Tag Archives: mole tunnels

Moles

Moles in the Lawn

Leave a comment

get rid of moles

The moles in my lawn are driving me absolutely crazy.  Every day, I knock down about ten or fifteen mounds and try to fill in the holes.  Every morning, when I look out the window, I see ten or fifteen new or re-built mounds.  I’ve lived in this house for eleven years, and never had moles in the lawn before.  But, now, the yard looks bumpy and ugly, grass is dying, I’ve lost a couple of bushes, and I’m just sick and angry about it.  I don’t even want to let my kids go out and play back there, because I’m afraid they might twist an ankle in a hole left behind by a mole, or fall over one of the tunnels.  What if they catch some disease from mole droppings or parasites that might live on moles.  Do parasites live on moles?  I didn’t know anything about them, except what they look like and the kind of destruction they leave behind.

 

So, I’ve hopped on the internet and I’ve done some research.  I know how often they breed, what they like to eat, how they killed my bushes, how quickly they dig through dirt, what kind of tunnels they use to travel through and the types of burrows they use as nesting grounds.  I know all kinds of facts, and they only make me more frustrated and angry.

 

Of course, there are all kinds of websites that tell you how to get rid of moles in the lawn.  People will suggest anything, and they all swear that their method is the best technique.  I’ve read about and watched on-line videos of idiots with dynamite or firecrackers.  Some people advocate liberally spreading poison all over your lawn, or piping the exhaust from a car or truck down through the tunnels.  I just have to shake my head.  I don’t want to do any further damage to my yard, I’m afraid of what the poison would do to my dog (who is useless at catching moles, by the way), and I don’t want to risk blowing myself or my property sky-high.

 

I did get one important fact from my web searching.  I found the Allstate Animal Control website.  They are a national network of professionals.  These are people who are trained to remove moles from my lawn and who can even help me repair the damage the moles caused.  Despite what my mother-in-law believes, you really can’t believe everything you read online.  Results are results, though, and I can believe in a legitimate company that seeks out professionals in every region who know exactly how to handle the problem animals in their area.  So, thanks to my online research, I know a great deal more about moles.  More importantly, I have an excellent company that will solve my problem with moles in the lawn.

 

 

Moles

Mole Hills and Mole Tunnels

Leave a comment
Mole
Your typical, yard ruining, mole.
(Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

I do all the work, swimming through the dirt to create all my mole tunnels and surfacing all over the place, carefully displacing dirt to make mole hills.  So, why is it that voles think they can just move on in?  They’re perfectly capable of making their own tunnel system and burrows.  So, why use mine?

I don’t think I do too much damage to a yard.  Well, sure, you’ll have to deal with mole hills damaging a mower blade or two.  Or, someone might trip in a hole, twisting an ankle.  And, although I don’t mean to, I’ll often dig the dirt away from roots in my never-ending quest for grubs, but I’m not after your plants.  I eat grubs and insects, so I’m not munching on flower bulbs or grass roots or chewing on vegetables in the garden.  I just do my thing, sometimes making mole tunnels as fast as 18 feet an hour, making little mounds of dirt every now and then, just the bare minimums of what I need.  We can co-exist, right?  You don’t mind a little bit of mole damage, I’m sure.

But, when these opportunistic and lazy voles move in, and run rampant through my mole tunnels, popping in and out of my mole hills all proud like they’re the ones who are in control, it makes me so upset.  They’ll happily infest my mole tunnels and gobble up the roots I’ve accidentally laid bare, and I know how mad that makes you.  It’s hard enough to deal with subsurface tunnels, but to have dead grass making them stand out must be very irritating to you.  I know we can coexist, but voles are a pest to both of us.  They’ll use my tunnels to hide from predators and your pets, and safely access your garden, flower bed, ornamental trees and devour as much as they can cram into their stomachs.

I just want an understanding between us, that we moles are not eating our way through your property.  Think of us more like pest control.  We’re eating the grubs, larvae and insects that cause yard and garden damage, so let’s not focus too much on a few necessary mole hills or mole tunnels, or accidental plant damage.  But, voles aren’t here to help you.  They take advantage of me and the plants you so carefully planted and tend.

So, just to be clear, I’m suggesting you exterminate the voles and let me go about my business helping rid your yard and garden of other pests.  And, maybe you won’t get so upset over a few random but necessary mole hills and mole tunnels.  I’m very good at what I do, but not when voles move into my house.  Let’s work together to get rid of our vole problem.