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.
mole-hill
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.
under-mole-hill
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,
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