If a mole plague invades the garden, the area resembles a lunar landscape in no time at all and is tunnelled with an extensive cave system. What to do, the tormented gardener asks himself, if he wants to get rid of the burrowers. Since the Federal Nature Conservation Act sets strict limits for combating moles, the choice of means is very limited. These instructions explain how to fight moles effectively and successfully within the permissible limits.

Moles can be easily driven away with special equipment

Legislators leave little room for maneuver in combating moles

Objectively speaking, the mole is a pseudo-pest. In truth, the furry mammal devours vast amounts of real pests, such as crane fly, snails, vine weevil as well as larvae and insect eggs of all kinds.

Since 1988, the busy insectivore has been under the strict protection of the Federal Nature Conservation Act, as it was threatened with extinction due to merciless persecution. Only gentle expulsion is permitted if, for example, a plague of moles causes threatening sagging in the garden soil. Catching, hunting or even killing moles is punishable by high fines of up to 50,000 euros.

Getting rid of smells - that stinks to the delicate mole nose

True, a mole's eyesight is severely limited. In return, the insectivore has a keen sense of smell to sniff out its prey deep in the earth. The deterrence strategy uses this circumstance to fight a plague of moles in a non-toxic and legally compliant manner. These tools have proven themselves in practice:

  • Premium remedy: Dripping butyric acid on old cloths and sticking them in active aisles
  • Soak a rag in turpentine, vinegar essence or kerosene to plug the outlets
  • Produce liquid manure from thuja and spruce branches and dump into the cave system

If you want to get rid of a mole plague with as little effort as possible, Neudorff offers a ready-made remedy with vole gas. This gas is based on natural lavadin oil, which settles on the tunnel passages and gives off an unpleasant odor for voles, water voles and moles. The cartridge is inserted into a tunnel opening and ignited.

Fighting with noise - this is how the acoustic expulsion succeeds

Moles only appear to have no ears. In fact, the cute fur balls are only missing auricles, because they hear excellently. On their underground patrols, they pick up even the faintest sounds of their potential prey. This is where another method comes in to combat the pests in harmony with nature and the law. This hullabaloo exiles the garden's entire mole population:

  • Stick metal bars in the aisles and hit them with a hammer every time they pass
  • Dangle empty tin cans from a T-shaped metal bar
  • Cut off bottoms from glass bottles, stick them upside down in aisles to create loud whistling wind

If you want to get rid of a mole plague with noise, we recommend this method for secluded gardens to avoid trouble with annoyed neighbors. As field tests have shown, ultrasonic devices cause little or no success in mole control.

Live trap requires special permit

Where a mole plague is associated with a demonstrably high risk of injury as a result of subsidence, an application can be made for the use of a live trap. If the responsible nature conservation authority follows your arguments, you will receive a special permit for this form of mole control. Adequate traps can be purchased from specialist retailers or you can build them yourself with a little manual skill. How to use the remedy correctly:

  • Reveal an active tunnel by clearing away a molehill
  • Lead the flexible connection hose of the trap into the corridor
  • Load the trap with nesting material and food
  • Wooden lid and side panels provided with air holes

The trap is checked at least twice a day. The food it contains is nowhere near enough to keep a captured mole from starving. A captured animal is soon put into a bucket that is softly padded with leaves. In a nearby deciduous or mixed forest, the mole is released into the wild.

Successful mole control requires an active tunnel

Unlike voles, moles use most of the passages in their tunnel system only once or very rarely. In order for mole control with smells or noise to be successful, the means described should be used in an active tunnel. How to determine if a corridor is frequented:

  • Trample one or more mounds of earth
  • The best time is late afternoon
  • Another rise in ground level the next day signals an active tunnel

The significance of the experiment is only retained for a short time. Considering their numerous predators, moles only have a short lifespan. The cause of yesterday's mounds of earth may already have fallen victim to a cat, dog, owl or fox today.

tips

Clever house gardeners already prevent a mole plague when they create a new garden. A knot-proof mole grid is laid in good time so that beds and lawns are not spoiled by molehills. The stable material has proven its worth for prophylactic mole control, as it reliably withstands the furry power packs' attempts to lift it.

Category:

Animals in the garden