How to get rid of moles is a very common question, sometimes even this is a cry of the soul ... How to make sure that these generally useful animals forget the way to our site? My experience suggests that it is rather possible to reasonably limit the number of moles than to completely get rid of them. But how to do that? There are many ways. Talk about them below. First we find out who the moles are.
1. Moles
Moles are small mammals that live underground. They have velvety fur, tiny, almost invisible ears, eyes, shortened hind legs, powerful forelegs with large paws adapted for digging holes.
The mole, in comparison with other mammals, can live where the content of carbon dioxide is high, since its blood contains twice as much hemoglobin. Therefore, he is able to survive deep underground - where the oxygen content is minimal.
Although these mole diggers are the scourge of many gardeners, gardeners, lawn owners, they make a significant positive contribution to the health of the soil in the garden. Their numerous tunnels and mounds improve soil aeration and drainage. They also eat garden pests - larvae of garden centipedes, snails, slugs that gnaw plants and feed on leaves. But moles themselves do not touch the roots of plants.
Moles spend almost their entire lives underground. Their velvety fur can adapt to any movement of the animal - forward or backward. The wide front paws, turned outward, end with thick strong claws. They are blind, but have an extremely sharp ear, a sensitive sense of smell.
Most of the underground passages of this animal consists of numerous tunnels. They can use these tunnels repeatedly or, on the contrary, only once. They prefer moist soil abundant in larvae, earthworms. If it rains, then their passages are located close to the surface of the earth, and during the dry period or in winter go deep into the wake - after the earthworms. When the soil is wet after rain or watering, moles dig the earth close to the surface - they look for worms, insects, they can damage the root system of plants, causing harm to them. This is not very popular with many gardeners.
The fact of the presence of these underground inhabitants confirms the presence of various mounds of freshly dug land of different heights (5-60 cm). The number of mounds is not equal to the number of animals, this is only an illustration of their activity.
Moles do not feed on roots. Undermine the roots of only those plants that are already inhabited by pest larvae. Unfortunately, people lack an understanding of the importance of finding these animals in the area. Before you decide to deal with them, make sure that their number is really critical. Often enough actions to scare them away from your site.
Ways to get rid of moles
How to scare them? You can do this in various ways.
- Moles spend all their time underground. Darkness is their habitual habitat. They are blind, however, the perfect sense of smell makes up for this deficiency completely. By the way, it will help you reduce their number. Use their sensitivity to certain flavors. Repellents (substances that repel insects, ticks, mammals, birds) that contain castor oil are sprayed along all lines of the tunnel tunnels. The recipe is this: prepare a mixture of 2 tablespoons of any liquid soap or dishwashing detergent + one glass of castor oil. Add 4.5 liters of water to this mixture. Shake well, spray on the surface of the soil along the tunnels. Repeat this monthly - the entire garden season, and also after each rain.
- The moles are scared away by black beans. So put them around the perimeter of your site - they will leave. Only it is necessary to plant "Black Russian Beans", it is this variety. Other legumes will not cause such a reaction. Beans planted every 30 cm will help you drive away uninvited guests.
- Moles are not rodents, they do not consume grain, nuts, etc. Therefore, etched grain baits are not effective against them.
Shops for gardeners began to offer a "deterrent" by the German company Detia Degesch Gmbh. This is a natural product that is harmless to the environment. It consists of yellow balls, including lavender extract, various bioactive substances, essential oils. Animals don't like the smell of lavender. Manufacturers recommend laying the balls in rows on the surface of the earth or deepening - one ball - 1 m². The depth of immersion of the ball is 20 cm. As I understood from the instructions, they do not need to be laid inside the moles. Moles have a very sensitive sense of smell, and the smell of lavender will be an obstacle to laying new moves around the site.
About 3-4 years ago, my neighbor in the country "decorated" his site with metal rods (there are about two dozen of them) about 1 meter high. Each pin is crowned with a metal beer can. Even the slightest breeze blows light beer cans. Sounds on a metal stick spread across the ground. All these 3-4 years of molehills almost neither he nor I had. Rather, they were, but an acceptable amount - they did not bother us. A variety of homemade ratchets or turntables have the same effect.
In gardener stores, they sell ultrasonic, electronic repellers that periodically make vibrating sounds - underground diggers leave a noisy place.
Electronic Mole Repeller - Review
Electronic repellers come in different capacities - vibrating sounds spread across the ground. The area of vibration propagation depends on the power. The number of repellers that should be installed depends on the size of your site, the power of these devices. Install the device in early spring, leave it there until the end of the garden season. But there is one feature. This is from the experience of my other neighbor.
The peculiarity is this - as soon as you install a repeller, it will start to make vibrating sounds - this will not only scare the animals, but alert them. First, the number of dug mounds around the electronic scarer will increase. Therefore, install them where there are no cultural landings. This will continue for two weeks. And then you will notice that new mounds ceased to appear next to the device. A neighbor, for example, noticed that after two weeks they (they were 2-3) were already dug further - 7-10 meters to the repeller. He set two more where he noticed fresh mounds. After some time, no more mounds were visible.
I think that the advantage of repellers is a humane attitude to these animals. And such a minus - the frightening process sometimes stretches for several months. I’ll see how the neighbor will be next, whether electronic scarers helped him or not.
This year (2015), electronic repellers were again installed, although in the spring the neighbor did not notice molehills. Three medium power repellers were installed (one Krona type battery) - the distance between them is 10-12 meters. New mounds appeared, unfortunately. Distance - 15 meters from the repeller. But nothing was planted there, so no further measures were taken.
By the way, there is one drawback of electronic repellers. At first use, the battery lasted for three months. And then I had to change them monthly. This is a minus.
There are also similar solar powered devices. If someone used these, drop a couple of lines below, how convenient, durable they are.
We can conclude that the electronic repellers are sufficiently effective.
How to get rid of moles folk remedies
I suggest trying the following old, time-tested methods:
- In mole passages pour balls of fresh goat or pork droppings, as well as pour herring brine or a mixture of kerosene with water.
- Chopped cut gooseberry branches, bury together with manure.
- Stakes of bird cherry stick in mole heaps or near them.
- Animals do not like the smell of onions, garlic. Cut them finely, place them inside the mole passages. The more such moves you fill with this mixture, the faster the animals will leave your site.
Moles overpowered, what to do?
Once I received a letter-question by e-mail. The author of the letter writes: “Moles were tortured, defeated, what to do? They ate the roots of roses, rocked the bush, how to strengthen it? ”
Here is part of my response letter: "Moles could not eat the roots of roses, any other plants. They feed on worms, larvae, and plants, vegetables, roots do not eat. Most likely, roses are sick. The roots are damaged by some pests. It is their larvae that are the subject of attention of the underground inhabitants. Carefully expose part of the root, carefully examine it. If my assumption is correct, then the roots of the rose need to be processed.
The rose has many pests - one of them is Khrushchev - the larva of the May beetle. You yourself could bring it along with humus.
A nematode can also damage the roots of roses. If you notice a pinkish-white coating on the roots - these are clusters of nematodes, small worms (they can only be examined with a microscope or a magnifier).
Each pest has its own means of struggle. Improve the plants - the mole will no longer disturb your roses. Whatever the result of researching the root system of roses, pour them with Kornevin (Heteroauxin), which stimulates the growth of new roots - the rose will recover quickly enough, therefore, it will harden in the soil itself. ”
There are other ways: physical destruction, molehills, etc. But these are completely inhumane methods of struggle. I don’t want to talk about them. Still, the moles should not be completely eliminated, I think. More good than harm. One should not only allow their uncontrolled propagation.
And here is another way to protect yourself from the underground inhabitants. According to the author of the video, this is a very effective method.
But in this article I would like to talk about another underground pest, about a mole rat. Why? But because very often these two species of animals are confused - the mole and the mole rat (blind man). But these are completely different animals. The main difference is that they eat different foods. The first eat worms, larvae. But the latter can leave you without a crop - carrots, beets, potatoes - their favorite treat. They, in my opinion, do much more harm to the garden.
2. Flies
These underground inhabitants cause gardens, fields much more harm than moles. If moles irritate us only by leaving mounds of land, mole rats plus this can deprive us of a portion of the harvest of potatoes, carrots, and other root crops. Moles are insectivores, they feed on insects, worms, larvae, and mole rats are rodents. Getting rid of mole rats is very difficult.
What is the difference between mole rat and mole
The mole rat (blind man) belongs to the family of mole rats. This is a rodent adapted to the underground way of life. He is completely blind. Instead of eyes, he has a thick fold of skin densely covered with stiff, bristly hair. Tail, auricles underdeveloped. The forepaws of mole rats are small. They are not at all like digging organs - the forepaws are small, all five fingers with claws.
A mole rat digs the ground with his teeth - wide incisors. In fact, he gnaws at her with incisors. Behind the incisors, and they are located outside him, there are multifold lips that cover the mouth opening. Therefore, the earth does not fall into the mouth. The head is wide, flattened. The body length of the mole rat is 15-35 cm. The skull is of a special, unique shape.
The main habitats of forest belts, fields, steppes from the western regions of Ukraine to the Volga, Western Ciscaucasia. His settlements are divided. The highest density of its settlement (Ukraine) is achieved in virgin lands adjacent to crops of perennial grasses, crops of grain crops, close to beams, forest belts, and forest edges.
The moles of the mole rat are located in several tiers. A complex system of horizontal moves is laid shallow - a depth of 10-25 cm. These are aft moves. They lead down to the deep tier, where 1-3 nesting chambers are located. The depth of their location can be different - 80-120 or even up to 320 cm. The diameter of the passages is from 5-6 to 11-12 cm. When laying the passages through a temporarily arranged gusset, the earth is thrown to the surface, forming a heap 10-25 cm high, with a diameter of 20 -30 to 240 cm.
How to get rid of mole rat
It is difficult to get rid of a mole rat. Most often, strong poisons are used, the same as for rats. It is quite effective, often really helps. But they must be used very carefully - after all, a garden, a summer residence, a kitchen garden is the place where children, pets play, walk.
You can set traps, but this is a troublesome task, since all this construction must be deepened, placed near the entrance / exit of the hole. Moreover, it is not necessary that the mole rat will use this particular move. According to gardeners, mole rats are smart. If a mole rat is caught in a trap or trap, others will be warned of the danger. No more will come across. Most often, they bypass traps, traps side.
There is one more way. An ordinary cat or cat will help you get rid of mole rats. Best of all, if the cat used to catch rats before.
The moles or holes of the mole rat can be easily determined by the underground passages - under the weight of a passing person, the earth falls through. Then you need to dig a hole (half a meter along the hole) - wait for the mole rat to begin to clog the exit with earth. He does not tolerate temperature changes or access to fresh air, immediately begins to push portions of the earth, thereby clogging the exit.
At this time, it is necessary to prepare the hole for the next operation. Above the hole, make a deepening of 30 centimeters (bayonet shovel), expand to half a meter on the sides. And expect the reappearance of a mole rat at the exit with a cat or cat. With its help you will be freed from a malicious uninvited guest.