How to get rid of moles in the garden, summer cottage, personal plot or in the garden – the question that every owner is doubtful about. How to kill moles in an easy way and how to save your perfect lawn so as not to suffer from yellow grass we are going to tell you in this article.
While there are no wormholes, and annoying moles bypassed the tenth underground road, or rather crawled past your territory, heading to the neighboring garden, it was pleasant to listen to how a neighbor heroically tries to get rid of moles, and there are a great many ways to solve the problem, but in our hearts we rejoice – yes, it’s not nice that the neighbor is bad, but it’s even better that ours is good …
Until the moles appear in our yard.
And instead of a beloved and well-groomed green lawn, a picturesque environment where it is pleasant to relax with your family, read a book, frolic with children or lie in a hammock, potholes appear as after a bombing raid.
After the slightest rain, each wormhole is a dirty mess, and it won’t take long for a foot to fall through. It was not enough to get injured – it was enough and not the aesthetic appearance of the land plot.
Plus, moles in pursuit of worms and larvae can easily undermine the roots of domestic plants – shrubs and trees, and many years of work will go to dust. And if the garden or vegetable garden is profitable, direct material damage is not excluded.
How to get rid of moles in the garden?
- Birds to help to get rid of moles
- Homemade and industrial mole repellents
- Organizational activities
- Video how to get rid of moles in the yard
What are moles
They belong to insectivorous rodents, growing up to 17-18 cm in length with gray-black velvety fur, with small ears and eyes. They lead an underground lifestyle, therefore, the mole repeller, as one of the tools considered below, is almost completely submerged in the soil, with the exception of the cap.
The main earthmoving tool that causes so much trouble for gardeners is powerful front legs with claws that tear the ground.
If there are many wormholes in the garden, most likely one animal made them, since moles are usually solitary – their breeding season lasts during early spring
The problem is that it is often difficult to get rid of a mole by chemical or mechanical means, since it may not return to the tunnel that has been made.
Although we are talking about aft tunnels, the mole visits the main passages at a depth of 30-45 cm more than once and then it can be caught, destroyed or scared away.
Sometimes mole passages are confused with structures created by gophers.
However, the latter are herbivores, although they can also cause harm, feeding on the roots of plants and accumulating food reserves underground, from which slides are also formed.
Mole traps
In order not to waste time and money to keep moles away in the garden, the first step to setting a trap is to detect an active wormhole, from which the pest periodically visits the surface.
Of course, if at the initial stage, there is only one mole hole, then the problem will be solved by itself. And if you have not been at the dacha or garden for several weeks, with a high degree of probability, the entire surface is in hillocks.
The task is complicated by the fact that there is no relationship between the number of burrows and moles underground. If you do not have to guess, then you have to act on indirect signs. Literally “at random” to understand where to set traps in order to catch a mole.
Put piles of earth with a shovel on all the hills and wait a day or two.
If you can see that the mole came to the surface from some holes, these are active tunnels where rodents move and you can install mole traps.
- A mole trap is placed in an active, active tunnel and can be used as a “soft” remedy, and to get rid of a mole that gets inside, you just need to take it out (and move it to your neighbor’s garden?). These are spring-loaded mole traps – “in and out”.
- Circle traps are used not only for moles, but also against gophers.
Mole Bait Traps
Above, we considered mole traps that do not require bait, and calculated that sooner or later the mole will crawl along its course and get caught.
Mole food traps are orders of magnitude more effective at luring underground dwellers.
Some of the baits for moles can be poisonous (then they can be used without traps) or be natural food – for example, earthworms or insect larvae.
But to destroy a mole with baits with poison is risky and not humane:
- if pets and birds move around the site, the dacha, you can do more harm by poisoning them;
- In addition, if the mole expired outside, the corpse would have to be carried out.
By the way, in order not to fool their heads, some owners of summer cottages and vegetable gardens take an ordinary mousetrap, load it with bait and put it on the exit of a wormhole. Oddly enough, moles are also led by appetizing bait and fall into a trap.
You can experiment in this way with rat traps. The main thing is to take care of your fingers.
If there is no sense, perhaps the mole is too careful or moves through another tunnel.
Another good thing about mole traps is that they can be hidden in the ground, unlike indoor mouse traps.
Of course, do not completely fall asleep, otherwise the deadly latch for a mole will not work, but sprinkle a little. Ideally, such a mole trap should not be visible, and only bait will be outside.
How else can you catch a mole?
Here is perhaps the least effective way.
Probably for those who have time, hunting excitement, intuition and the mole recently left through the tunnel.
- Two shovels are buried on both sides of the course, the middle part is dug out and the trapped animal is retrieved.
How to get rid of moles with gas and smoke
Again, distant parallels can be drawn, as specialized services provide pest control services, gas poison (fumigation against mice and rats) and even give a guarantee.
Only for how long?
This method cannot be recommended for mass destruction of moles for a simple reason – gas is not useful. For all living beings. Without exaggeration, this is a local-scale chemical weapon, and if moles are not a pity, then people do not want to suffer from a gas attack at all.
Although gases may not always be poisonous, they are suffocating – for sure. When the mole has nothing to breathe, it does not matter whether it is leaves or wet sawdust smoldering.
How do you like this gas method to get rid of a mole – in the literal sense of smoking from a home organized in your garden.
Another question, again, to check whether anyone is left down there, will have to wait.
How many moles were poisoned, or maybe a miracle happened and they all left the territory, it is not known. Until then, the whole season will pass.
And next year the situation is likely to repeat itself. Gas does not accumulate, and new moles will start attacking the garden.
If you choose to use gases, you are solely responsible, and you need to be extremely careful, especially if there are children or pets, to make sure they are not exposed.
- Another option, less dangerous, is to place dry ice in the hole, which emits carbon dioxide, which is suffocating for a mole.
Attention! If you have problems with weeds on your lawn – we are suggesting that you check out the information about what can kill weeds permanently on your lawn.
Chemistry against the moles
You can create a chemical mole repeller yourself by diluting a mixture of two components that can be obtained from a store or market.
The composition is diluted in 4 liters of water in the following proportions:
- Castor oil – 200 grams
- Detergent – 2 tablespoons
Apply a liquid mole nose chemical to the lawn. If it rains, you need to repeat.
Calcium carbide from moles, poured into burrows and filled with water.
Moles may not like such a vigorous construction chemical, but you can definitely pollute the site.
We are struggling with one problem, we are creating another.
Flooding of wormholes
- The advantages are cheap and easy.
- Disadvantages 2: gravity (water goes down) and drying out.
Try flowers to deal with moles
Flowers not only delight the eye and tune in to positive emotions, but also help to remove moles, acting as a protective barrier.
What smells good to us is bad for moles. These natural remedies for mole control include marigolds, daffodils, or marigolds.
This is a rare case when the pleasant and aesthetic is combined with the useful – a fragrant mole repeller.
As we write for horticulturists and gardeners, we note for reference that different types of flowers can also be used as indicators of acidity, reacting, of course, to approximately the pH level of the soil.
Birds to help to get rid of moles
And how do you like a curious method to get rid of a mole in the garden with the help of an owl?
But if you try to attract an owl by arranging a nest in a tree – like a birdhouse, high above the ground, filling it with straw and branches, you will be able to get rid of the mole in a natural way – with the help of flying predators.
They are definitely ready to plunge their sharp claws into the soft short coat with pleasure.
Of course, there is no 100% guarantee that an owl will settle down (by the way, you can buy a plastic plate – a repeller with the same name in online stores in Ukraine) – you will have to study not only the habits of moles, but also these birds of prey in order to increase the likelihood of their appearance.
We attract some in order to expel others.
But if the undertaking succeeds, then we will get a positive double effect.
The winged predator will clear the territory entrusted to him by himself, destroying moles, other rodents and small birds that peck at cherries and generally misbehave in the garden and in the garden.
If an old tree with a hollow is seen on the site or nearby, in general, the beauty and the chances that an owl will settle there sharply increase.
Let the owlets grow up – we will only be glad of this.
Homemade and industrial mole repellents
For those who like to tinker with mechanics, if there is free time and a burning desire to take the mole out of the garden.
Craft a wind turbine that vibrates with the wind. The most resourceful advice on the Internet is that they will be able to receive electricity if you connect a generator, but we are interested in a completely different effect.
The vibrations from the rotating blades are transmitted through the holder into the ground and reach the surface of the animal’s body. Moles have heightened tactile sensitivity, as well as snakes and are sensitive to vibrations. Another option is a turntable that scares moles with a rattling sound.
This device stands on the ground, and its efficiency is low, if only for the reason that strong winds blow at a height of several meters. For the same reason, scarecrows are hung higher. There they can be seen better and flutter well.
In addition, as they say, now the 21st century is in the yard and it is a sin not to take advantage of modern achievements to get rid of the mole, without wasting time looking for alternative solutions.
Home-made devices are good – creative ingenuity is always in price, but there is an option: to bury a mass-produced mole repeller in the ground.
This is a device that expels moles by the systemic impact of ground shocks, and not by accidental ones, like a windmill or a spinner, depending on the strength and direction of the wind. Micro-shaking of the soil, irritating the pests, leads to panic and forces the digging animals to leave the protected area.
A team of biologists, designers, electronics engineers worked on the algorithm of the work and got a vibrating cylinder with a tricky filling inside.
Power supply – from batteries
Their charge is enough for six months of work.
The protected area from 500 to 1000 m2
What is beauty to me?
Organizational activities
Maintain your lawn / lawn / vegetable garden in good condition.
- If the weeds are knee-deep, then neither moles nor hills are visible.
If the ground is dry as stone, the mole will not be able to move forward.
- These animals prefer soft sandy soils rather than heavy clay soils. On the one hand, this is good, but this option is still an exception to the rule. Of course the plot is watered down. And the more often and more, the higher the likelihood of expecting the appearance of moles in the garden – and there are more worms for food and it is easier to dig channels for movement.
Place rocks in the wormholes.
- Moles will obviously not like this. But there is a downside to the coin – the garden will have to be dug up and the shovel will quickly become dull from the blows.
As you can see, it is possible and necessary to get rid of moles in the garden, dacha, garden plot, as well as the lawn!
