Topic: Moles!

[Suzanne]

Have got moles.

They seem to have appeared out of nowhere and making inroads on my lovely dug, raked and manured beds - then moved on to where I have sown my root crops and planted onion sets, undermining them all. I suppose this is a result of the enormous amount of works I seem to have on the plot. I am inundated with toads as well!

A neighobouring plot holder put down his traps for me yesterday evening and today I was feeling really bad as they were successful. Poor mole well and truly dead. I did do the decent thing and emptied the trap and tomorrow will lay poor mole underneath the hedge. Didn't do it today as my neighbour wanted to know if it had worked and I didn't see him so left the mole on the ground near the trap.

Oh I reset the trap - so probably have a bit more Lucretia in me than I first suspected. After all can't be without parsnips come Christmas.

 

[grotbag]

you can get humane mole traps .

[Suzanne]

Wherever possible I would use humane traps and have for mice etc.

But I am starting to doubt how humane these traps are. Most animals are territorial and know there area well. Catching them and then letting them go in another animals territory must be quite an ordeal. Moles which are especially territorial - even more so.

On trying to find ways in which to prevent other moles taking up residence - prevention always better than the cure for any pest. I found this advice.

"If you are using the live catch type the captured mole must be dispatched humanely. I don’t like releasing the moles to another area where the mole could be up against established and very territorial resident moles.

On the other hand, if you release them to an area where there are no resident moles, the question must be asked is there a shortage of mole food? Moles need to eat between 60 - 200 worms a day, they will also take the odd chafer grub but the main diet is earthworm. They store their food in mole larders but first they bite the heads off the worm."

How does everyone else view humane traps. ?

[Unwashed]

I have moles, they do just as you describe and the crops are virtually unaffected.  Live and let live.

[Robert_Brenchley]

A mole without a territory is likely to starve. They're fussy about soil, and I've found young ones several times, living on the surface. They often end up dead.

[norfolklass]

Moles need to eat between 60 - 200 worms a day, they will also take the odd chafer grub but the main diet is earthworm.

I have moles too, but as they don't eat my crops I can live with them. yes, it's irritating when their mole hills appear in the middle of a nice tidy path or row of crops, but as you said above, they eat mostly worms and don't eat any of my veg so I reckon there's room for both of us on my plot. I also share it with mice and voles, frogs and toads, and a whole host of other beasties but for me that's part of the enjoyment of having an allotment. but, each to their own!

[Jeannine]

I have been worrying about moles since I was told last week that the new lottie has a problem with them. I have never encountered them before and have to admit I was really concerned after being told "they were eating crops as fast as they grew", my informant also said a few people had given up because of them

Is my informany making this up..I cannot see me trapping anything, but what does one do if all crops are eaten..

Really confused and worried.

XX Jeannine

[Robert_Brenchley]

They don't eat crops unless you're talking about something totally different from the European mole. They do eat worms, but they need a healthy worm population to survive, so don't worry about that. The only thing is the disturbance caused by their digging around, and the odd molehill.

[Jeannine]

Thank you Robert, I can live with that,really appreciate it..I suspect I bumped into one of thr sites doom amd gloom bods !!

XX Jeannine

[Suzanne]

Moles don't eat the crops, they do collateral damage. So the one(s) on my lottie had undermined my onion sets so that the roots went into the tunnels, this had had started to cause them to die back as they couldn't get to soil or water and the roots were dying back. They also ploughed through my direct sown root crops and unearthed the seedlings.

I had the same problem on my squash beds a couple of years back - but as these were big plants I just kept pushing the soil back into the tunnels to ensure the plants were well seated - but it did affect yield. Not a lot of choice in the root crop bed as too difficult to try and backfill everything.

The tunnels can also be used by voles which do eat the crop, so have to collapse the tunnels.

I couldn't really see a way around this one, other than getting rid of the mole. Now its gone (they are territorial so only one likely to be causing all the damage) I have hoed the affected area to collapse the feeding tunnels.

[Baccy Man]

Jeannine, Canadian moles don't sound any different to European ones 'pest control Canada' categorically states "Most moles do not eat plants, but feed mainly on earthworms (their favorite food), insect larvae and arthropods (insects and crustaceans)."
http://pestcontrolcanada.com/Wildlife%20pests/moles.htm

[Jeannine]

Thank you Baccy Man I am feeling settled now and not worried at all..XX Jeannine

[Robert_Brenchley]

Killing them may well lead to more moving in. They're not only territorial, they're very fussy about soil conditions, and they're short-lived so new generations are oving in regularly. There have been moles in the same little area of the University Parks in Oxford since I was little (1950's), they were still there last time I was in Oxford, and they've never showed up anywhere else. That must be about 50 generations of moles.

[Suzanne]

I agree - so having removed the one now doesn't resolve the problem long term, and I don't think I am a candidate for the guild of molecatchers (didn't know there was such a thing until I started researching this!). So looking at the websites, new moles move into the vacated deep tunnels quickly and I have located where this "family tunnel" tracks and where it enters my plot. So I will try those "smorls" I think they are which act as a deterrent because of the smell.

Will see.

[Jeannine]

John  was digging on the plot yesterday and saw a hole, every spadeful took another piece of the hole so it went a long way, it was about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, maybe a shade bigger but not much,,would that be a mole hole..oh it was about 5 inches down. XX Jeannine

[Mr Smith]

We don't seemed to be bothered by these Gentlemen in velvet jackets on our allotments and I doubt if they do any damage to crops, but at my local golf clubs the little b----rds,  :)

[Suzanne]

Sounds like a mole tunnel Jeannine.

Mine were quite extensive and criss crossed across a particular section of my plot - no mole hills, but you could see where the earth was raised up as they/it tunnelled along. If you then push a stick or fingers through the soil you find a tunnel. The feeding tunnels were about 4-5 inches below the surface and every now and then coming up to about 1-2 inches under the surface.

The main travel tunnel into the plot was about 8 inches below the surface at the point where it was accessible. I think it went further down than that as the tunnel seemed to slope away. 

[Jeannine]

mmm, thank you, it will be interesting to follow the tunnel as he works his way accross the plot.XX Jeannine