How to effectively get rid of a mole from the garden?
His size does not reflect his skills. This creature, thanks to its back-curved claws, can dig up to 20 meters of tunnel in one night and form about 30 mounds. The mole inhabits humus soils, moist, rich in nutritious food. To build its lair, it needs moss and grass.
What is worth knowing about moles?
The mole is a type of predator. It can be easily recognized by its hairless, pink face, disproportionately large in relation to the rest of the body, spade-shaped paws and long, back-curved claws. Its snout is equipped with 44 incredibly sharp teeth that can easily sink into the human body. The mole is known for not seeing, he is blind. Despite this, it has small eyes, only 1 mm in size, which somehow react to light and movement. In addition, he does not have very sensitive hearing, his ear canals are so small that they are practically invisible among the thick fur. Its main senses are very sensitive, thick, velvety and black sensory hairs that are extremely sensitive to vibrations and an excellent sense of smell.
How does a mole live?
The mole is a loner type. It fiercely fights for its own territory, which can cover up to 4 hectares. While occupying their dream territory, they can be extremely aggressive, even towards the opposite sex. The mole mates with the opposite sex only during estrus, i.e. the mating season, which is short anyway. It starts in late winter and ends in early spring. It usually lasts no longer than a month. Pregnancy of moles is also extremely short - from four to six weeks. There can be from 2 to 7 young in a litter. The offspring of moles stay with their mother for about 4 - 5 weeks, and then they are driven away by her and establish their own territories. In the tenth month of life, the mole reaches maturity, while its average lifespan is four to six years. In addition, moles do not hibernate, they remain active, they patrol their own corridors in search of food that they could deliver to their pantry. During the winter, they live in tunnels dug below the depth of ground frost.
The mole spends most of its life underground. It appears very rarely on the surface, and it moves clumsily on it. It digs the entire system of tunnels at a depth of 20 - 50 cm and a diameter of approx. 6 cm. Such a depth is conditioned by the fact that the mole will never run out of food there. Moles prefer moist and fertile soils. They have a constant circadian cycle of activity that ends with deep sleep. The active time is 4 hours and the sleep time is 3 hours. The mole is most active in the morning, which is why a large number of molehills are formed then.
What do moles eat?
The best food for moles are earthworms, insect larvae and small vertebrates. It finds food with the help of very sensitive hearing and sensory hairs on the face and tail. A mole's daily food portion is usually half its body weight.
Why does the mole attack our gardens and make mounds?
Mounds made by a mole, otherwise known as molehills, are created by him as a kind of ventilator, a mound that ventilates long and numerous underground corridors. On the one hand, the mole is a useful animal because it helps to get rid of insects in the garden. The other side of the coin, however, shows the mole in a very unfavorable light. Its tunnels and mounds destroy the lawn and disfigure the entire garden. In addition, the mole digging tunnels very often damages the roots of cultivated and ornamental plants. Moles also damage agricultural fields. Mounds full of fresh soil can increase the growth of weeds, and any stones dug up by a mole often contribute to damage to agricultural machinery. The tunnels dug by the mole perfectly weaken the flood embankments and damage the drainage systems.
Getting rid of a mole from the garden
Everyone who has a garden suffers a lot when it turns out that a mole prowls under the surface of the lawn and damages the root systems of plants. The best solution is to act as soon as possible. However, it is worth knowing that scaring away a mole is not an easy task and takes a lot of time. The mole gets used to the methods taken by gardeners very quickly. Patience and the use of several methods, not just one, may turn out to be an advantage of a man.
Effective home remedies for a mole
There are many ways to get rid of moles in the garden. Homemade ones are most often chosen because they are the easiest, practically at hand and do not require high financial outlays. In addition, they work very often without causing the death of the mole.
The first effective home method is to scare away the mole with plastic bottles. Near the mounds, we stick metal rods or wooden sticks into the ground, and put plastic bottles on them, e.g. after drinks. The device created in this way, under the influence of the wind, makes a rattling sound. It is perfectly audible to the mole and hated by him. In addition, this type of construction transmits vibrations to the ground, which also has an annoying effect on the pest. For the method to be really effective, it is worth attaching the bottoms of several other bottles to each bottle. The wings constructed in this way make the wind move the bottles much more strongly, the vibrations are even more clearly felt, as is the sound. A similar way to scare away moles, also using plastic bottles, is to unscrew the cap, cut off the bottom and stick the neck into the ground. The bottle prepared in this way releases the whistle of the wind, which is audible directly inside the earth.
Traps made of jars are another idea for getting rid of moles from the garden. This type of trap consists in placing a ready-made trap or a homemade trap made of a jar with a capacity of 1.5 - 2 liters inside the tunnel dug by the mole. The jar is dug under the mole's corridor, near the mound, in such a way that the hole is at the level of the corridor. The trench should be covered with cardboard. When the mole walks through its tunnels, it will fall into the trap and will not be able to get out. This type of mole trap needs to be checked 2-3 times a day, because without food a mole will not survive more than 10-12 hours. After removing the mole, take it as far away from our garden as possible. The absolute minimum is 500 meters. Only after exceeding this distance, we can release the mole and be sure that this particular individual will not visit us again.
Fragrance methods
Deterring the mole with scents is another well-known method. In the garden, at the very beginning of its existence, it is worth planting plants that repel moles. These include: basil, garlic, marigold, castor bean, pea spurge, quinoa and imperial chessboard. These types of plants will effectively scare away moles with their aroma.
Smelling methods also include pouring dung from black elderberry and thuja twigs into mole channels. Elderberry contains harmful hydrocyanic acid. Recipe: a kilogram of fresh (or 200 g of dried) shoots, leaves, elderberry flowers or thuja twigs, 10 liters of water to pour. The mixture prepared in this way is left for 4 - 5 days, stirring every day. Pour the whole thing into mole corridors. Crushed garlic cloves and elderberry twigs can be placed in mole corridors.
There are special preparations on the market based on plant extracts. Their advantage is the fact that they are ready and effectively repel pests. These products contain garlic, lavender or castor bean, and their great advantage is the fact that they also repel voles and voles.
Mechanical ways for a mole
When you have a large garden, sometimes you need to think about pests before they appear. A well-known proverb says that "prevention is better than cure". This principle can also be applied to repel moles. An example is the use of a mole net. This is the only way to avoid the appearance of a mole in the garden. However, you need to think about it much earlier, before sowing the lawn and planting any plants in the garden.
The mole net is usually made of an artificial material or a metal well protected against corrosion. Thanks to this, it will show great resistance to weather conditions and will serve for many years. The anti-mole net has a tiny weave of meshes with a diameter of 3x3 mm. Laying such a net is easy, but it requires a lot of time and work from us. Using this method requires removing the top layer of the substrate - approx. 30 cm under the soil intended for flowers and approx. 10 cm under the soil intended for the lawn. Following the recommendations for arranging the net will ensure that this method will not inhibit the development of plant roots, while protecting the crop from the harmful effects of the mole. In this method, the cross mesh is equally important, which should be dug to a depth of 80 cm into the ground. It is so wide that the entire strip of soil in which the mole is usually domesticated is fenced off.
Chemical mole traps
On the market you can also find chemical specifics that are designed to save the garden from mole activity. These preparations usually come in three forms: gel, liquid and granules. Spreading the granules is easier, but we must remember about the risk they carry - pets can also try this drug. When the granulate is in the mole tunnel, it should be watered, then it will start to emit an irritating smell. It causes the mole to choose a different path to cross. Liquids and gels work in a very similar way. It is extremely important to use these preparations according to the instructions. There is always the possibility of harming not only pests, but also yourself.
Comments
Post a Comment