Friday 11 July 2008

No garden for moles

I am open to all methods of fighting mole infestation other than poisons. I looked at some yesterday; the packets all have warnings like "do not use if you have a cat or dog in the garden" or "do not use if you grow berries in your garden". Both apply to us, so no poison. Above: ripening blackcurrants on the edge of the lawn, close to the area of greatest mole intensity. Following last night's attempted to flood the moles out, I woke up to find a further four new moleholes have appeared overnight (two of them pictured right). I responded with a further concerted attack on the moles with high-pressure water. Eddie extended the hose to stretch right across to the far end of the garden, and we poured several cubic metres of water into the other end of the tunnel system. 

Our gardener told me this morning that the mild winter has led to a massive explosion in the mole population and the problem is evident in many of his clients' gardens. Nicole B from Hungary has helpfully suggested I use "holunder", which I discovered in Wikipedia is the German for elderberry. I read: "The crushed foliage and immature fruit have a strong fetid smell" There are elder trees on ul. Kórnicka, along the path leading to the railway track. I shall collect some fetid vegetation and pump it into the tunnel system. Our gardener has suggested keeping 'molewatch' at dusk; half an hour after sunset, lie still on the lawn, wait, watch, listen. And be ready to move fast with the spade.

[The answer, ladies and gents, is human urine, fresh or fermented. Carefully remove the molehill with gloved hands, restoring the lawn, find the entrance to the tunnel network, and pour in the pee. Five, ten litres per hole will do the trick - and do wonders for the grass above the tunnels.]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very tough set of issues. We suffered the same fate last year and again this spring. We resorted to poisons and it has worked. You may find it is the only solution. It becomes a game of will - will they or will you cave first. It is a conundrum as they will really destroy your garden. Each mound as you know is a result of furious tunneling activity will will cause your lawn surface to collapse. Water in the holes is actually not beneficial as it promotes worm activity in the moist soil; worms are a favorite feast of the moles.

Anonymous said...

have you tried castor oil? i've heard people recommend it and i'm sure google could come up with more info.
our moles still rampage and i'm beginning to dream of the neighbourhood mole-catcher, should such a thing exist these days and in this country.
[today's snippet of useless information - there are no moles in NIreland]

Anonymous said...

http://countrymanpestcontrol.co.uk/moles.htm

http://www.trap-man.com/mole-trap-catching-hints.htm

http://www.dumville.org/moles.html

http://www.dumville.org/moles/alderton.html

http://www.warrenfarm.co.uk/trapreview.htm

When you have enough make some moleskin trousers!!!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080118134045AAU8b8U

Hope the links are of use.

Regards.