We catch moles using a homemade trap made from plastic bottles

1. Some general information that will help in the fight against moles
2. How to deal with moles in the cellar?
3. What plants do moles not like?
4. How to prevent moles from entering your property
5. How to deal with moles on a personal plot or in a country house Repelling moles with an unpleasant odor
6. Using repellent plants
7. Use of pets
8. Fencing the site area
9. Creating background noise

The appearance of moles on the territory is always an undesirable phenomenon. The fact that moles have dug in on the site is indicated by characteristic earthen cones. Let's look at the main options for getting rid of moles using folk remedies. It should be added that such means, as a rule, do not kill the animal, but only scare it away, making its further residence on the site uncomfortable. This approach is considered the most humane.

These tireless diggers inhabit many regions of Russia, choosing to live in the best areas with loose and fertile soil. Therefore, they are often found in gardens and summer cottages or under lawns.

What plants are moles afraid of?

The use of plants in the fight against moles is very popular. These animals do not like legumes and bulbous plants such as daffodils, ornamental onions, imperial hazel grouse and Siberian scilla.

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Protective or preventive (humane) methods of mole control.

1. Fight against moles. Folk methods. Protective or preventive (humane) methods of mole control. They are aimed at peacefully expelling the enemy from the site, as well as preventing him from entering the territory. They include the use of petroleum and chemical products, as well as other foul-smelling substances, the installation of homemade repellent devices, flooding, fencing the area, and the most humane one - planting natural repellents. And now about each method in more detail:

Use of odorous substances and liquids.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. Along the path of the mole, in each more or less fresh mole hole, make a hole with a drill or a stick up to the horizontal gallery and pour in a glass of a mixture of 2 parts fuel oil and one part kerosene, after which the hole is filled with earth and trampled with feet or into the horizontal passages of the mole, as well as and in molehills, they put pieces of mothballs, rotten fish, bleach, tobacco and shag, rags and tow, soaked in oil or tar. The mole goes away from the bad smell. By this measure, it can be removed, however, only temporarily, because the animal will subsequently return again from the places of exile.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. Installation of repellent devices.

One of the simplest devices for fighting moles and shrews is a spinner made from a plastic bottle. To make it you will need

a piece of ordinary water pipe and a plastic bottle. Pieces of pipes are driven into the ground so that their lower end is deeper than the level of the animal’s passages. A pin with a diameter of 8-10 mm is driven into the upper part of the pipe, strengthening it in the center of the pipe with a wooden plug. Using a hot nail or metal pin, burn a hole in the bottom of the bottle with a diameter larger than the diameter of the pin. Slots are made on the bottle along a solid line, and the plastic is bent along a dotted line. There should be 4 such bends. At the slightest breath of wind, the bottle rotates, the hollow pipe resonates and creates a noise that animals are afraid of. On

Rice. Pinwheel made from a plastic bottle

a plot of 20 - 30 acres, 10 “rattles” will be enough.

Or place several noisy weather vanes with a propeller, putting a tin can of stones on the axis of each of them. Insert a pin (2 m) into the ground. The wind blows, the propeller rotates, the pebbles in the tin jar rattle, and their sound is transmitted along the pin into the ground.

It's a good idea to use bottle trills. To do this, an empty champagne bottle is dug into the ground in an open, ventilated place at an angle of 45 degrees relative to the soil surface. The howling of the wind in empty bottles scares away these animals.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. The old-fashioned method of expelling moles from the garden: break a reed 1.5-2.0 meters long and insert a reed into each hole that goes to the surface of the soil, so that 60-80 centimeters remain on the surface. Moles cannot see, but they hear well. In windy weather, reeds create the effect of “the howling of the wind in a chimney” and in some inexplicable way affect moles. The effect is unexpected. The moles disappear within a week. Old people say that this method is already 200 years old.

Fighting moles with poisonous gases.

Toxic gases, known in the market as "gas bombs", are effective in controlling moles. However, it is not recommended to use these gases for an extensive network of tunnels, since the mole usually quickly and tightly closes the gassed section and continues on its way to new territories, expanding the tunnels

Fighting moles. Folk methods. Advice from the Internet. Another humane advice is to “smoke out” the mole. It turns out that the mole cannot stand bad smells. But not rotten fish, as is sometimes written, but the smell of sulfur smoke.

My husband and I tried this method on our parents’ property, and it worked great. After we carried out such fumigation, we discovered that a fresh passage had been laid from the vegetable garden to the neighbor’s land and then through his entire plot to the forest. The passage was made hastily, almost on the surface of the earth and without any turns. The moles left the site forever.

So, we take a sulfur bomb “FAS” (the one that is usually used to disinfect the cellar). We tear up the wormhole a little, put a checker there, set it on fire and cover it with an old plastic bucket. When a bomb is burned, a very unpleasant odor is released, which spreads along the mole tunnels and drives out these cute, but overly proactive rodents for a long time.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. Fighting moles using flooding.

Flooding holes with water from a garden hose is rarely effective. Unless you quickly flood the entire burrow system, which is rarely possible, you may only stimulate the activity of the mole, which will begin to dig tunnels in other parts of the site.

Installing fencing and plowing the area.

To protect any small area (seed beds, areas with cuttings, garden, vegetable garden, flower beds, etc.) from the invasion of moles from a neighboring area inhabited by them, odorous substances similar to the above are suitable, and it is possible to follow along the border of the protected area often make holes with a stick, pour a small amount of tar, tar, kerosene, oil, etc. into them. The moles do not go beyond the line of these holes.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. The protected area can also be surrounded by a ditch 8-10 cm wide and 70 cm deep and filled with shards of broken glass, shards of broken dishes, pieces of prickly rose hips, thistles and other prickly objects mixed with small crushed stone, gravel or earth. Digging in the ground and reaching an obstacle, the mole can injure its delicate trunk, which causes it to die; at best, he turns back without going inside the fenced area. But the mole can make its way under the protective groove, or, coming to the surface of the earth, cross the groove and thus penetrate into the fenced area. Therefore, it seems to me that this measure deserves little attention.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. A fairly reliable means is to surround the entire site with a kind of “fence” of sheets of slate, tin, linoleum and other “molecular-transparent” materials vertically dug into the ground to a depth of 1 - 1.5 meters. You understand that this will “eat up” a lot of time and human resources.

Periodically plowing the area to a sufficient depth (at least 70 cm). Effective, very expensive and not always suitable - after all, something on the site should grow and please the eye.

Natural Pest Control - Planting "Living Repellents"

Many success stories in mole control are based on planting certain plants whose smell moles cannot stand. Of course, this alternative method is less reliable than using traps, pesticides or repellents, but it is also more fun. The advantage is that they are attractive plants that are worth growing on their own. Therefore, if you want to get rid of moles, but do not expect quick results, using plants as a natural remedy is just for you.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. Some bulbous plants are believed to repel moles. One of them is the well-known narcissist . Two others are also classic spring flowering plants, although not as well known as the daffodil: Scilla siberica and Fritillaria imperialis.

Scilla has drooping bell-shaped flowers in lavender, blue, white or pink. Over the years, the woodland spreads and covers the area.

The imperial yellow fritillary , Fritillaria imperialis 'Lutea', has 6 to 8 drooping yellow flowers. The smell of the bulbs is said to be reminiscent of a fox, which is certainly not a pleasant smell for moles. These plants are up to 8 cm in height.

The Allium family consists not only of garlic, onions, leeks, chives and shallots, but also contains ornamental flowering onions. The latter is often simply called Allium. It is an unusual flowering plant with a height of 15 to 150 cm. Garlic is also considered a repellent plant, but from an aesthetic point of view, Allium may be a better choice for you.

Allium giganteum is one of the tall ornamental allium plants, reaching a height of 90-150 cm. The flowers are purple and form round racemes 10-15 cm wide. Since its leaves die back in early summer, you will probably want to cover it with another plant. To make up for this deficiency, simply plant other plants of the onion family. Bulbs can be planted in autumn or spring. To a depth of 15 cm.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. We plant milkweed and castor beans to repel moles.

Marigolds (Tagetes minuta) are a strong-smelling plant widely used for interplanting because of their ability to repel pests. The use of companion plants is an example of organic control methods. Gardeners who prefer organic methods of control should not stop at all with ordinary marigolds. You can name a couple of plants that have an exotic touch, for example, caper spurge and castor bean.

One of them gained its fame as a living repellent, and is often called the “mole plant.” This is caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris) - an annual plant. But it readily reproduces by self-sowing. The mole plant has an impressive structure and is often grown as an ornamental plant, erect with lanceolate leaves. Its leaves are marked with graceful white veins. When the stem is cut, white sap will flow. Most likely, the smell of this poisonous, pungent juice repels moles.

And finally, castor bean (Ricinus communis). Also known as castor oil plant. As previously mentioned, commercial preparations contain castor oil. In the past, castor oil was used as a laxative and as such its repellent properties can be attested to by a large number of people. And it seems that moles don’t like it as much as people do. Attention: castor bean fruits, like milkweed, are poisonous. None of these plants should be grown where there are small children.

In temperate zones, castor bean is considered an annual plant. It grows quickly and can reach 4.5 m in height, suggesting another use for this plant, namely as a screening (hedge) for those who do not have time to wait years for the shrubs to grow to the desired size. Castor beans have large, star-shaped leaves that make them a very attractive plant.

Fighting moles. Folk methods. The most humane way to combat moles is to plant ordinary Russian beans on the plot. The mole dislikes them so much that he avoids the plantings.

Use of poison

When you are trying to drive a mole out of the garden and have already tried all the methods, but it does not want to leave its “habitual” place, many people begin to use poison.

The caught worm is treated with rat or other poison and a mole is placed in its passages. The mole loves worms, eats one of them and will never bother you again. If you don’t want to look for a worm and make poison out of it, you can look for a similar product in hardware stores.

But, keep in mind! If you have cats or dogs living on your property, accidentally breaking up the soil with poison, they can get poisoned! The presence of poison in the soil can also have a negative impact on the crop.

How to get rid of it using folk remedies

Moles can leave those parts of the garden where the owners have placed foul-smelling protein food - rotten eggs, fish, chopped onions - into their new, recently appeared holes.

Essential oils of pine and lavender, castor oil, and gum turpentine will help scare them away. Pieces of natural fabric or cotton wool are impregnated with these substances. They lay the material in the passages, above which there is freshly dug earth. The holes must be filled and compacted.

In addition, odorous substances are mixed into dough balls made from flour and water. The balls are dropped throughout the area with a distance of 0.5 m - 1.0 m from each other. Strong-smelling technical materials such as gasoline, tar, kerosene are simply poured into the holes and the holes are sealed.

If there is a mouse-cat in the house, he can easily retrain if he is shown how a mole moves in an underground passage at the moment the soil is thrown to the surface.

We scare away beautifully.

Not many people know that there is a beautiful method to scare away the pest from your territory. There are decorative plants that are not tolerated by moles and they leave. This:

• classic narcissus, marigold

• Siberian scilla (one of the types of tulips). It spreads itself across the ground, its location can be adjusted

• flowering decorative onions and imperial hazel grouse belong to the lily family, safe for people, but not tolerated by moles. Their bulbs smell like fox

• marigolds have a pungent odor that is not palatable to the digger, so they repel all pests in summer cottages

• Castor bean has the same property, grows as a bush and becomes a living fence. Caper spurge produces a pungent odor that repels moles. Such plants and their berries are poisonous, so you should be careful if there are children on the site

• legumes are a radical solution, but acceptable and easily accessible if you sow the entire perimeter of the site with them. They are an excellent natural barrier.

Such methods are humane, environmentally friendly, and the animals will be alive and avoid these areas.

Sometimes gardeners use castor oil; diggers really don’t like its smell. It is necessary to mix two hundred grams of the specified drug and four tablespoons of detergent. For the solution to work, take thirty milliliters and four liters of water. After rain, it is advisable to pour it over an already defined wet area, which will be quickly and deeply absorbed.

To lure moles out of their moves, it is worth trying the flood option, which gives the desired effect. After filling the large tunnel system with water from the water supply, they will be forced to come to the surface and look for a dry place for themselves. But there are contraindications here too:

• The whole garden will be flooded

• Some plants will spoil

• The soaked soil will have to be compacted, and the animal may return, because flooding will not be maintained constantly

• A large number of worms will appear, and they are known to be very attractive to moles

• During flooding, an air pocket may form in the passages, and the animal has a high speed of digging tunnels, so until the water is absorbed, it can quickly escape.

If possible, a summer resident can combine the above methods - sow repellent plants, put products with a pungent odor in the holes, train a cat or dog.

If the above methods do not help, and there is no more strength left, they resort to the help of specialized services. Professional people will inform you how to deal with moles in the future and save you from such pests right now by placing appropriate devices on the site. There is also a drawback here - the services are not cheap and not every gardener can afford such a luxury.

Rescue from moles is carried out carefully, especially if it is in the singular. It turns out that they can even bring benefits by destroying:

• insects that eat and damage potatoes with holes right through them

• May beetle larvae gnawing on flower and vegetable roots

• mole crickets destroying seedlings cherished for several months.

All of them often cause more significant damage than the mole rat. By loosening the soil, it makes it fertile, improves drainage, aeration, and saturates the soil with nitrogen compounds. According to agronomists, the soil thrown to the surface has a special quality and can be used for sowing crops for seedlings.

For your information! In Europe, moles are not killed; they are animals listed in the Red Book.

Harm and benefit

How necessary it is to remove moles from a summer cottage depends on their number and the degree of damage caused. These animals cannot be called pests in the full sense of the word, since they also have benefits:

Mole cricket (pictured) is one of the most ruthless pests of garden crops (read more about them in our article)

Moles in a summer cottage successfully exterminate dangerous insect pests, such as the mole cricket, but they also eat large quantities of earthworms, which bring real benefits.

Biological description

The mole (specific name Talpidae) belongs to the class Mammals, order Insectivores, family Moles. Its name means “digger” in Latin. This is a small, well-fed animal, dressed in dense brown, dark gray or black fur. The length of the spindle-shaped body of the animal is about 15 cm.

The head is round in shape and narrowed towards the nose, which is a movable proboscis. The ears are poorly developed, and the eyes are very small; they have practically lost their functions. In the mouth of the mole there is a set of sharp teeth, their number, depending on the type of animal, is 34 or 44. The front paws with wide hands are turned with the palms outward and are armed with strong long claws. The hind legs are thin, rat-like. The short tail, covered with coarse hair-vibrissae, serves as an additional organ of touch.

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The average life expectancy is from 4 to 6 years, the mating season begins in February and lasts almost six months. Females give birth to 3-4 cubs, which, like many other mammals, are born “naked”, without hair.

Animal taxonomy includes several species of moles:

• European (Talpa europaea),
• small (Talpa caeca),
• long-tailed (Scaptonyx fusicaudus),
• Caucasian Talpa caucasica)
• Altai (Talpa altaica),
• starfish (Condylura cristata).

Lifestyle

Moles prefer to settle in forests, meadows and fields, where the soil is soft and suitable for constructing tunnels. It is not surprising that these animals often take a liking to well-kept garden plots, and it is not easy to remove them from their comfort zone.

With a body weight of only 60-100g. this animal is capable of digging a network of intricate multi-tiered tunnels up to 200 m long. “Feeding” passages are usually located shallow, at a distance of 20-30 cm from the surface of the earth. Moles build rooms for bins and nests for breeding and wintering at a depth of up to 2 m.

The habitat area of ​​an adult mole can be several tens of hectares. These animals live alone, remaining in one territory all their lives, and can leave it only in mortal danger. The “owner of the territory” treats the attempt of a relative of either sex to settle on his site very aggressively.

In winter, these mammals do not hibernate; they are forced to remain active due to the need to eat 5-6 times a day. After each meal, the animal curls up into a ball and sleeps for four hours while it digests what it has eaten. The main food is earthworms, the mole eats 50-60 g of them per day. The mole diet also includes the larvae of click beetles (these are “wireworms” known to all gardeners), May beetles and flies, cutworm caterpillars, and slugs.

Using a mole trap

• Rat traps. Sometimes people use ordinary rat traps and even mousetraps to catch moles. These rat traps are installed in the underground passages of moles in pre-excavated pits for traps. The holes are covered with either plywood or thick cardboard and covered with earth. If you are worried that you may not remember exactly where you dug the traps, immediately mark these places with some kind of identification mark.
• A plunger trap that has a squeezing mechanism. The trap has a cylindrical shape and due to this it is convenient to place it in a mole hole. A place for a mole trap is dug near the molehill, and it is placed there. While passing through the hole, the animal will touch with its head the upper part of the guard, which is a rather sensitive element of the trap. The plunger will drop sharply down and crush the animal. This trap can be used many times, it is simple and easy to use, and, most importantly, it is effective!

• Scissor trap (plunger trap). When a mole falls into this trap, the staples are triggered, squeezing it and breaking its bones.

• Harpoon trap. The principle of its operation is that it pierces the mole with its sharp knitting needles.

How to rid a garden of moles (expert advice).

If you have time and desire, you can hunt this animal. You can catch a mole alive: as soon as you see a fresh passage, open it several meters long and leave it open on both sides. The mole does not like fresh air and closes the entrance after 15-30 minutes. Now you know where it is. Bring a sharp shovel with a bucket, and from time to time approach the opened passage very carefully. The Mole will try to restore it for night hunting. Now don't yawn. You can clearly see how the mole digs. You need to carefully approach one meter from the entrance and not worry so that your heart does not beat too much, since the mole detects such vibrations, and stand ready with a raised shovel. When the mole is convinced that there is no danger, it will resume its work. Then you need to forcefully stick the shovel 30-50 cm behind it and quickly open the passage to the shovel with your hand. The animal will rush around and try to return through a ready move, but it will not be able to overcome the steel. You need to take it between the head and body (otherwise it will bite). Place the caught mole in a bucket and take it away from the garden - to a meadow, to the forest.

Recently, they have started selling mole traps of a new design - a piece of plastic pipe, at the ends of which there are two valves made of tin. The valves are secured so that the mole can get inside the pipe, but cannot get out. If a caught mole stays in such a mole trap for several hours, it will die of fear and exhaustion.

What are the nuances when catching a mole with such mole traps?

1. There is no point in installing mole traps during a long drought, since it is useless due to the inactivity of earthworms - at this time the mole slowly walks through its burrows, and there is a possibility that it will bypass such a mole trap. During this period, the mole does not dig much.

2. As soon as you notice sudden activity of moles, which happens before the rain, mole traps need to be installed in the most dense soil (usually paths), where it is difficult for moles to dig, which is why many individuals use such passages.

3. It is necessary to carefully open only such part of the mole's passage where a mole trap could be inserted. The lower edge of the pipe should be buried in the ground, and it is advisable to pour even a little earth up to the valve so that the mole does not notice the slippery walls of the polymer tube. But you can’t sprinkle a lot of soil, as excess soil can prevent the valve from closing behind the mole. This needs to be done on both sides of the mole trap - after all, we don’t know where exactly the mole (or moles) are located. When installing the mole trap, your hands must be clean and you should not smoke during this time.

4. If moles dig in the turf, then it is better to find one path to the last discarded pile and install a mole trap in it. In any case, the mole trap needs to be covered with something on top.

Don't waste time is the main conclusion that follows from the second part of the book. Perhaps, like many, you have heard a lot of advice on how to drive away moles. You might believe that some of them are worth trying. However, in fact, many home remedies and repellents are not effective when dealing with moles; moreover, this gives them time to establish and establish themselves in your garden and then moles become a real problem. Moles can quickly colonize new areas and spread through neighboring areas if prompt action is not taken. Since moles create a well-developed network of passages (tunnels) for their needs, it is difficult to fight them, and the more difficult it is, the longer the passages of their home.

Moles can quickly move their activity from one part of the lawn (or garden) to another. It depends on the climate and soil moisture. Moles respond to changes in the food supply, depending on what insects are available in different areas of the garden at different times of the year. If moles are disturbed, they may leave this area of ​​the garden temporarily, but will usually return when you least expect it. Even if the moles are not disturbed, their activity can only last 1-2 weeks in this part of the garden. This “here today, there tomorrow” behavior is possible and is the root of most misconceptions, which is what gives some home advice the appearance of effectiveness. Therefore, do not waste time, do not try to negotiate peacefully with the recently appeared moles - they will dig long passages and it will become very difficult to get rid of them

We can recommend the following tactics for fighting moles without using poisons: Year-round operation of several electronic repellers, more in summer, less in winter, but the “scarecrowers” ​​should still work in winter. “Scarecrows” should be installed in dense soil, through which sound travels better;

The use of mole traps to control and catch those individuals that have settled and become accustomed;

The use of earthen paths with compacted soil around the perimeter of the garden, in the flower garden and in the vegetable garden around the beds. Compacted and dry soil is a boundary, a barrier for moles; they do not like compacted and dry soil. However, under tiled paths, moles dig well - there is no compacted soil there;

On the contrary, dug up, loose or wet soil or a bed is a potential danger - moles simply love to build many tunnels in the loose soil, as if they were frolicking and playing. As a result, the planted plants end up with their roots up or mixed with the ground. To avoid this, install an electronic repeller near the new planting.

We must not allow moles to get comfortable and build an extensive system of passages. Once they have dug a passage, many generations of moles will use and restore it from year to year (probably by smell), even if it is filled up, along this passage new moles will enter the area instead of those caught. Adding spicy herbs and odorous substances to the passage will help discourage moles from using the passage.

Therefore, it is most reasonable to use electronic repellent devices and traps together to control and catch individual individuals.

Material prepared by: horticulture specialist Buinovsky O.I.