Mole Hills In Garden

[beejaybee]

We have 2 mole hills on our back lawn. I`ve noticed that the ground seems softer in parts near the hills. Help please TIA

[society]

Do you want to have the moles stay there or do you want to get rid of them?

What's the question?

[Chipchopper]

The soft ground near the hills is probably where the underground tunnels are.
The hills are actually the spoils from the tunnels.
They excavate the tunnel net-work and periodically inspect them to feed the worms that have fallen into the tunnel.
Moles have very poor eye sight but have a very good sense of smell.

[nungate]

I seem to recall that moth balls put in the tunnels can be an effective deterrant

[nungate]

If all that fails, remember you are not alone with problem moles. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePU5CIHpas

[RATTER15]

As an Ex Mole Trapper of 13 years take some advice please, do not put anything smelly in the holes and do not use these electronic mole deterrents. Either call in a Mole Trapper or buy some mole traps and trap it. Any other method will probably just move the mole all over your garden until you have fifty mole hills. The mole trap goes in the ground between or near the mounds, not down the hole underneath the mound. Do not use so called "Humane Traps" they are far from humane, I hate them!!

[RATTER15]

nungate, that is the problem, they are a deterrent, the mole does not like the smell so he digs his way all over your garden to get away from the smell, they really don't work. You wouldn't believe how many jobs I have been on where I find these little moth balls pushed up out of the ground and the problems that one mole can cause lol

[nungate]

touch wood I've never had a problem with moles Ratter, if I had I'd probably just leave them alone (I'm a big softy really). A friend of mine who lives in Aberdeenshire was driven demented by them in her garden...

[Buenchico]

This might help:
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=203

[DTCwordfan]

"petrol and a fuse; it's fun and no worse on the grass than the little bustards digging up your lawn."

A.Bang Gardener.

[RATTER15]

nungate, sometimes they will just move on, but at what point do you say enough is enough, they cause so much damage, more evident in the summer when all their runs are showing up as yellow lines all over your lawn, especially if the runs are very shallow, the grass roots are in the tunnel and not getting the moisture.

[RATTER15]

DTCwordfan, lol but unfortunately totally ineffective, I agree it could be fun though.

[nungate]

Thankfully this house doesn't have any lawns, it was all gravelled over when we got it. I do my gardening in containers these days, one of the reasons we had to move was because my arthritis got in the way of my gardening! I know they can make a mess of gardens, friends of ours had them in their garden down in Cheshire, he actually caught one! (alive) He said it had paws like shovels! No idea what he did with it though I have my suspicions

[woofgang]

If you have a food source,(worms) you may well kill the resident moles but you will get more. Once they have no food source they will leave.

[RATTER15]

I have caught many moles alive, its a case of being in the right place at the right time, they are delightful creatures with fur coats as soft as you will never believe.

[RATTER15]

woofgang, that doest usually follow, no mole is going to eat all the worms. if I eradicated moles from a site, I rarely went back, I had many mole clearance contracts but usually once cleared the problem never came back.

A myth I often heard is : "if you kill a mole, a dozen will come to its funeral"

lot of nonsense!

[wardlaw]

If you REALLY hate them and catch one bury it alive to punish the blighter!

[RATTER15]

wardlaw, you are Irish arent you? :-)

[wardlaw]

To be sure sir, that I am not:)

[Chipchopper]

Clarence Frogman Henry, knew a thing or two about moles

[malagabob]

Remove a mound to expose the tunnel and put the end of a garden hose in. Turn on the water and let run. Repeat if more mounds appear.