My brother-in-law has a mole problem. Does anyone know of a way to get rid of them without the use of pesticides that will hurt domestic pets or other wildlife.
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First, make sure you have moles and not voles. Some people confuse them and they are quite different. Can you describe what they're doing or what they look like?
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He says it has a really long nose. It's tunneling through his lawn leaving raised pathways. The pathways are going all over his yard.
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Certainly is moles. You'll find some good information here:
http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/e...b1028.html I had a similar issue with voles and found that trappingwas best way to control them. ▼
Thanks for the information.
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Whoa, a publication from a state university advocates using pollutants to control a simple pest? Not good.
Moles have been around for eons and a 16th century garden writer proposed burying a straight sided bucket in the lawn and placing a female mole in that bucket. Supposedly her cries for help would attract males and they would also fall into the bucket while attempting to rescue that female, and that does work about as well as most other controls. A deterent, something that will for a short time drive the mole away, is 1 pint of castor oil put into a 1 quart hoes end sprayer that is then filled with water and that is sprayed over 2,500 square feet and the well watered in. Research at Michigan State University shows this will drive the mole (most usually there is only one for every 1/4 acre) away for 6 to 8 weeks because the castor oil will flavor the food source for the mole so it is distasteful and they leave to find beter tasting food, or at least that is the theory.
West Central Michigan along the lake shore.
Can you describe the difference? I have not seen the creatures, just their holes. This year they have gotten more plentiful and a lot bigger (4-5 inches!)
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Pictures of a couple of different species of moles can be found at http://www.moles-moles.com.
A picture of a vole can be found at http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7439.html
West Central Michigan along the lake shore.
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Get a cat! We have four of them, all outdoors only. They are constantly coming back with moles, voles, mice (OK, the occasional rabbit or bird, too). I've never had a problem with any of these varmints, and, as we live out in the country, the cats have plenty of room to roam, and so leave my garden alone too. The only things the don't keep away are the opossum, raccoons, deer and bugs. Maybe we need a dog, too...
The great thing about gardening is that you always get a chance to start over!
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There is something called Perma Til. It is avliable in North Carolina and I am sure other places. It is nothing but heated slate that has been pufffed up. It helps with drainage, compaction, and hold nutrients. It also helps keep voles and I think moles from digging. They don't like the feeling of it.
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Mole problem
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