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Got back from holiday at the weekend to find half a dozen volcanos on the lawn.
Is there anyway that I can encourage it to **** off back into the extensive area of woodland THAT IS LESS THAN 10 METRES AWAY?
I don't want to kill it, I just want it out of my garden.
Once you've got them the only realistic control measure is trapping to kill them (I don't think there is an effective humane mole trap - in any event if you released it on someone elses land it'd probably be illegal). Once you've got rid of the current offender you could put a deep barrier into the ground, but they do travel above ground as well. You could try and remove the food source (earth worms) but that has it's own impacts. Whatever you do, do it by spring as that's when the normally solitary mole becomes less solitary!
On the upside the traps are cheap and the method is quite straightforward, though there is a bit of a knack.
You can get ultrasonic mole scarers but why? Lovely creatures
https://www.screwfix.com/p/pest-stop-solar-powered-eco-friendly-mole-repeller/126xt
The dry weather has made them range further for their food, mostly earthworms. The worms are closer to the surface too which, in turn makes the moles more active near the surface. I’d love to have moles in my garden, lovely secretive creatures.
We need pictures in order assess that the severity of the damage lives up to your claims. Here is an actually destroyed lawn - note the mysterious holes - which with the help of STW identified the culprit of the destruction as leather jackets.
Oooh. Birds have been digging up my lawn, and I figure they're looking for something like leatherjackets.
Thing to fix leatherjackets is nematodes.
I have a tubular humane trap. It works but you need to check it very regularly (few times a day) so the little fella doesnt die and live near some suitable woodland so he can get his bearings and burrow back into the ground without being eaten.
And yes, all moles are male and wear little round glasses
Link isn't working, but I'd be interested to see what it is.
We do live near some suitable woodland. I even have a gate into it! The little furry bastard can trash 8 acres of that instead of my lawn.
With a bit of luck it'll just be the dry weather that has driven it into the garden, and once wetter autumn arrives it'll head back into the woods.
With a user name like yours I can see why you’re concerned!
Thing to fix leatherjackets is nematodes.
We had Chafer Grubs in our lawn, which had much the same effect as leather jackets. The nematodes were immensely unsuccessful, after a couple of years of trying, I just had to dig up all the wrecked turf and relay it .
Seems a shame to kill the mole, hopefully you can trap and release.
Sorry Harry, search on Amazon for...
Windhager 05363 Vole Trap Tube, Mole Trap, Live Trap, Live Trap, Live Trap, Moles and Voles Easily, 5.5 x 25 x 5.5 cm
Poor Moley - have you read wind in the willows? The scene where he goes back to his home he left is full of pathos. Bring a tear to your eye it would Sniffles
the little fella doesnt die and live near some suitable woodland so he can get his bearings and burrow back into the ground without being eaten.
You can tell yourself that, but the reality is they're either getting eaten by predators or engaging in a fight to the death with another mole.
Is there anyway that I can encourage it to * off back into the extensive area of woodlandTHAT IS LESS THAN 10 METRES AWAY?
To be fair if the mole had a concept of humans they'd probably question why you had to destroy the woods to build your house, why not * off back to the extensive area of city.
They'll probably move on at some point and you can just brush the mounds back into the lawn (which might even drain better now). In the meantime, enjoy the fact your garden's biodiversity has spontaneously improved slightly.
The solar powered ultra sonic scarers shifted the one (or many, who knows) out of my garden
Surely this is perfect case for hammering frozen sausages into the lawn
Is there anyway that I can encourage it to * off back into the extensive area of woodland THAT IS LESS THAN 10 METRES AWAY?
You have my sympathy, our small garden is surrounded by literally thousands of acres of moorland and the furry little fer still turns up every winter and trashes it. I think it just comes in winter as there's never anyone walking around/lawnmowing etc and making the noises that means it avoids the area.
The ultrasonics scarers do not work. Little windmills stuck in the lawn do not work. Bigger decorative windmill/windchime stuff does not work. Believe me, I was starting to feel like the fella from Caddyshack.
I was on the verge of getting a man in to trap it, but we got a dog in February, and it seems that me walking around the garden for ten minutes each night before bed, whilst the dog has a final sniff and pee, had an effect. Makes sense, I guess, as they're more active at night. We've barely had any thing from moley**** since getting the dog. So, all I can advise is to have a wander around the garden before you go to bed.
Leave it alone, it’s just being a mole and lawns are not important .
In the grand scheme of things, no they're not, but don't underestimate how much soil a mole can shift and how quickly they can turn your lawn turned into a muddy, lumpy, sunken, mess. Moles can cause a lot of damage/mess.
With a bit of luck it'll just be the dry weather that has driven it into the garden, and once wetter autumn arrives it'll head back into the woods.
It may be the other way round.... the wood land is shaded so may be more moist than a lawn unless you've been watering it - in which case it's your own fault!
Our lawn is bone dry other than a 1sqm patch at the side where the irrigation hose had pooped off - guess where the mole hills are?!
I thought the answer was pissing on the molehills/into the tunnels
... or was that just my neighbour having a laugh?
(either it, or time, did seem to do the trick)
Lovely creatures
Have you seen what they do to worms?
Tssk, one man's mole is another man's whistleblower. The truth will out.
I am kind of in the it’s only a lawn camp… but I live next door to my mum and we have moles on her lawn and I understand why she doesn’t want it completely dug up… so I put some ultrasonics things in the lawn and it worked. They then stopped working (maybe because I mowed over them??) and the moles came back. So a new set of mole deterers went back in and the moles have gone again.
To be fair if the mole had a concept of humans they'd probably question why you had to destroy the woods to build your house, why not * off back to the extensive area of city.
Woodland was created about 50 years ago when the M62 bisected a load of football pitches and farm buildings. House is from 1810.
Buy yourself some Juicy Fruity chewing gum (do they still make it?). Tear it into 5mm strips and push them into the mole runs. Digging activity may well cease after a few days. (it might not too but apparently lots of people swear by it).
I have an extremely biodiverse farm which is earthworm heaven. I also have a lot of moles. I do have a man come in to control the moles on the fields where I take winter hay or haylage crops as soil contamination does lead to listeria in the sheep.
Oooh. Birds have been digging up my lawn, and I figure they're looking for something like leatherjackets.
If it’s a woodpecker, it might be after ants. There’s a local family of green woodpeckers that live next to my archery club, and they’re frequently digging around in the grass further down the range while we’re shooting.
Here’s this year’s youngster hopping around the other day…
Taken by one of our club members - he has a very good camera and long telephoto.
Woodland was created about 50 years ago when the M62 bisected a load of football pitches and farm buildings. House is from 1810.
Moles have history books too bro.
Get a badger
You'll be wishing for the days when you only had a mole...
We have an acre of so of lawn and paddock and often get moles. I bury dog or cat poo in the tunnels either side of the mole hills which deters them. They always come back, but you'll get another mole eventually even if you kill this one. It does make a bit of a mess as you have to dig out a square one spade wide to get to the tunnel and bury the poo. But, it's a lot less mess than the mole will make if you leave it.
Reminds me, we have a few molehills again now which I need to treat.
My next door neighbour mows his lawn 2-3 times a week, even in the winter. He then goes out and picks any weeds, daisies, anything that has the temerity to upset his frighteningly perfectly manicured grass. I've seen him brushing his lawn.
Can I borrow your mole for the weekend? Please? It'd be so funny. I think my neighbour's head might explode.
I should say, he is a lovely guy, but it would still be funny.
In the grand scheme of things, no they're not, but don't underestimate how much soil a mole can shift and how quickly they can turn your lawn turned into a muddy, lumpy, sunken, mess. Moles can cause alotof damage/mess
To a lawn though
I'm not saying I don't try and make my lawn look presentable, but given the general vilification of anyone who dares even use a lawnmower on the No-mow-may, let-it-bloom-june, (skip forward because it doesn't grow anyway for 2 months) shrub-tember, Oak(seedling)tober, where-did-my-lawn-govember for the benefit of the invertebrates. It seems ironic that we're discussing killing the mammals that come and eat them.
Woodland was created about 50 years ago when the M62 bisected a load of football pitches and farm buildings. House is from 1810.
All the more reason to be happy there's still some wildlife in the area?
Get a badger
You'll be wishing for the days when you only had a mole...
Indeed. My Dad's lawn looks as though someone has decided to rotavate large sections of it some mornings.
Mole hills only ever appear at night.
As moles live underground how do they know when it's dark?
They own history books AND watches (with glow in the dark hands).
And Mole has some very tough pals. Badger, Ratty and the Otter. Be careful
I've a bit of a chequered history with moles. We live right out in the sticks and are plagued by them. We have a 1 acre paddock that has dozens in it and every time I mow it with the ride-on, I have to first spend half an hour flattening mole hills with a rake. The spoil still wrecks my mower blades. Literally 30 minutes after mowing, half a dozen new piles of dirt have appeared.
They damage our chicken run, undermining the anti-fox slabs around it and causing holes that predators can use. The soil under the coop and run are full of red worms which attracts them. The also get in the raised beds and the lawn
I waged war on them for a while, even going full Jasper Carrot with a shotgun. Sounds daft, but it's very effective and more humane than trapping. My sheep farmer neighbour showed me the technique, apparently they cause listeria in sheep because they ingest infected soil when they graze.
However, they are fascinating creatures and are only following their instincts. They were there before us and obviously have no concept of lawns or other man made stuff. They days I leave them alone, even though they they do really wind me up at times!
Today, in pennace for those I have harmed in the past, I managed to save one. I was out for a ride along our country lanes and stopped for coffee and cake at a little farm shop. I was the only customer. I saw a little velvet jacket fella furiously trying to dig down into a gravel drive and repeating failing. I picked him up and moved him a couple of feet to a bark covered flower bed and within 30 seconds he had disappeared under ground. I took a video, but don't think I can upload it? So here are a few stills.
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I have to first spend half an hour flattening mole hills with a rake. The spoil still wrecks my mower blades.
My Dad has a flail mower for his old tractor (Ford Super Dexta) which is great for this, it gets rid of all the hedge trimmings etc as well. I take some of ours round there, neighbours sometimes dump their garden waste too. The only thing is it nearly unbalances the tractor and he's not put weights on the front for some reason (which he might have said but I've forgotten). Probably can't lift them any more, and the other option, a 4ft tall beer-barrel-shaped solid-concrete weight is probably a little OTT, especially when ground is wet.