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Moles are small burrowing animals, reaching a length of 5 to 22 cm. They feed on insects, and they eat as much food per day as they themselves weigh. They eat insects (snails, worms, beetles, spiders, larvae) and small invertebrates.
What are dangerous?
The body of the mole is elongated, covered with dense fur, the tail is very short, and the front paws resemble shovels. His head is elongated, his eyes are so undeveloped that some even have overgrown eye openings. They are black, gray and brown in color. They move very quickly underground, dig tunnels, and periodically throw the earth to the surface, you can follow the path of the animal along these earthen tubercles, but it is easy to get confused. The mole pulls out a ring-shaped house, covers it with leaves and hay, and necessarily connects it with a reservoir. Here is such a cute creature, saves vegetable gardens and orchards from pests living in the ground. And why do gardeners dislike him so much?
Moles very quickly break through their tunnels, on the way they, not wishing harm to anyone, accidentally spoil the roots of plants. They usually settle in small groups or families, so if a mole mound appears on a summer cottage, nothing may remain from the garden in a week. Having broken the roots of fruit crops, moles can deprive the garden of most of the crop, and the appearance of the site after their appearance will completely change. They also feud with each other, fight for the best sites, and the entire mole settlement can stretch for several hundred meters.
They especially like to spoil beautiful lawns. This is due to the fact that they eat earthworms, and under a well-groomed lawn, worms are found in abundance. This is how moles eat harmful and beneficial earthen insects at the same time, and they also spoil the plantings. You can get rid of these neighbors, but the fight must begin as early as possible. They leave behind burrows and tunnels, which field mice love to use in the absence of their owners. And these will hunt for the harvest.
Fighting folk methods
For hundreds of years, moles have been living next to people, and all this time the struggle continues, because people are trying to get rid of this neighborhood, whether in the country, in the garden or in the field. Over such a long period, many methods of struggle have accumulated, sometimes you have to apply several of them in order to determine the most effective one. Folk remedies are distinguished by their diversity and ingenuity. As a rule, at first people try to scare away, drive away moles from their dachas and gardens. Sometimes they rejoice prematurely, not noticing a couple of days of fresh molehills, but when the animals return, they have to start all over again. The mole is a smart, hardworking and very stubborn animal. He will never voluntarily leave a plot rich in food, so he will have to fight seriously.
If it does not work out peacefully, the owners turn to more stringent methods. Then poisons, traps and mole traps are used. Since ancient times, cats have helped to get rid of moles, but even if you bring a cat to the country, it is unlikely that a pet (lazy person) will go hunting. If there is such an opportunity, they resort to the help of hunting dogs, dachshunds and fox terriers are happy to track down underground prey, for them this is preparation for hunting.
Moles do not see anything, but their hearing and sense of smell are very developed, and folk methods of struggle are based on this. Herring heads are buried in the tunnels, kerosene and gasoline are poured in, sulfuric smoke is launched.
It is often proposed to flood molehills with water. To do this, you need to find fresh tunnels and use a hose to pour more water into them. It does not always help, because the mole may not follow them, but quickly dig new ones. But earthworms – the mole’s favorite delicacy – will attract excess moisture, so the mole will not go anywhere from the garden, where there are so many of them.
Some summer residents called a mole from a mink with such a simple action. A fresh move must be failed and trampled underfoot, the mole, like a good owner, will come to repair it, and here the owner of the cottage with a shovel is waiting for him. If you manage to lure the animal to the surface, it is better to grab it with a shovel along with the ground, you don’t need to touch it with your hands – it can damage it with its sharp claws. But for a long time you will have to lure the animals out, if they have already settled on the site, then there are a lot of them. Getting rid of everyone in this way will be difficult.
biological
The mole comes to the garden or cottage only in search of food. So, you can get rid of it if you deprive him of the diet. There are insecticides that will kill insects, but using them is very dangerous: the soil will be contaminated, and we want to grow something else on it. It is better to look for other biological methods of struggle.
Poisons can be attributed to radical means of struggle. Moles are poisoned with rat poison added to minced meat or earthworms flavored with strychnine. The prepared poison is laid in the mole passages, the sharp sense of smell of a predator will not leave it unattended. Of course, an angry vegetable grower who has lost the entire crop in the garden should not be told that moles are beneficial and are an important link in the ecosystem. But still, it’s better to scare away the animals in time than to kill them later, poisoning the ground around.
A very effective way to get rid of moles in a country house or garden is planting plants with a strong smell. Narcissus, Siberian blueberry, yellow imperial hazel grouse – these flowers will not only scare away a blind predator, but also decorate the summer cottage, bringing pleasure to the owners. Marigolds are long-known pest fighters, many of them are planted not only in flower beds, but throughout the garden. All kinds of relatives of onions and garlic do an excellent job with the same task, so you need to plant them throughout the dacha, especially since there are decorative specimens.
Euphorbia and castor oil will help to get rid of moles in the country, he really does not like them. It has long been noticed that if beans grow in the garden, then the moles will bypass it.
Video “Noise Maker Against Moles”
Mechanical
There are hard mechanical methods to get rid of moles, these are all kinds of traps, and mole traps. They are sold in hardware stores, made of wire or plastic. Plastic ones are not worth buying, they will not be able to hold such a strong and fast animal.
Often the owners themselves make such things and install them in summer cottages and gardens. Here it is important to place the devices correctly. First you need to walk around the site, flatten the molehills and see how quickly and in what order they will be restored. Then set the traps in two pieces in fresh moves, the rings should be directed in different directions. It must be borne in mind that it is almost impossible to catch all the animals if they have already settled in the plots or in the meadow nearby.
A piece of plastic pipe is installed in the existing molehill, tin covers must be installed at its ends so that the mole can get into the pipe, but can no longer get out of it. From above, the pipe is covered with something dense that does not let light through. They say it is a very effective trap, it is advised to check it more often to remove the caught animals.
These methods will help get rid of moles only if there are still few of them on the site.
Electronic scarers have been developed that can be bought and installed in the garden. And you can make scarers with your own hands. They are based on the increased sensitivity of moles to vibrations, on their acute hearing.
One option: reeds are inserted into the mole passages, so that 30-40 cm remain on top. The wind produces unpleasant sounds that can drive the animal away.
Another option is to bury hollow tubes in the ground. On the upper end, which protrudes from the ground by 40-50 cm, put on cans of drinks. They will make loud noises under the influence of the wind and create vibrations that radiate along the ground. Instead of a jar, you can use a plastic bottle, only you will need to make cuts on it and wrap the plastic so that the wind has something to spin the bottle for.
Prevention
It is best to think about protecting your site in advance. If the neighbors have at least one molehill nearby, if there is a meadow next to your garden, it’s time to start taking preventive security measures. There is a wonderful, but very time-consuming way: around the perimeter of the garden, you need to dig a small metal net, through the cells of which earthworms can crawl, but moles cannot. Under the ground, it should be buried to a depth of 70-90 cm, and above the ground it should also rise by 30 centimeters.
Instead of a grid, you can use any solid material: linoleum, slate, tin. The main thing is that there should not be a crack in this fence. It is good to plant marigolds around the perimeter of the entire garden – they will scare away predators and please the eye. Getting rid of moles is much more difficult than keeping them out of your territory, this should be remembered.
Video “How to deal with moles”
If you do not want to resort to modern methods and technologies, then there is an alternative way out for you. Which? Watch the video.
