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The mole (Talpa europaea) is a common British mammal and although rarely seen, due to its subterranean existence, its presence is well marked by the appearance of ‘molehills’ above ground, produced as a result of its underground tunnelling activity.
Molehills and tunnels can be a real nuisance in gardens, golf courses, race-courses and other amenity areas.
Moles are territorial creatures, living alone in an extensive network of tunnels covering anything up to 4 acres, in soils suitable for tunnelling. Almost blind but with a good sense of smell, moles feed predominantly on earthworms which they unearth during their tunnel digging activities. Several young are born every spring but within five to six weeks they move out, over-ground, to establish their own territories. If you have a mole in the garden it is probably only one mole.
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Many
people take great care of their lawns and landscaping, and are dismayed to
see tunnels and dirt piles all over the place, and wish to trap and remove
moles from the property. |
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Get rid
of moles? The only
real way to solve a problem with moles is to trap and remove them. In fact, if
your yard is full of tunnels and dirt mounds, it's probably the result of a
single mole's activity. Moles have a very high metabolism, and they are very
active - the can really dig! They are also largely territorial. Thus, you've
probably only got one mole in your lawn, but that one mole can really make a
mess of things. To solve the mole problem, you've got to catch and remove the
mole. This is usually accomplished through the use of lethal traps, such as duffus
traps, scissor traps.
How Do I
Prevent Garden Moles? I don't think that there's any good prevention method. If your lawn has
dirt and earthworms, then it's good enough for moles. There's no way to
eliminate the food supply, the earthworms. There's all sorts of gimmicks out
there: various mole sprays (often made of castor oil), high-pitch sound machines,
and so on.
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