Moles (latin name - Talpa europaea)
are a pest when they come into the vegetable garden and disturb the roots of the vegetables by tunnelling underneath them. They push up heaps of soil at intervals, and if this is in a row of seeds, the seeds will be pushed all over the place.

The mole hills are made up of soil with a beautiful texture. It has very small crumbs and is often collected to put in pots to grow seeds. The mole hills are produced when the mole pushes the soil out of its tunnel, or run. Under the mole hill is the hole leading to the run. A long metal object, like a scewer, can be used to push into the surrounding soil to look for the run. If the scewer goes in easily, it will be entering the tunnel. The soil can be removed to expose the run. Mole control items can be left in the run, before covering it up again, to exclude all the light.

Moles eat earthworms and other small animals. A healthy garden will have a lot of earthworms, which help improve the soil and keep it in good condition. The vegetable gardener needs to encourage earthworms, but the worms attract the moles. Moles just appear out of the blue, and the trick is to send them off to another feeding ground as soon as they arrive, by making your patch unattractive to moles.

Mole Control

• Bad smells - will send the moles off to fresh places! Place smelly objects in the run, such as moth balls, pickled onions, soiled pet bedding, cotton wool soaked in peppermint oil, or jeyes fluid mixed with water (1:20)
• Flooding - pouring water down the runs, or Jeyes fluid mixed with water (1:20), can help if there are only a few runs, and the drainage is poor. Pour the liquid from the highest point of the run.
• Noise/ vibrations - electronic devices are sold which are placed in the run to create a sonic pulse.

children’s windmills stuck in the run create vibrations.

beer bottles dug into the run so that the wind blows across the top will rattle

• Barriers have been used - a solid barrier of stone or heavy clay will make digging too difficult and keep the mole out. But this is a big undertaking
• Trapping - mole traps are put in the run which spring tightly closed when a mole passes through. They are killed by the impact.
• Poisoning - the moles can be killed when they eat worms which have been covered in poison by a licenced pest controller. Some people poison all the worms in the garden, so there is nothing for the moles to eat, but this is a bad idea as the vegetable garden needs worms.

Further information on moles can be found on the FarmingFriends website.