Mole infestations, The reason your garden is under attack!
Our guess is that if you are reading this then your garden is under attack from an infestation of moles and the problem you hoped would go away just gets worse with more mole hills every day. We can also guess you have probably tried a number of products bought online including mole repellents and magic substances as well as every old wives tale available on the internet. So why have they failed? Firstly you need to understand the enemy! As a professional pest control company this is our insight.
Moles are small, subterranean mammals belonging to the family Talpidae. Known for their velvety fur, pointed snouts, and powerful forelimbs adapted for digging, moles are fascinating creatures. Despite their size, moles play a significant role in soil aeration and pest control. However, their burrowing habits often lead to them being considered pests especially in gardens, on lawns, and in fields. Mole hills in grass fields on agricultural land contaminates silage and hay crops, the contamination from the soil causes listeria to grow in the saved crop this in turn is highly toxic to livestock which can lead to death of the animal. Our mole catcher at Country solutions pest control has written this blog to help the customer understand the life cycle, behaviour, and traits of moles, as well as why they are classed as pests.
Mole hills on the lawn:
Although most articles you read will tell you that moles are solitary animals, it's our belief at Country Solutions that they live solitary in a nest known as a fortress, but they have family territories and feeding grounds as it's not unusual to catch several moles on the same network of tunnels.
Digging Ability: Moles are expert diggers, capable of creating extensive tunnel systems. Their broad, spade-like forepaws are adapted for this purpose, allowing them to move as much as 18 feet of soil per hour and to be able to push around 4x their own body weight in doing so.
Tunnelling: Moles create two types of tunnels: feeding ground tunnels, which are used for hunting and where you usually see the mole hills, and deeper tunnels, which serve as living quarters and permanent pathways known as motorways; these usually follow other courses such as hedgerows and pathways. The tunnels in the feeding ground allow insects and worms to drop into them and the mole just literally picks them up on its travels. The more tunnels the more food!
Diet: Moles primarily feed on insects and other invertebrates, particularly earthworms, which make up a significant portion of their diet. They also eat grubs, beetles, and other small creatures found in the soil.
Sensory Adaptations: Although moles have poor eyesight due to their subterranean lifestyle, they have an acute sense of touch and smell, which they use to navigate through their tunnels and locate prey.
Life Cycle of Moles
Moles have a relatively short life cycle. Typically, their lifespan ranges from 3 to 6 years, depending on the species and environmental conditions. The life cycle of a mole is divided into the following stages:
Breeding Season: Moles typically breed once a year. The breeding season varies depending on the climate but generally occurs in late winter to early spring. Around our working area of Stockport this is usually March and April. As a pest this is one of the times of year when most activity happens with males (boars) digging territories followed by females (sows) digging nursery grounds.
Gestation and Birth: After a gestation period of around 42 days the female mole gives birth to a litter of 3 to 5 young. These young moles are born blind and hairless, completely dependent on their mother.
Juvenile Stage: The young moles remain in the nest for about 4 to 5 weeks, during which time they are weaned and grow rapidly. By the time they are about a month old, they start venturing out into the tunnels, gradually learning to dig and hunt for food. Around this time is when the 2nd wave of tunnels appears as the juveniles make their own terriotries and feeding grounds
Adult Stage: Moles reach sexual maturity at about 1 year of age. Once mature, they typically lead solitary lives, except during the breeding season. An adult mole spends most of its life underground, constantly digging and expanding its network of tunnels.
How Country Solutions pest control can help.
Our specialist mole catcher has over 30 years experience in mole control in domestic gardens and agricultural land.
Dealing with a mole infestation can be challenging due to their secretive and underground nature. However, Country Solutions Pest Control offers effective strategies to manage and eradicate mole populations.
Inspection; The first step in managing a mole infestation is a thorough inspection. Our specialist mole catcher at Country Solutions Pest Control will assess the extent of the infestation, identifying feeding grounds and motorway tunnels.
Customised Treatment Plans: Country Solutions Pest Control tailors its approach to each situation, using a combination of methods to address the mole problem:
Trapping: At Country Solutions pest control this is the only method we use, with our mole control experience we can very often clear an infestation of moles in a few days. We have a variety of traps that can be used safely in all environments. Including where pets and livestock are present. The procedure usually starts with an initial visit to set the traps and then carry out a number of follow up visits until we are sure the infestation has gone.
Questions and answers:
Do any other treatments work? In our opinion no! We are often called to gardens overrun with moles and mole hills where the householder has spent a vast amount of money on sonic mole repellers, windmills and magic substances bought online, only to call us when they have failed.
How many moles are there? A question that we can't answer as there is no rule of thumb. We have cleared gardens of anything from one mole up to double figures. The amount of mole hills does not reflect the amount of moles in an area, remembering the distance a single mole can dig, It can dig several mole hills in one day, this in a few days can have a garden looking like a battle ground. If there is already a network of tunnels then the mole does not need to dig as much and will share the tunnels with other moles.
Are Treatments safe for other animals? If there is any risk of any other type of animal being at risk from the traps then our specialist team would not set them in the first place.
Are there prevention methods for Moles? Again in our experience the answer is no. Moles come to gardens for food; they are wild animals and will search all territories to survive to do this they will dig new tunnels. Moles can travel above ground and can swim to find new territories. We have also known them to dig as deep as 2 -3 feet. And as mentioned above, products bought online don't appear to work either.
Do live catch traps work? Any type of live catch trap would need to be checked several times a day including through the night! From customers' experience they rarely work or the mole has been found dead in them having died from stress.
Conclusion
Moles will continue to dig a territory until stopped, they sometimes do move on on their own but this would be down to food sources or time of the year such as breeding season. Once territories are built it becomes part of a communal network if linked to the main tunnels. Deterrents dont work and are more often than not more costly than calling in a pest control mole expert. If you can't live with the mess that moles make then mole traps will be the best option and using a professional mole catcher is a phone call away.
Country Solutions Pest control Stockport
Comentários