Literature’s Great Characters Come to Visit
We’ve all read the books Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham and Duncton Wood by William Harwood. These books are true classics – celebrations of nature and tales of animal adventures that are so moving, we remember them throughout adulthood: a world of talking owls, laughing toads and crusty, yet lovable, badgers.
What appears as charming and endearing in a child’s fantasy takes on a whole other significance when you look outside your window one morning and gaze in shocked amazement at what appears to be miniature mountains dotting your previously perfectly manicured lawn. It’s like it happened overnight. What is it? What caused it? And more importantly, what can you do to stop it?
A Simple Step to Mole Detection
If you’ve discovered mounds in your yard, chances are pretty good that you’ve got moles. Moles take pride in making their mounds and it shows. They are shaped like small volcanoes, with chunky bits of soil placed on the outside of the burrow in a slightly circular direction. If the mounds are flatter, with finely dug dirt thrown primarily in one direction, you probably have gophers. (The treatment for gophers is different than for moles, and will be addressed in a separate article).
Although it may look like you’ve been overrun with thousands of moles, take heart. You probably only have a couple. Moles are solitary and don’t enjoy the company of other moles (a bit antisocial in our opinion). All those mounds and tunnels are the dedicated fervent work of usually just one or two moles. In fact, one mole in Oregon reportedly dug over 300 mounds in just 11 weeks!
The Mole Chain
What attracts moles to your yard? First you have to have bugs. Moles live on turf-loving pests, such as grub worms, sod webworms, weevils, beetles and various larvae of almost every imaginable turf-invading insect.
What attracts these lawn-loving pests to your yard? Your perfect lawn of course. A passing grub worm takes one look at all that juicy grass and invites his whole family (which can number in the thousands) over for lunch. In his eyes, it’s one gigantic salad bar.
Next, the moles hear word that your lawn has some pretty pesky (albeit tasty) visitors, so they decide to help themselves to the bug buffet. They aren’t picky either; they will eat virtually anything that moves in the soil. A five ounce mole can consume up to 50 pounds of insects per year!
While we all love a beautiful lawn, Nature has its own way, and moles play a significant role in helping to maintain an ecological balance. They eat nasty insects and subsequent developing larvae which could overrun an entire neighborhood. Their mounds are evidence of their digging through the earth, looking for every last tasty morsel. They are digging machines! Moles have stream-lined bodies with powerful front limbs and impressive claws. They come equipped with extra large lungs and hemoglobin rich blood to help them survive their oxygen-poor underground life.
The traits that make moles such colorful characters in literature also make them tenacious and hard to eradicate. They are house-proud homebodies. They love their burrows and will always try to return home if they are moved, and no obstacle will deter them: not asphalt highways, canals or even rivers!
Humane Solutions
We believe that the best way to a better environment and a safer, cleaner earth is to choose organic, chemical free and humane options whenever possible. It’s time we started working with the earth instead of fighting it. We can have stunning yards, fabulous flowers and enjoy glorious outdoor settings while still being kind and caring to all the other living things that share this planet. Fortunately, moles move around a lot. It’s not uncommon for a mole to move house about every two to four weeks (the amount of time it takes them to “feed out” a lawn). Below are some safe and humane options on ridding yourself of moles should they outstay their short welcome!
Option 1:
Since moles are looking for grubs and other turf-loving insects to nibble on, one way to get rid of the moles is to get rid of the grubs and other grass-loving bugs they came to eat. An environmentally sound alternative to harsh chemicals is the use of entomopathogenic nematodes (beneficial nematodes, as opposed to a number of parasitic species). These hungry little guys are really just microscopic worms that love (and we mean seriously love) grubs, weevils, webworms, maggots and larvae of all kinds.
Option 2:
Check out Bacillus Papillae. This naturally occurring bacterium (sold under the name ‘Milky Spore’) is ingested by greedy grubs and makes them sick. Basically, bacillus is food poisoning for grubs! Although toxic to grub worms, bacillus papilla is completely safe for other living things. If a bird or squirrel ingests the deceased grub, it will not suffer any ill effects. Safe for use around pets and children too.
Option 3:
A recent technological advancement in the field of mole control is the use of ultrasonic vibrations to repel moles. Moles have exceptionally acute hearing (which is a good thing since they are almost completely blind). Sonic technology exploits this trait by producing a high-pitched vibrating sound that only the moles can hear, driving them to distraction and hopefully away from your yard. The vibrations don’t disturb other creatures and is completely safe for use around pets and children.
Option 4:
You can reduce the attraction of moles and other burrowing creatures to your yard by creatively cutting back on the amount of grass you have. Consider beautiful alternatives such as flowering groundcovers (no mowing!), mulch, stone installations, bulbs, wildflowers and shrubbery. You can add character and color to your yard while also decreasing your lawn’s attractiveness to moles. Simply raking away mole mounds when they are first formed helps integrate the soil back into your lawn and reduces the germination of weeds.
Since moles play such an important ecological role, it’s often worth trying to live with them. Like most things in Nature, it only becomes a pest when it spoils your plans. A weed becomes a weed when it’s a plant you don’t want in your flower bed. It isn’t a weed in a wild meadow!
Moles aerate and mix the soil layers through which they move. They help turn clay dirt into rich loam and help the soil drain better. They eat large numbers of pesky, unsafe and damaging insects. Once the moles have eaten all the insects, they move on, simple as that. It’s hard to believe, but when a mole leaves your yard, it will actually be in better and healthier ecological condition than before.
Research taken from the following sources:
Cox, Caroline. “Managing Mole Problems without Pesticides.” Journal of Pesticide Reform 24 (2): pp. 6-7. 2004.
Pease, Jim. Horticulture and Home Pest News. pp. 34-35. April 3, 1998.
Stone, Kay. Interview with Christopher Stone and Kelly DeLay. Tru-Green ChemLawn Pest Specialists. April 2006
Copyright 2006 www.OutdoorDecor.com
Kay Stone, OutdoorDecor.com Staff Writer
