Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.
Q&A: All About Moles
Answer: Moles are solitary except during mating season, when a male will seek out a female in her burrow. Females produce a litter of 2-6 young, born in the spring. It's usually a good idea if you trap a mole, to reset the trap because other moles may come visiting. It's also possible that new moles will move into the area once you've eradicated the original family. Moles feed on insects, worms, and some plant materials, and they tunnel extensively, making short tunnels off the main run, to use as sleeping quarters and to deposit their wastes. Even though the tunnels are a nuisance, moles are beneficial in that they help aerate the soil and keep the grub population down.
Content provided by the National Gardening Association
Printer Friendly Version | Send this page to a friend | Post Comment
Rate This Story:
Great - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - Bad
Posted Comments:
08-24-2009 15:05
Flower Happy wrote:
Mole Problems
I too had a very large mole population during the summer of 08. They did not seem to bother my plants so I did not bother them. What a MISTAKE! When the Spring wet season arrived I found out the damage they can cause. I lost most of the topsoil in one of my largest flower (30'x 6') beds due to the water that followed the mole holes and not the drainage ditches. We had to reditch a large ditch in our backyard. Our neighbor had to reditch a very large drainage system that runs to our water falls, as the water followed the mole holes and not the ditch and caused another area of the flower gardens to wash away. It was an expensive lesson for both us and our neighbors.
Good luck.
Good luck.
08-23-2009 21:23
flmdrpeena wrote:
Moles
Try a cat; most are small vermin (unfortunately sometimes the get birds) hunters. Cats don't dig all over the yard.
I had a cat who brought me home prizes of moles, mice, squirrels. This is, until I told hime that while I appreciated his caring for me & his natural instinct to hunt, I did not really want him to bring me presents & if he felt the need to catch them, he should eat them. He looked at me & promptly ate the mouse (I went in the house) & never brought me another present.
Hard to believe but it is true.
I never had any problems with mice, squirrels, until after he was hit by a car. Then squirrels showed up all the following spring in the garden until another outside cat showed up that took refuge on my So. facing porch & slept in the sun or under the bench. I had cat neutered.
The classic chemical answer to the question is lay down grub control EARLY despite what "Lawn Care Services say. Grubs draw moles as food. They go down just below the frost line. If the winter is mild they tend to not bury down far & are an easy dinner for moles. The moles then come & tunnel for a feast & build their homes.
I prefer not to use chemical. There are other non-chemical treatments available (Online is easiest to find) that attack grubs or interrupt their life cycle.
I had a cat who brought me home prizes of moles, mice, squirrels. This is, until I told hime that while I appreciated his caring for me & his natural instinct to hunt, I did not really want him to bring me presents & if he felt the need to catch them, he should eat them. He looked at me & promptly ate the mouse (I went in the house) & never brought me another present.
Hard to believe but it is true.
I never had any problems with mice, squirrels, until after he was hit by a car. Then squirrels showed up all the following spring in the garden until another outside cat showed up that took refuge on my So. facing porch & slept in the sun or under the bench. I had cat neutered.
The classic chemical answer to the question is lay down grub control EARLY despite what "Lawn Care Services say. Grubs draw moles as food. They go down just below the frost line. If the winter is mild they tend to not bury down far & are an easy dinner for moles. The moles then come & tunnel for a feast & build their homes.
I prefer not to use chemical. There are other non-chemical treatments available (Online is easiest to find) that attack grubs or interrupt their life cycle.
08-23-2009 12:02
Lainie wrote:
Moles
I don't mind the moles so much as I mind my dashchunds digging up my yard looking for them. One of them especially will dig all over the backyard and is destroying it. Does anyone know what I can do to keep the dogs from digging or to get rid of the moles. This can go on year-round. Right now, in August, she has been especially bad about digging. And yes, I know that doxies are hunt dogs. Thanks for anything a 70 y.o. can do by herself.
Comment archive | Comment FAQ's
 |
 |
|
View Gardening ezine stories by date or visit the complete archive |
The ArcaMax Politics channel is one of 70 content categories offered by ArcaMax Publishing on this ... |
VideoSquares.com
