Keep in mind that trapping moles requires consistency and creativity. They also offer a high degree of target-specificity for moles and no potential for chemical buildup or secondary poisoning in the surrounding ecosystem. Modern mole traps, including harpoon traps and scissor-jaw traps, use lethal methods to kill moles and quickly eradicate mole populations.
Trapping is the most reliable method to get rid of moles. They may follow the woody perimeter of a yard or field.They tend to follow fencerows, concrete paths, or other human-made borders.Runways typically connect two mounds or two separate runway systems.Runways usually follow a basically straight course.Here are a few other ways to identify main runways: If the hole is repaired within a day or two, it’s a prime runway and a great place to trap moles. You can find these runways by poking holes into the top of the soil near a mole hole using a stick or your index finger.
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How to Get Rid of Moles (And Keep them Away)īefore you can set traps or baits, you’ll need to identify high-traffic areas like mole runways. While moles travel through some of their surface runways every day, others are only used for occasional feeding. Thanks to their proficient digging abilities, moles are capable of digging up to 100 feet of surface runways each day. They typically do not have mounds attached to them. Usually, they look like raised ridges in a lawn area where moles are present. Surface runways are feeding tunnels that moles create just below the surface of the soil. If you notice gnaw marks on your garden plants or vegetables, it’s likely that voles or mice are responsible – not moles.
Instead, they eat earthworms, grubs, and centipedes. Since moles are insectivores, they don’t chew plants or root systems. If you’re wondering whether you have moles in your landscaping, it’s equally important to know what not to look for. Moles, on the other hand, dig the earth up in chunks.Īs you evaluate the mounds in your yard, look for clumps of soil, which is a surefire sign of moles. When gophers dig in your yard, they pulverize the soil into a smooth powder. However, the difference is that gopher mounds are close together, while molehills tend to be about six feet apart. Moles aren’t the only creatures that make entrance and exit mounds. When moles dig their tunnels, they act like mini excavators, moving all that dirt out of the mole tunnel and up to the surface, creating a telltale, mounded molehill at the tunnel entrance. Have you ever heard the saying, “making a mountain out of a molehill?” Dead GrassĪs we mentioned in a previous blog on the topic, patches of dead grass are a good indication that you have a mole problem.Īs these pests dig mole tunnels, they disrupt the root systems of nearby grasses, killing the grass at surface level and leaving dead patches in their wake. While mole damage may seem similar to the damage caused by voles, mice, or rodents, some key differentiators exist. How To Identify Mole Damage in Your Yard & Garden If you hire a pest control expert to get rid of moles, they’ll employ tactics like trapping and baiting.You can keep moles out of your yard by eliminating food sources, digging exclusion trenches, and practicing good lawn hygiene (mowing the grass and removing wood stacks and debris piles that shelter them).To get rid of moles, identify active mole runways, set mole traps, implement a baiting program, and consider applying fumigants to your yard.By 5-6 weeks of age they disperse above ground to establish their own territories it is at this time that they are most vulnerable to predation by birds of prey, small carnivores (such stoats & weasels), foxes and cats. At birth, moles are naked and weigh as little as 3.5g. Lactating females return to their nests 4 to 6 times in 24 hours to feed their 3-4 young, which are born in the spring. This includes pest species such as leatherjackets, cockchafers and carrot flies they will also eat slugs if they come across them.Īdult moles are active day and night, alternating 3-4 hour bursts of activity with similar periods of rest mature males may leave their nests for days at a time, sleeping in the tunnel system. It is a highly adaptable species and can thrive at elevations up to 1000m, wherever the soil is well-drained and deep enough for tunnelling they are most abundant in permanent pasture and deciduous woodland.īeing an insectivore a mole’s diet entirely consists of invertebrates, usually collected from their tunnels, especially earthworms and insect larvae. In the UK, the European Mole is found throughout mainland Britain, but is absent from Ireland and the majority of the small islands.
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