn gives way
unexpectedly underfoot, it is possible to break bones. We have had a
couple of sprained ankles. I think this takes wildlife tolerance too
far.

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

On 28/9/07 13:16, in article , "CWatters"
wrote:


"clarissa" wrote in message
news:HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90...
Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such
as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are the
moles that topple plants, disturb carefully laid small cobble patios, kill
perennials and shrubs. I can forgive the piles of dirt on the lawn
because
grass soon fills in but killing much- loved plants is very discouraging.

Are you sure it's the moles doing the damage? They don't eat plants just
insects and worms. I guess the tunnel might cause problems. They won't
effect a well laid patio. If they do it wasn't laid properly in my opinion.
As for the lawn. Thats the main problem area grrrr.



They affect plants by tunnelling under them and leaving the roots dangling
in nothingness. I used to put a lot of spent mushroom compost on the beds
in a previous garden and it worked wonderfully as a good mulch. But unknown
to us and disguised by the mulch, moles were at work and a couple of shrubs
keeled over before we realised what was going on!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

In reply to Sacha ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

On 28/9/07 13:16, in article ,
"CWatters" wrote:


"clarissa" wrote in message
news:HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90...
Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many
pests, such as slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but
the worst by far are the moles that topple plants, disturb
carefully laid small cobble patios, kill perennials and shrubs. I
can forgive the piles of dirt on the lawn because grass soon fills
in but killing much- loved plants is very discouraging.

Are you sure it's the moles doing the damage? They don't eat plants
just insects and worms. I guess the tunnel might cause problems.
They won't effect a well laid patio. If they do it wasn't laid
properly in my opinion. As for the lawn. Thats the main problem area
grrrr.



They affect plants by tunnelling under them and leaving the roots
dangling in nothingness. I used to put a lot of spent mushroom
compost on the beds in a previous garden and it worked wonderfully as
a good mulch. But unknown to us and disguised by the mulch, moles
were at work and a couple of shrubs keeled over before we realised
what was going on!

I don't approve of killing anything apart from mosquitos and bluebottles (so
I'm not a Buddhist) but moles are blind and have an acute sense of hearing,
it seems, so one of those mole-deterrent ultrasonic things might be the
ticket.

The downside is that you end up with a plague of bats colliding with your
windows all night.

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

On 28/9/07 14:41, in article , "Uncle
Marvo" wrote:
snip

I don't approve of killing anything apart from mosquitos and bluebottles (so
I'm not a Buddhist) but moles are blind and have an acute sense of hearing,
it seems, so one of those mole-deterrent ultrasonic things might be the
ticket.

The downside is that you end up with a plague of bats colliding with your
windows all night.


That couldn't possibly be a downside here. ;-) We get plagues of moles
from time to time because we're surrounded by farm land. The adjoining
church yard gets masses, too. From time to time, we have to trap them
because as someone has said, it makes our lawn very dangerous.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
On 28/9/07 14:41, in article , "Uncle
Marvo" wrote:
snip

I don't approve of killing anything apart from mosquitos and bluebottles
(so
I'm not a Buddhist) but moles are blind and have an acute sense of
hearing,
it seems, so one of those mole-deterrent ultrasonic things might be the
ticket.

The downside is that you end up with a plague of bats colliding with
your
windows all night.


That couldn't possibly be a downside here. ;-) We get plagues of moles
from time to time because we're surrounded by farm land. The adjoining
church yard gets masses, too. From time to time, we have to trap them
because as someone has said, it makes our lawn very dangerous.

The ultrasonic devices do NOT work. DEFRA appear to agree... .

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-cou...ole-review.pdf

It says....

"The available information suggests that these devices are not effective.."

"There was no shift in the range used by the animals"

"The authors proposed that moles were not deterred because the vibrations
produced by the devices were rapidly attenuated when passing through soil
and could not therefore be detected beyond a few centimeters away"

Don't buy anything until you have read this report.

Moles - to trap or not to trap
 

"Philip Lund" wrote in message
...
In message HvQKi.20074$nO3.19642@edtnps90, clarissa
writes
Hi everyone I live on the edge of woodland and so have many pests, such
as
slugs and snails, crawling up from the bush - but the worst by far are the
moles

I find it very sad that gardeners are so intolerant of moles. Certainly in
England they are one of our few indigenous mammals.

We make strong objections to native peoples of other parts of the world
not tolerating the animals they live among (think elephants and farmers in
India and parts of Africa), yet we persecute and exterminate our own more
humble wildlife.

Why not just be proud to have them in our gardens?

I wouldn't mind having them, I've never understood garders' dislike of
moles.

Mary