moles in the garden

[gazza1960]

ok,yes,i did read plenty from the archive but I thought id ask an update as what you folks feel would be a suitable modern deterrent
to keep the blighters at bay......we only have a smallish garden but the devils are coming from next doors garden hers is strewn with hills but now it seems our garden worms are its juicy prey.they are undermining the area along the fence and near the bird feeders and jude is expecting the bungalow to disappear down one...its all the tunnels that are now creating areas where the lawn is collapsing when we walk on it......you can tell we are townies ...moved to dorset...not sure how to deal with them but the mention of a terminal ending meets with a disgruntled........I don't want to kill them/it....just deter....capture it and take it miles away ......ive seen humane tubes you can deploy down the tunnels in the hope that they are caught but other than that
that is all ive seen.........poisons etc  are a no no as we have cats and birds using the garden so would not want to inadvertently harm one of them.

any thoughts.

 

[gazza1960]

[ancellsfarmer]

As a deterent, a bamboo cane with an empty plastic bottle up ended , pushed into a mole hill or tunnel. The breeze will cause the bottle to move and rattle the cane. An empty slug pellet tub or coke bottle will do it.
Move the cane periodically,(every other day?) towards the neighbour

[ACE]

Euphorbia, they don't like it, commonly known as spurge and also known as the mole plant. I've tied the beepers, worked for a while until they get used to it. I put some euphorbia down the run and they buggered off next door. Watch the sap it can  irritate a sensitive skin.

[Palustris]

Sorry, but having tried every 'folk' remedy going I can say that none of them work.
What you need is a cat which can catch them. Ours has had 11 moles so far this year (and still they come)
And be warned if you go trying to find the runs to put in traps, you could end up with a hole like this one.

[gazza1960]

cheer for the suggestions I will try a cross section of each and see if the neighbours two moggies want to put some extra hours in as all they do is watch the earth move on the mole hills and dab at it but so far its advantage moles.........

[Digeroo]

I had a huge problem last year and put in one of the bleepers.  And it seemed to work.  Except now I cannot find any worms so I think they raided the larder and then went elsewhere.    I had a compost bin filled with manure, and they have turned it into a huge mole hill.  No worms left but they have certainly churned up the manure compost very well, it is very friable. 

[Redalder]

Borrow a dog! We inherited a graden full of mole hills and the boundary cornish (stone) hedge full of rats when we moved in. Got a rescue dog two years ago - all gone ( and we are fitter as well).

[Magnus]

Have you tried Castor Oil-- not the car stuff, but the cold pressed oil.   Open a mound hole or a run you find in the beds, a little dolp and they go elsewhere.  I use it around the boundaries or as close as possible where I find the runs.  They disappear!  BUT keep vigilant and dolp runs or holes when spotted and you will reduce by 90%.  That's what we do and did.  Good Luck

[Borderers1951]

I had a problem with moles in my previous garden.  A friend used to keep ferrets and regular applications of ferret muck in and around their mounds and runs seemed to put them off.  It also helped to keep Bugs Bunny away, but not Roland Rat.