Monday, January 05, 2015

A mole's work is never done

Unfortunately. They've calmed down a little since the fall. I wonder if they hibernate. Because our summer was wet, the moles had an easy time digging their tunnels in our yard and finding plenty of worms and insect larvae to feast on. When the summer is dry, they move down the hill toward the stream beds in search of moister places.

Mole hills in one section of grass between the garden shed and the vegetable plots.

I have a lot of mole hills to eradicate this spring before I cut the grass for the first time. I will shovel some of the dirt into the wheelbarrow and use it to fill in low spots. Otherwise I will rake it onto the surrounding ground. The worst part is the tunnel network, just below the surface of the grass, that makes the ground spongy. And I've learned in recent years that cats do not like (to eat) moles. Just our luck.

9 comments:

  1. Mole hills are very funnny but I remember as my grandfather fought with mole hills in his garden many in my childhood

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  2. We have moles too! We have tracked their progress over the bridge, up past the front of the house, round the back of the house towards the potager... They like to dig in the filling of the channels for the fosse septique which is industrial casting sand - easy digging but nutritionally dead - so they go a long way after the next worm. Little devils. Windmills, ultrasound, wine bottles, nothing deters them. Oh for an old-fashioned mole-catcher!

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  3. I share your misery with mole infestation. Have had them around me most of my life. I think some dogs will go after them, but our poodles never did.

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  4. Thank goodness this is ONE problem I DO NOT HAVE.

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  5. I'll bring you a snake the next time I visit.

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    1. chris, I did my research. Badgers, weasles, foxes, and owls all prey on moles. We have them all in abundance. But our yard is fenced in (which eliminates foxes and most badgers). And the presence of the cat probably deters other would-be predators. So our yard has become a little mole sanctuary. Joy.

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  6. Is this the proverbial making mountains out of mole hills?

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  7. gosia, there's no fighting any more. We just have to live with them.

    tim, glad I'm not alone. Actually, a look at our neighbors' lawns reminds me that I am, indeed, not alone.

    judy, they're cute critters, but they make a mess of the grass.

    evelyn, I wonder what, in fact, does eat moles? I'll have to do some google-research.

    ron, with all the beautiful lawn you have, it would drive you NUTS!

    chris, we have snakes, perhaps just not the right kind...

    michael, is my carrying on that noticeable? ;)

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