The appearance of a mole on the site can be a serious danger to the crops in the garden. The use of radical methods of struggle gives results in the shortest possible time, but their humanity remains in question. In contrast, summer residents offer a whole list alternative solutions how to deal with moles in the garden.
Moles in the garden - benefit or harm?
Before you remove the mole from the garden, you should be sure of your fears. Often rodents and other small animals living in burrows are mistaken for moles. Living next to a burrower has some advantages:
- May beetle larvae, which could destroy most of the crop, are successfully eaten by moles;
- continuous loosening of the soil is always a positive thing in terms of fertility;
- Such a neighborhood will save the summer resident from similar pests of the underground crop.
What damage do moles cause in the garden?
If the mole does not cause any real damage to the area, a problem may not arise. But practice shows that this animal causes much more harm. Therefore, the question of how to destroy a mole in a garden is a real challenge for some regions:
Signs of moles in the garden
If hills of soil are found on the site and part of the crop is eaten, do not rush to blame the mole for these problems. Before removing moles from the garden, it’s a good idea to refer to the list of animals that can create a similar picture:
What does a mole eat in the garden?
The mole is the most common predator who loves to feast on insects. He will quite successfully cope with a medium-sized snake or frog or mouse if they end up in his hole. Therefore, there is no need to attribute the eaten plant roots or tubers to the animal, although it is often confused with rodents. And before you fight moles in the garden, you should assess the real harm.
But if the animal has chosen your area, then it will feed there. The answer to the question of what moles eat in the garden will be the same insects. , mole cricket, ants and larvae - all this is mole food. The problem is that earthworms are also among our favorite delicacies. And he can eat them even in winter period: the temperature in the hole is higher, a musky aroma is heard, and this attracts the worm.
How to protect yourself from moles in the garden?
If moles have chosen a certain area, it will be extremely difficult to fight them. When you manage to get rid of one individual, there is no guarantee that after a while new guests or grown-up offspring will not appear on the site. In the question of how to remove a mole from the garden, there is a whole list of solutions using available simple means and complex expensive ones. However, preventing the problem is always more effective; there are several options:
How to drive a mole out of the garden using folk remedies?
Build or cook effective remedy from moles in the garden really, and they do it in several ways. Some summer residents appreciated the method of expelling an uninvited guest by influencing his delicate sense of smell. Others managed to solve the problem with vibration and noise effects. The latter are made from improvised means or purchased ready-made:
It’s even easier to use the animal’s subtle sense of smell, because the list scented products can be expanded indefinitely with the development of the chemical industry:
Ammonia for moles - use in the garden
The smell of ammonia will repel any living creature. As expected, ammonia was on the list of tips on how to get rid of moles in the garden. The characteristic mounds from the tunnels are advised to move and find the entrance to the hole. Place cotton wool in it, generously moistened with ammonia, and dig in. Moles have an extremely negative attitude towards this smell and leave the area. You can make a hole in the cork and bury the bottle at an angle directly into the tunnel.
Birch tar in the garden against moles
The list of how to drive a mole out of the garden using odors will be complemented by the method with birch tar. Animals do not like this characteristic aroma, but it does not harm the environment at all. We stock up on pegs and cover them generously with tar. Next, we stick pegs around the perimeter or in the area where the mole is spotted, in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of three to four meters. The smell will repel the animal for about three months, after which you will have to re-treat the pegs with tar.
Mole poison in the garden
Before poisoning moles in the garden, you should always try to resolve the issue peacefully by humane means. There are entire shelves in stores with powders, cones and similar contents containing poison. The toxic exhaust gases that fill the tunnels also cannot be called a humane solution. Some poisons are shaped like a worm to attract the underground guest.
How to repel moles from the garden?
The listed methods of struggle can either amaze with quick results or disappoint with complete failure. There are also exotic methods on the list of how to drive a mole out of the garden. There is an opinion that the underground guest will be driven away by the smell of feces buried in the tunnels. They even pour bleach in there. But a completely safe and in every sense pleasant option to fight moles in the garden is to plant plants such as bulbous plants, which moles do not like.
How to catch a mole in the garden?
How to deal with moles in the garden? Now it has become fashionable to claim that moles bring more benefit to the site than harm. They say that they destroy large quantities of all kinds of larvae, pupae and adults of harmful insects. All this is correct, but they also devour the main friends of summer residents - earthworms.
In general, it is noticeable that those who have never had moles on their property are talking about the humanity and benefits of these small underground inhabitants. Those who have at least once observed the result of their activities in the garden forget about all human virtues. And if they also sprain their ankle by getting their foot caught in a mole tunnel, they go completely berserk.
Meanwhile, it is not at all necessary to call sappers to lay mines or run around the site yourself with a shovel, digging out tunnels. You can fight moles in your garden using other methods. It’s just important to remember that using one option will bring negligible results. The war (there is no other way to say it) will be long and exhausting. And, as they say, in war all means are good. Let's get started.
Repellent
Moles have very poor eyesight, everyone knows this. But the sense of touch and smell is excellent. This is where most repellent methods benefit. They are divided into two groups: odorous and vibration-sound. Used in combination, they cope well with the task, but have their drawbacks. The former can drive not only moles from the site, but also the owners. For the latter, you can get hit in the neck by particularly nervous and irritable neighbors. Keep this in mind and don't overdo it.
Rotten fish. They buy a kilogram of the cheapest sprat and leave it in the sun for a week. Then the fish are laid out in passages and holes. According to reviews, moles do not like such a stench, they leave the garden.
Minuses. The smell of fish attracts cats and dogs. The first ones will not do much harm to the plantings. But the latter will easily dig such pits in search of prey - any mole will hang himself with envy. By the way, the aroma from rotten flesh can reach your nostrils, so don’t be fanatical.
Firecrackers. The method is completely simple. You need to dig up a passage, light a firecracker, throw it inside and press it with your foot. Moles are very frightened by underground explosions and leave the garden.
Minuses. You need to do the whole operation very quickly so that the firecracker explodes in the mink and not in your hands. Pyrotechnics need to be used on a weak one so that the impact force creates a lot of noise, but does not damage the limbs with which you will press the ground.
Kerosene, turpentine or gasoline. Some sources recommend pouring liquid into water and watering the beds with the resulting mixture. It is doubtful that the surface stench will deter the underground inhabitants. Yes, and it’s difficult to thoroughly mix water with kerosene; it tends to float up. It will be much more effective to place rags soaked in gasoline along the passages and holes. You can use unnecessary rags or cotton pads.
Minuses. Don't forget about fire safety. Carefully fill up the areas where you interfere, otherwise the stench will scare you away, not the moles.
Castor or eucalyptus oil. It is also recommended to add it to water and water the soil. In our opinion, any strong odors above is pointless. Wet rags or cotton wool, then push them underground, right into the holes. Just not deeper than 20 cm, moles do not crawl lower.
Minuses. Perhaps there is only one thing - high cost. But material costs significantly reduce psychological costs after seeing molehills in the garden.
Carbide. People's Councils They say that carbide poured into tunnels perfectly expels moles. Naturally, it must be filled with water and sprinkled with earth, otherwise all the “aroma” will come out.
Minuses. Carbide still needs to be mined somewhere. There is no need to tamp full strokes; even a small amount will suffice. And then you can grow your own food on this land.
Plants. Some bulbous plants emit an aroma that is very unpleasant for moles. These include all types of hazel grouse, daffodils, garlic, and onions. They need to be planted around the perimeter of the garden, then the diggers will pass by. Or they are planted over the entire area of the site, preferably in a checkerboard pattern. Moles stumble upon an odorous barrier and leave.
Minuses. You will have to plant it quite tightly, because nothing prevents the mole from simply changing the direction of the tunnel, bumping into the onion. In addition, flower bulbs are now expensive, especially for hazel grouse.
Beans. Many reviews say that planting the most common black beans in garden beds is a good repellent for moles. We don’t know the mechanism of action (maybe there’s a smell?), but the method works. It is advisable to plant beans around the garden.
Minuses. Where can I get bean seeds? You will also have to plant tightly.
Ultrasonic repeller. Not a bad thing, if not a fake. Humans cannot hear the sound, but moles don’t like it. The structure is simply stuck into the garden. She works - the diggers run away.
Minuses. The device is expensive. Some people hear ultrasound as a nasty squeaking or meowing sound. If you are one of those people, then you yourself will run away from the garden faster than a steam locomotive. As soon as the device stops working, the animals return.
Vibration repeller. The installation principle is similar to the previous device. It is dug into the ground, which is then carefully compacted so that the vibration spreads as far as possible. Moles do not like soil movement from the outside, and leave the garden.
Minuses. The structures are relatively expensive, and you will have to install more than one of them. In addition, any building with a foundation (barn, garage, well, gazebo) dampens vibrations. The result is blind spots where the mole feels quite at ease.
Homemade designs. They are quite easy to make from scrap materials. The simplest one: stick a piece of reinforcement or an iron rod into the ground, put an empty plastic bottle on it (tie a canned food can, attach a pinwheel). When the wind blows, the mechanisms vibrate and produce loud sounds, which are transmitted through the metal into the soil. Moles don't like this position of things.
Minuses. Some buildings look very unattractive aesthetically. Not everyone agrees to see a picture of such “devices” in the garden. The moles run away, but disgruntled neighbors come running, fed up with strange loud noises coming from behind your fence.
Glass bottles. The operating principle is similar to an ultrasonic repeller. Along the entire perimeter and area of the garden, empty glass bottles without a plug. Approximately half the height of the container is left above the ground surface. The wind blows into the neck, the bottle howls, the moles leave.
Minuses. The neighbors will come running again and hit you on the neck for the terrible night howls of the wind. You will need a lot of bottles, otherwise the diggers simply won’t hear your designs.
Water. A hose is inserted into one of the molehills and the water pressure is turned on. Animals have to flee from flooded burrows and passages. A lot of water may be required.
Minuses. The network of tunnels can be so ramified and extensive that it is more likely that your garden will turn into a swamp than you will fill it completely. As soon as the water is absorbed into the soil and dries, the moles will return.
Important! These enemies of gardeners very quickly get used to the location of the repellers. Sometimes they dig bypass tunnels and continue to quietly manage the site. To avoid such surprises, it is recommended to periodically move the devices to another place, moving them by about 5-7 meters. If you perform such manipulations at least once every 2 weeks, then moles will no longer appear.
Drastic measures
These include traps and poisonous substances. What to do if repelling does not help? Watch how diggers dig their tunnels and undermine plantings? By the way, they don’t eat roots and vegetables, but they still cause damage with their tunnels. And daily new molehills can bring the owner to a nervous breakdown and hysterics. So, let’s pull ourselves together and go to war.
Traps, mousetraps. They are pushed directly into the passages underground. Just be sure to use the ones the mole uses. Sometimes the method works.
Minuses. Mechanisms often trigger soil collapse. You still need to know how to install such structures so as not to inadvertently pinch your fingers.
Special mole traps. They are a piece of pipe with a door that opens in one direction, or with hooks inside (like pike teeth). The structure is installed underground in places where excavators are most active. You can place bait inside - an earthworm, a mole cricket, or a cockchafer larva. Naturally, dead, otherwise they will run away. They say that moles are perfectly caught in such things.
Minuses. Not always available for free sale. Not everyone can make such a thing on their own. A mole can simply ignore a foreign object that has come from somewhere on its path.
Primitive traps. This is an ordinary three-liter jar or deep saucepan, which is dug underground so that the sides are at the lower level of the stroke. The container itself is not covered with anything! This is the most common mistake - putting a board or piece of slate on top. What's the point of a trap if you closed it yourself? But it is advisable to cover the hole in the upper level of the soil with a piece of cardboard or plywood. At dawn, the mole will go around its tunnels and will definitely fall into the container. He will no longer be able to get out, since the walls are smooth.
Minuses. You need to bury it very carefully, trying not to damage the course. The mole may not go through this tunnel at all. The question arises - what to do with the caught animal? After all, not everyone is capable of killing a scoundrel. Although, probably, everyone who has encountered molehills in the garden is in such a rage that he may well commit murder.
Poisons. Today the industry offers special poisonous baits. They are balls that need to be placed in holes and passages. The mole will be happy, eat something and happily throw back his paws.
Minuses. The animal may not touch the poison at all. He will dig a hole in another place. If the family is large, then in the near future you will experience a very unpleasant cadaverous smell in the area. You will have to endure it or look for cold bodies for disposal.
Shovel. The most bloodthirsty method for the dexterous. You need to take an ordinary garden shovel and sit in ambush. As soon as the ground begins to move, you need to quickly run to this place and pry the animal with a shovel, throwing it to the surface. Here he will be completely helpless, and you can do whatever you want with him. Usually they want to squash it right away with a shovel, so much so that the mole gets at the gardener. Or they take him further into the forest.
Just don’t try to grab the animal with your bare hands! It scratches well and bites even better. And don't cover the mole with a bucket while you run to get gloves. It is likely that when you return, you will find only a new hole under the container. Diggers are very nimble and quickly dig back into the soil.
Minuses. Some people are simply afraid of the mole. Others do not have time to catch him, he is so fast underground. Sometimes you have to wait in ambush for several hours.
other methods
Several more options are offered for combating moles in the garden. Interesting, but a little strange, sometimes impossible. Although, if you manage to use them on your site, the animals will definitely forget the way to you.
Active movement. Moles don't like it when they walk on the ground. For example, on sports turf you will never see molehills. But the authors of the advice do not specify what will happen to the garden if you wander around it for a long time. People try to walk on the beds as little as possible so as not to compact the soil, but here they will literally have to create asphalt with their stompers. Maybe you need to look for other options?
Slate or mesh. Sources advise digging fine mesh or slate around the entire perimeter of the site. The depth should be at least a meter, the height above the ground surface should be at least 25 cm. Moles definitely won’t get through.
But they won’t come out either. The method is only good as a preventive measure, for example, if molehills have appeared nearby, but there are none in your garden yet. Otherwise, it may turn out that the animals locked around the perimeter will begin to dig new passages with even greater speed, trying to escape from your actions.
Traffic fumes. They suggest connecting a flexible hose from the exhaust pipe of any car to the entrance to the hole and turning on the engine at idle for about an hour or an hour and a half. The diggers are suffocating, the garden is saved.
Only again, the advisers do not specify that all holes on the surface must first be closed. Otherwise, gases will escape. There will be nothing for the moles, and you yourself will smell it.
Soap solution. There is a recommendation to water the soil generously 3 times per season with a 10% soap solution. This expels earthworms from the area, the moles have nothing to eat, they leave. Very interesting. Who will then loosen the soil? Recycle plant residues? Increase soil fertility?
People care for and cherish each worm, specially bringing it to the site from the forest. Then they feed them and breed them in compost heaps. And then poison them with soapy water so that the moles starve! What nonsense. This method is definitely not suitable for a normal gardener. In general, everyone is free to decide for themselves.
Calling specialists. One phone call and trained comrades will come to your garden. They will drive you and your household away, then quickly get rid of the annoying diggers using the method you agree on. But these methods are not always safe for humans, pets and environment. There is no doubt, these people do a great job. But the prices for their services are appropriate. Before inviting, think about whether your budget can handle such expenses?
Original stinkers. These include:
- fresh mint, valerian
- snuff
- ground hot pepper
- cigarette butts
- naphthalene
- bleach or bleach
- acetic acid
It is recommended to push all this stuff in considerable quantities into mole tunnels. Well, yes, they are very stupid animals; they sniff and run away. Lies. Moles simply bypass these scents, digging other holes. Following this advice will only make things worse. Not only will the moles not leave the site, but then the soil will become almost radioactive, especially after the bottom three items on the list. You'd rather poison your vegetables than get rid of the diggers.
How to deal with moles in the garden? Ruthlessly and in several ways at the same time. Then the animals will be gone forever. Using only one method does not guarantee 100% results. And further. Take care of your site by promptly destroying pests. Then the moles will simply have nothing to eat, and they themselves will go to more profitable places.
Video: how to fight moles
Hello everyone dear friends. I want to share with you the secret of dealing with such a terrible misfortune for a summer resident as moles in the garden. I think there is no need to explain what harm they can cause.
- 1 Moles on the site: how to get rid of them
- 2 How to get rid of a mole if it has already entered the area?
- 3 Getting rid of moles by setting traps
Moles on the site: how to get rid of them
I, too, have been pestered by these elusive shrews for a very long time, but to solve the problem of how to get rid of moles
My neighbor helped me. There is such a thing beautiful plant like basil - purple, So, a neighbor advised me to plant it on the plot.
I was skeptical about this idea. But neither all kinds of twigs with bottles nor Vishnevsky ointment helped, so the next spring I planted several bushes. The bushes unexpectedly quickly grew up and, miraculously, the moles no longer bother me.
Basil grows on its own and there is no need to worry about seeds for next summer. If it grows too much, it’s enough to just pick it when it’s still young.
You can also remove it in the Autumn, when it grows up to two meters. Along with the root, of course, a rather large piece of earth will come out, but you don’t need to suffer to pull it out - it doesn’t grow deep.
Also, if you are wondering how much basil is needed to grow in a garden bed - when the average garden bed is about 10 acres, then 5-6 bushes throughout the entire plot will be enough. Yes - yes, so little, I don’t understand what the secret is, but it works. I'm just guessing that moles don't like the smell of the plant.
I recommend this method to everyone. If you don’t know where to buy purple basil seeds or seedlings, go to the market, to old grandmothers, they know everything, believe me.
How to get rid of a mole if it has already entered the area?
All methods of getting rid of moles in the garden come down to the fact that the animal must either be scared away from the area, or caught and neutralized. The planting of basil described above is a deterrent measure and serves largely to prevent moles from entering the garden. They say you can also plant around
ways to get rid of moles
a plot of lily or regular garlic, although I haven’t tested this.
But when the underground tunnel builder has already crawled into the site, it can be very problematic to fight him. True, sometimes repellents can still help. If the mole hasn't gotten too far, try these folk remedies:
Getting rid of moles by setting traps
Mole traps
The described means for combating moles work if the mole is not too deep into the garden. When the moment is missed, you need to use traps, because repellents can only make the animal run around the area and dig it up more and more.
There are two types of mole traps: with the help of which the mole is caught alive or those that kill it when caught. They also need to be dug into holes along the mole holes.
A trap for catching a mole alive is placed below the floor of the tunnel, so that when the animal reaches it, it simply falls inside. Then you can take it somewhere into the forest and release it. But traps for killing moles are placed at the floor level of the mole hole.
There are also various electric and even ultrasonic mole repellers, but reviews of them are rarely good. We haven't tried these yet. If any of you know other ways to fight moles that are also effective, write in the comments, we’ll discuss!
Naturally, we are pleased with the fact that the mole, which lives only in a high-quality fertile layer, chose our site, but only for this fact. We certainly have no other reasons for joy, because moles can cause serious damage to crops in the garden, flowers in flower beds, and also to everything landscape design dacha area. This little creature will quickly destroy the lawn, dig holes and passages, and make you nervous.
How moles behave in the country
In fact, these pests do not care at all who lives just above them, and they simply carry on with their lives, thereby harming our cultivated plants. Therefore, we believe that in order to most effectively fight animals, which generally do not care whose land they spoil, we must study them quite seriously. After all, if the enemy is skeptical of us, we should not underestimate him at all.
So, what do we need to know about moles before starting to clear the area:
- It rarely happens that only one mole comes to the site; more often they live in families, several pieces, or even dozens. Therefore, if you notice the appearance of one animal, then somewhere nearby there is its family, perhaps literally on a neighbor’s property or even a few meters from the first noticed hole. This fact poses an even more difficult task for us - to destroy not just one pest, but an entire family, the number of which we know nothing about;
- It is worth knowing that moles sleep peacefully in winter, like hedgehogs, for example. They dig holes of greater depth than the passages themselves under the soil, and arrange a small and warm den. You can find it thanks to a large number excavated earth. It is worth looking for dens on hills, where the snow melts faster and which are the first to warm up in the spring sun;
- Mole tunnels can represent entire highways, mines and even underground halls. They occupy hundreds and hundreds of meters throughout the entire area, and are located at a depth of only 5-20 cm, precisely in the layer that is called fertile. Pests are not interested in vegetation, and therefore root system They spoil plants only through their indirect activities, but all larvae, worms and beetles in this layer will be destroyed. Accordingly, everything located in the area of these moves will be seriously damaged;
- An interesting fact is that moles practically never have abandoned passages, and working mines are checked almost every hour. Thus, even a dented stroke can be restored very quickly;
- The animals cannot tolerate free space, apparently they feel a certain insecurity, and therefore rarely come out of the soil, although this happens. They move quickly along burrows, break through or push through the soil, and bypass destroyed passages or make passages at a slightly lower level;
- The mole has a strong body and paws, as it has been digging and moving all its life. Therefore, we have excellent advice for summer residents who may try to catch the beast with their hands. You should not do this, as the animal will easily break out of your hands, no matter how much effort you make, but it can also seriously injure you by biting or scratching you with its powerful paws and claws. In addition, moles move quite quickly. Their average speed can reach 5-6 km/h, which is the speed of a person’s fast walking. Therefore, you can be sure that if a mole jumps out of a trap, your hands, or simply decides to walk a couple of meters in the fresh air, then you will not be able to catch it, since within seconds it will go underground again;
- Pests are careful and intelligent, adapt to the terrain and do not allow themselves to be dictated by the rules. To put it simply, dangers are easily avoided, especially if you constantly use the same measures to eliminate pests from the site. Moles have serious problems with vision, but the animal’s hearing and sense of smell are surprisingly developed;
- Moles eat a lot, the need for food is very great, and if you remember that the animals attack the site in families and the fact that they can quickly dig the soil, then literally within a week you can get enormous damage.
How to fight moles with different means
Thanks to the previously mentioned characteristics of these animals, which many summer residents now already know, it becomes clear that Pest control is a serious and very difficult matter..
Prevention of mole infestation in a summer cottage
The surest way to never exterminate moles on your property is to prevent them from appearing in your own dacha. Pest prevention is quite an expensive process, but it is also something you should be aware of.
So, most the right way is considered a special perimeter fence that prevents animals from entering your area. It can be slate, roofing felt in several layers or galvanized steel mesh. These materials are dug in along all the boundaries of the site to a depth of 50-60 cm, and with an exit above ground level of 15-20 cm. Thus, animals simply will not be able to dig tunnels into your territory.
Repelling moles
There are many facts showing that moles are afraid of various sounds and go tens of meters away from noisy areas, they are afraid of homemade rattles, plastic bottles in the wind and other noisemakers that you can buy or make with your own hands. But it has also been proven that animals practically do not react to all this, perhaps only about 10% of animals, and then by accident.
I would also like to speculate a little on this topic:
- Let's say you decide to buy a mole repeller, expensive and effective as advertised. But you cannot know in which direction the animal will go, perhaps to your neighbor, or through one dacha, to your relatives. Are you ready to do something like this for your own good?
- There is also an opinion that it is simply unrealistic to install noisy repellent devices throughout the entire territory of the dacha. After all, if you only work with part of your dacha plot, then what is the point of an anti-mole operation at all?
- They say that you can make a lot of noise and the animals will survive, just drive them out with sharp and loud sounds. To be honest, it is very difficult to imagine how summer residents wander around the site for days, knocking with buckets, lids, blowing a whistle, and so on. Moreover, all this is extremely ineffective, because pests easily adapt to sounds.
- There is an opinion that you can drive animals out of your dacha using odorous substances, for example, rotten herring, rotting food debris and other means with serious consequences. unpleasant aroma. Here it’s worth asking yourself how ready you are to turn your dacha into a dump for the sake of fighting moles... after all, the animals will simply go around the place where you dumped these substances, move away a few meters and dig new tunnels.
As you can see, these methods simply cannot be called effective, and therefore we believe that even wasting time on such nonsense would be wrong.
Poison to get rid of pests in the garden
To tell the truth, we are skeptical about poison for moles, and there is a reason for this - the animal is a predator, and therefore bait in the form of poisoned grains or granules simply will not work on it. Until poisoned worms and larvae have been invented, this method can be considered ineffective, although many summer residents use special anti-mole agents and say that the poison works great. It is likely that we simply did not come across such drugs, and therefore we will not completely convince you!
Traps
There are several types of traps, or rather not types, but models of the same type. These are inexpensive and small traps in the form of a pipe and two covers on the sides, which work extremely poorly. The reason for this is simple - the mole bypasses it, because on its territory it discovers a foreign object that was not there before. Moreover, there is an opinion that he does not go into such a trap because the animal’s entire path consists of pushing away from the rough walls of the earthen tunnel with its clawed paws. The walls of the trap pipe are smooth, which explains everything.
But there are larger traps that are designed specifically for a mole - a diameter the size of the hole, a rough surface inside, special valves that do not let out the animal caught in the trap. They are a little more effective, but also more expensive.
Traps
Not the best humane way, but one of the highest quality if the trap is purchased correct design. If this is a standard mechanic, then the meaning of use is immediately lost.
The trap is installed in the mole pit and sprinkled with a little. An animal passing through it touches a valve or spring, the trap is triggered, and that’s it. But if it were that easy, mole traps would become bestsellers.
The whole problem is that the trap may not work, or it may simply work by shedding the earth. At the same time, the mole is not so stupid as to face certain death... according to summer residents, the animals simply bypass the trap along a new side or deeper shaft.
Catching moles with cats and dogs
Enough interesting solution, but only if your pets are interested in hunting, and you have not previously poisoned the moles with chemicals.
Almost every dog loves to rummage in the ground, and every cat that is not extremely lazy is interested in prey. In practice, there are many examples of dogs and cats successfully ridding an area of such pests.
There is only one question left - how to interest a dog or cat to attack a mole? Everything is not so complicated here - you will just need to watch the mole tunnels and, seeing movement, bring the animal there. The first victim will be the best incentive for further hunting!
Planting repellent plants
Black beans, hemp and beans could become good remedy, if they had some confirmation of this method of struggle. They say, of course, that planting these plants in areas will rid summer residents of moles, but we have serious doubts, as well as many reviews that say the opposite. We won’t argue, but we won’t recommend this method either!
Using mole-cutters for pest control
There is little humanity in this method, but when you no longer have any patience with the new and completely independent “ landscape designer"at the dacha, then you can use more severe means.
There are quite a lot of mole busters, but more often it is homemade devices, which simply kill moles inside their mines when the animal passes a certain zone. Electric mole beaters are used more often, and interestingly, they have positive reviews.
Calling a pest control service
You can poison rats and mice with the help of special teams, but what about moles? Well, here we are talking about the quality of the drug used, the professionalism of the service workers, as well as the system of tunnels for underground residents.
If everything is done correctly, you will lose the problem within hours; if not, the moles can simply leave the area for a while, and when it is safe in the burrows, they will return.
Any of the above methods is not a 100% guarantee of getting rid of pests, and therefore we offer an integrated approach.
If you decide to get rid of moles in your dacha, use the most acceptable and safest method for yourself. If there are no moles at the dacha, but the cooperative discussed the presence of pests somewhere among the neighbors, we recommend spending money once and fencing the area with sheets of metal, slate or roofing felt.
One of the methods of fighting moles (video)
Reviews and comments
(24
ratings, average: 3,54
out of 5)
Ekaterina 07/23/2014
you can put strong-smelling substances and cover this hole in the burrows it starts to smell and the moles leave the garden, I had moles and got rid of the mice, so of course they come back, but if you look for their passages again and put odorous substances in, they will obviously leave the garden.
Eva 08/21/2014
And it was the ultrasonic repeller that helped us, which raises doubts in the author of the article. :) As for efficiency, ours worked perfectly (we have an ecosniper). Well, as for thoughts about moles leaving for relatives or neighbors... This, in my opinion, is something from the opera “I won’t go outside in case a brick falls on my head.” 🙂
Mole 04/22/2015
We also put two ecosniper pegs on the site, according to observations from last season, they are useful, I’ll tell you what will happen this year in the fall :)
Ekaterina 05/23/2015
I was advised to use the Taiwanese sound-vibration mole repeller ecosniper, which is very effective, got rid of moles in the country house and garden, all the plants were intact, the lawn was beautiful and was not that expensive. I ordered it on the website, it’s definitely not a fake.
Lana 07/08/2015
Bought liter jar salted sprat, put it in the sun to rot, put half a sprat in each hole, trampled it down - already 2 goals, when I forgot about the moles.
Vadim 09/06/2015
Perhaps the most humane way, requiring patience. It is necessary to find a tunnel and stick a shovel on one side of it, blocking the path of the moles. 2 more shovels should be kept at the ready. You need to wait until the mole crawls to repair the tunnel (the pest will be given away by the movement of the earth). As soon as the animal is near the first shovel, you should close its access back by inserting the second one into the ground. You can’t hesitate any longer: the mole must be placed on the third shovel and placed in a bucket. The life of a caught pest can be disposed of at your own discretion. I did so!
Oksana Vladimirovna 24.12.2015
I also used the repeller and left. And the neighbor also used it. But I'm bullying chemicals and I don’t welcome traps. After all, these are living beings, I feel sorry for them. Okay, if the cat catches it, it’s still a predator. But killing yourself is not.
Nina 01/14/2016
My parents used carbide to fight moles. They dug holes and put carbide in them. then they poured water on it, a reaction took place, a strong acrid smoke and the moles left the garden. (this smoke filled all their passages and they ran away)
Alexandra 03/03/2016
I see that many people “vote” for the ecosniper repeller. Me too. :) I have the LS-997 MR model. We bought several pieces at once, since the plot is quite large. We didn’t expect a miracle, but it happened. :) This is the third year without moles, we install these repellers in the spring, now for prevention, we remove them for the winter. And before that, no matter what we tried, the result was temporary.
Ash 03/08/2016
I don’t know if they sleep in winter... today I went down to the cellar, all the fruits of labor were covered with earth, they were small bastards...
Sergey 03/30/2016
We don’t have moles, but when I went to visit my relatives, I saw these pests with my own eyes (one day a mole came out and I saw it - I immediately thought it was some kind of black rat). It is very difficult to fight them, since the mole generally does not come to the garden alone, they move in groups of 4-5 individuals. Mostly, homemade rattles helped, they scared away the animals.
Anatoly 07/12/2016
This problem doesn’t bother me now, although my neighbors are creeping me out. I noticed where there is a lawn around the perimeter, they don’t go there, the root system of the grass is dense and it’s difficult for the mole to dig through it. Fencing around the garden helps a lot. And a question for the author - moles never live in families, they push out the young ones, you can sometimes stumble upon a young mole in the forest who is unlucky with his dad, they are very defenseless. I’m not fighting with them, but trying to somehow come to an agreement. By the way, in Ukraine the fine for killing a mole is 260 hryvnia
Galina 03/05/2017
and we drive out moles using simple plastic bottles. At different points on the site, the husband installed reinforcement 1 meter high. there needs to be about 30 cm in the ground. And on top of the reinforcement they put an empty bottle against the wind; the bottle creates noise in the ground and the mole leaves - trust me good idea
Elena 01/14/2019
Regarding digging in slate at 60 cm, it’s unlikely to help. I had a fence built, the foundation was dug to a depth of 1 meter. The mole reached the fence (judging by the mound), pushed around and still came out on the other side. We dug a drain hole 2 meters deep, so the passage was at a depth of 1.5 m. I drive out my moles with carbide. The neighbor catches them with traps fishing hooks. And it seems that the more she catches them, the more of them she gets. I used an ultrasonic repeller a few years ago and didn’t like it. The mole crawled out right next to him. Now I have reinforcement stuck all over the site, on it plastic bottles. I think it helps. At least I don't have that many mounds. like a neighbor's.
Add a comment- an animal about which we can confidently say that the cure is worse than the disease. This insectivorous representative of the fauna can completely dig up a garden in search of food. When making moves, it damages the root system garden plants. According to gardeners, pests are better than moles. The former causes less damage. Since the mole is an “ambiguous” animal, many people feel sorry for killing the animals. , capable of harming these digging animals. But when choosing how to deal with moles, gardeners prefer folk remedies.
Types of folk methods
It is impossible to get rid of moles on a site forever using folk remedies, since they tend to develop new territories. As a consolation: industrial methods You can’t get rid of the animals either. If you stop taking precautions, the mole population in the area will quickly recover.
Traditional methods of struggle take into account the physiology of the mole:
- subtle sense of smell;
- subtle hearing;
- movement through dug tunnels;
- the desire to clean your home of garbage.
Ineffective but applicable methods
The mole feeds on live earthworms and larvae living in the ground. To feed him he needs:
- dig up a large enough worm;
- cut it lengthwise;
- put poison in the worm;
- excavate a mole tunnel;
- place a “charged” worm at the bottom of the tunnel;
- fill up the excavation and hope that an insectivorous predator will stumble upon the worm before it finally dies.
In this case, it will be possible to destroy only one animal, but they live in entire families. That is, even within one wormhole you need to lay a lot of such baits.
Digging up animals one at a time is also a very ineffective and labor-intensive way to fight moles. In this case you need:
- Having found a molehill, crush it to fill the passage;
- wait until the mole begins to restore destroyed communications;
- very quickly, so that the animal does not have time to escape, dig out the animal with a shovel;
- kill/carry very far.
No one can call this method of fighting moles effective. The loss of one individual is unlikely to have a fatal impact on the entire mole family, but a lot of time will be lost.
Sometimes the fight against moles garden plot lead with the help of water. The hole is flooded. It may help if construction is at the very beginning or the soil is clayey. In other cases, this method is good for deep watering of trees. It will not make much of an impression on the animals.
On a note!
When fighting moles, you should not destroy earthworms. Among the folk methods of struggle there is this one. But worms bring much more benefit by making tunnels in the soil. Through the passages, plant roots receive oxygen. In addition, underground predators feed not only on worms. The absence of earthworms cannot guarantee that moles will not come to the garden.
Average efficiency level
Fighting moles in the country during weekend visits by digging or poisoning is futile. Lovers beautiful flowers They can take advantage of the moles’ dislike for the smell of certain plants and plant the imperial hazel grouse in the garden around the perimeter. The bulb of this plant emits an unpleasant odor for underground hunters, which can drive moles out of the garden. With the help of folk remedies you can not only use imperial hazel grouse. Other options are also used:
- Validol. They claim that the smell of the tablet is enough to repel.
- Kerosene. A moistened rag is placed in the mole tunnels.
- Fuel oil. Used in the same way as kerosene.
- Naphthalene. The tablets are laid out in holes.
- Vinegar essence. It may be intimidating, but it evaporates quickly.
- Bleach solution. A container with liquid is placed in a molehill. Chlorine evaporates quickly.
- Tobacco. Any product with a tobacco scent is effective until the tobacco gets wet.
- There is little castor. Small containers of oil are placed evenly throughout the area.
- Ground red pepper. Effective until wet.
- Herring heads, whey, rotting vegetables, rotten eggs and other organic matter prone to rotting effectively help get rid of moles in the garden and at the same time from neighbors in the area. Sometimes from the owner of the site himself.
- Tear gas. When using this remedy, it is better not to fight moles on your own, but to entrust this matter to professionals.
- Wormwood or peppermint. Suitable only fresh. You will have to change it every day.
- Legumes. They allow you to effectively fight moles in the garden using folk remedies, fitting well into the overall composition. It is enough to plant plants around the beds and along the perimeter of the garden.
The effectiveness of these folk remedies depends more on the enthusiasm of the owner of the site, who will constantly update them.
We were literally tormented by moles at the dacha. There are a lot of them everywhere in Belarus, the soil is convenient for them. We have tried all possible plants that should repel these monsters. I can say that folk remedies of this type help little. The animals avoid living plants, and the odorous “gifts” placed in the holes caused discontent among the neighbors. Oddly enough, ordinary tins hung on ropes throughout the area helped. They rang even in almost calm weather. The moles couldn't stand this.
Svetlana Kazlova, Gomel
You can use it to protect against moles. This is not a completely folk remedy and, if desired, a trap can be bought in a store. But it's not hard to do with my own hands. To make a mole trap you will need:
- Segments plastic pipe with a diameter equal to the size of the wormhole. The number of segments is optional and depends on the size of the mole family.
- A sheet of thick tin. Needed to install a “curtain” at the entrance to the trap.
- Not very soft wire that can bend at right angles.
- Shears for cutting sheet metal.
After harvesting necessary materials, you can start making mole traps:
- The tin is cut into pieces with a width slightly less than the diameter of the pipe and a height greater. It is better to round the future lower corners.
- Cut pieces of wire, calculating the dimensions so that they extend beyond the walls of the pipe in the upper part.
- The tin pieces are bent around the wire so that the tin rotates freely around the wire.
- Holes for the wire are drilled in the upper part of the pipe.
- The tin is installed in the tubes so that the lower edge is directed into the trap.
- The wire is threaded through drilled holes and the upper edge of the tin curtain and bend the ends.
- A similar curtain is made on the other edge of the trap.
The mole trap is ready. A tin curtain will freely let the animal in, but will not allow it to get out. The devices are placed on personal plot in molehills. In fact, they replace a real tunnel. Then you can periodically check for the presence of animals in the mole trap or “bury” the moles there alive. There is a chance that next year the smell of rotten meat will scare away the next family.
From my point of view, mole traps are not the most effective fight with moles. Industrial ones kill animals like rats, and shaking out these flattened corpses does not bring much pleasure. Homemade mole traps are also not very convenient to use. If you put them “tightly”, then you feel sorry for the living creatures. And digging up traps periodically and shaking out moles from them is very tedious.
Alexey, Bryansk
Highly effective folk remedies
Such means include devices that produce sounds that are unpleasant for animals. There are stores, but the devices are not difficult.
To scare away you can use:
- cans;
- large plastic bottles;
- empty glass bottles;
- alarm clocks on electric batteries.
Cans and plastic bottles are placed on sticks stuck into the ground. You can make cuts in the bottle to create a pinwheel effect. When exposed to wind, empty containers spin and rattle. In addition to sound, vibration is transmitted through the stick to the ground.
On a note!
But fighting moles in this way has some disadvantages: the repellers can be blown away by strong winds and they do not work in calm weather.
Empty glass bottles are buried in the ground at an angle to the horizon. In windy weather they howl, scaring moles and people. Using bottles is more labor-intensive than cans on sticks: you have to dig in the containers, taking into account the wind rose. In calm weather this folk way fighting doesn't work either.
With the advent of cheap electric battery-powered alarm clocks, the most effective means These Chinese watches came from moles. They work in any weather and do not require any care for six months. The only drawback is that after six months it’s easy to forget where the alarm clocks are buried.
It is very easy to make such a means of control:
- buy 4 small alarm clocks;
- install them on different time;
- place alarm clocks in a half-liter jar with a wide neck and a screw cap;
- put a condom on the jar, stretching it approximately to the middle of the container;
- bury alarm clocks in different corners of the garden, not forgetting to mark the burial sites.
A condom is needed to ensure that no moisture gets into the jar during heavy rains. Alarm clocks ring twice a day at different times. Call duration is 1 hour. Of all the folk remedies, this one is the least dependent on weather conditions, does not emit a smell and does not harm the environment.
When moles suddenly appeared in the garden, we thought for a long time about how to deal with moles in summer cottage, if we need a dacha as a place of rest and bad smell and the rattling of the cans did not suit us. On one forum they advised to bury alarm clocks. The moles capitulated without a fight.
Mikhail, Tver
The last method of fighting moles in a summer cottage using folk remedies is reliable, but very labor-intensive and expensive. They dig in around the entire perimeter of the site to a depth of about a meter. The advantage of this method is that the mesh lasts for several years. Instead of mesh, summer residents often use slate. In this case, the fence will be “eternal”. But slate will disrupt the natural exchange of bacteria between the enclosed space and the “free” one.
Important! The nesting site of moles is located at a depth of up to 2 m, and feeding passages are located under the turf layer in loose soil and at a distance of up to 50 cm below the surface in hard or often drying soil. When fighting moles using mesh or slate, this circumstance must be taken into account.
