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applestar
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MOLE, Garden Patrol underground pest specialist

...or... In Defense of Moles --

Some members post that they have a mole PROBLEM, that they are damaging crops and eating earthworms. Well, it's true moles are Mercenaries and charge a hefty fee in earthworms for their work, but I believe they have been exemplary member of the Garden Patrol in my garden... And judging by the number of earthworms I encounter every time I dig, pull up weeds, or even poke a hole in the ground (disturbed earthworms swarm out), my garden can afford the premium. :()

Here's a brief summary of their roles in the garden:
What roles do they have in the ecosystem?
Eastern moles are important predators of insect larvae and other invertebrates, they can profoundly impact the communities of their prey. They also act to aerate and turn soil where they live through their extensive tunneling activities.
https://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/S ... aquaticus/

Think of all the beetle grubs, cutworms, and don't forget the moth and other pupa that overwinter in the soil (such as tomato hornworms....).

The above linked website describes moles as solitary creatures with territories. That means there aren't that many -- or maybe there is only ONE -- in your garden. Yes, it's problematic if you also have voles that find and use the mole tunnels as easy access, but don't blame the moles for the damage voles cause.

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GardeningCook
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I LOVE the moles that inhabit our farm, & would never do anything to inhibit them. And we're always inundated with an unbelievable amount of earthworms, so the moles ain't doing any damage as far as that is concerned. What they DO do is consume all the cutworms, Japanese Beetle grubs, etc., etc., that also find our place hospitable.

We laugh & shake our heads at our "Lawn Nazi" neighbors who seem to spend the entire summer trying to poison or otherwise eradicate these poor little mammals all in the name of a golf-course lawn. TOO SAD. :?

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JC's Garden
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Over the last few days I've had a mole in my yard. How in the world do I get him into my garden? I keep waiting for him to make the move but nada. How do you do it?

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applestar
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They like earthworms. I have plenty in my garden and don't mind sharing. :wink:

HoneyBerry
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I used to have moles a long time ago, when my lawn was more lawn-like. I used to spray castor oil on the lawn to humanely get the moles to leave. It seemed to work, but the effect would eventually wear off. So I had this ongoing mole maintenance issue. I have gradually let go of lawn chemicals entirely , so now I have a scruffy natural lawn with dandelions and whatever else wants to grow amidst the grass. The moles don't come around anymore and I don't know why. It seems like they would prefer a yard that is more natural over a kept lawn. If the moles ever do return to my yard, I will just let them be, let them do their mole thing.

It is such a strange way to live. Digging tunnels, living underground, eating grubs. It's funny to me the way the fussy lawn people get so worked up about moles. I think that must be a mole's purpose in life, to get under fussy lawn people's skin. I don't know how to attract moles. I have never heard of that before. So many people want to get rid of moles because they love their manicured lawns so much. Tell one of those fussy lawn people that you want to attract moles and they will think you are crazy.

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Gary350
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I have allowed moles to take over my yard. The soil is so soft it is like walking on a bedroom mattress. Moles do good things I have no problems with cut worms in the garden and I am not seeing any wasps this year wasp larva live in the soil all winter. Moles are all over my garden they don't seem to be causing any damage. My yard is all natural with dandelions, clover, plantain, and several other yard plants. The bees love the white clover when I mow grass I mow around the clover, I love the bees. When the clover gets dry and brown the bees stop coming so I mow it down then it grows back and the bees return. You can catch a mole by digging a small hole straight down through a mole tunnel then put a glass mason jar in the hole then lay a small flat board on the yard to cover the hole. Lift the board off several times a day to see if a mole has falling into the jar and can't get out. Move the mole to your garden. When I mow I leave the grass to compost the yard I am sure the worms like that and the moles like the worms.

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Lindsaylew82
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I have a very weedy dandelion crabgrass filled lawn in the back yard. We don't water, seed or even attempt any maintenance whatsoever, except to mow the yellow flowers down. The front lawn is mostly clover now. There are no miles in the back yard, but at least one in the front yard. I haven't seen it this year though....

I'm just wondering if they have a hard time digging through all the thick tough thatch caused by running grasses and deep rooted weeds. If that is a deterrent? There's no lack of earthworms here, I can move any given object and find dozens, lift a shovelful of dirt, and see a few. They've even tunnels through the crappy weed cloth! Wonder what's keeping our moles at bay!

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applestar
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Moles make runs just under the thatch, no problem.

In my hard clay subsoil areas where compacted topsoil is thin, moles just stay near the surface and "tunnel" under the thatch.

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Gary350
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I have been reading about moles learning all I can about moles trying to make sense of what I see moles doing in my yard. Online information says, 1 acre of land will support about 2 or 3 moles. It also says, moles often make there home under a very large tree where they dig deep tunnels to small rooms where they raise their babies. As the family gets larger there are more deep tunnels to other small rooms with more baby moles. Moles mainly live under big trees eating roots, bugs and worms that are attracted by the tree roots. Moles will travel out in all directions from the tree in tunnels that are under the soil surface then return back to their home at the big tree.

A few weeks ago I counted 16 volcano shape mounds of soil in a circle around my large oak tree. All the mounds of soil are in a 16 ft radius around the oak tree. Online information says, the mounts are excess soil that was push up to the surface from digging the rooms about 12" below the soil surface. My tree has 16 volcano soil mounds so there must be 16 rooms with babies down there. I don't recall reading how many babies each mole family has every year. I see more mole tunnels in cool weather than hot weather. Moles don't seem to be out in my front yard where there are no trees very often and not in the front yard in hot weather at all. When I till my garden I though moles would come to the soft soil but they don't. After I plant my garden and soil gets a little bit compacted from the rain I start seeing moles in my garden. There is no shade in my garden until plants get larger then I see a lot more mole activity in the garden. I have to assume hot summer sun warms the soil and the moles do not like the warm soil. When trees get leaves and garden plants get large enough to shade the soil I see a lot of mole tunnels. My garden is about 70 ft from the oak tree, it is 60 ft across the garden, I have seen mole tunnels 25 ft past my garden. The back of my property has a row of pine trees on the property line I can not say for sure there are moles under any of the pine trees or in the area of the pine trees but I do see mole tunnels the full width of the yard 25 ft from the pine trees this makes me think moles do not like pine trees, there is plenty of shade under the pine trees. There are mole tunnels that go all the way around the house to the front yard the tunnels are near the house where the north side of the house shades the soil. Mole tunnels are only around the 2 trees in the front yard near the house where there is shade. This time of the year when the sun is low in the sky and we are having cooler weather I sometimes see a few tunnels in the front yard where there are no trees. It seems to me moles are exploring the front yard in search of more trees but there are none. The more organic material I put in my garden the more worms I see, moles don't seem to have a lot of interest in worms they much be getting all the food they need from other places.

golf-course lawn looks FAKE to me it is not my idea of a real lawn. I love all the random plants that grow in my yard and the honey bees love the clover.

2-Acres-NorthWest
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This was a fun topic for me to read. I am new on this web site, so even the older posts are new to me. 😀

I like the idea that people consider moles their friends. They are mine, too. They eat all sorts of underground creatures. We have more than enough earthworms, slugs, larvae. I worry about symphilids, don't know if moles eat them but maybe? I saw some millipedes this week but I THINK they were too big to be symphilids, and maybe moles are a reason I don't seem to have a problem so far.

Back in the day, I used to add a lot of compost to soil where I planted new fruit and shade trees and bushes. Moles always dug into that, uprooted those plants, and gave access to voles who ate the roots. Now, I read not to amend the soil for new trees. Use the native soil only, and when possible even bare-root potted trees using the garden hose to wash off soil before planting the tree in the native soil. Since I've been doing that, no more uprooting by moles. Plus, all of the trees I plant that way seem to thrive.

As for the mole volcanoes, I like to name them - this one is Mt Hood, that one is Mt St Helens, another is Mt Vesuvius. However, the soil in those mountains is finely ground and free of roots and weeds. There are always places where I need some fresh soil, so I like to use a flat shovel and shave them flat, and use that soil wherever needed. If not needed in the garden, I use it to fill in ruts and low spots. My yard is starting to be smoother as a result.

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webmaster
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Good idea for grabbing some freshly turned soil!
I have a few mounds in my yard that I can get some soil from for potting an onion that I'm growing for scallions.

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applestar
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You almost make me wish the species of moles in my yard make mounds! :|

Still, I might be able to scoop up some of the soil pushed up by their surface tunneling when they are in places where — like across a path — they could create a trip hazard .... hm :wink:

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Gary350
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Last summer mole population dropped to only 1 mole soil mound in the whole yard. It seemed like moles left or died.

This summer mole population has increased to many times more moles than ever before. There are about 18 mole soil mounds like small volcanoes in back yard I have been scooping up the soft soil and filling in low spots and holes in the yard. Garden has moles in it too they never liked the garden before. Yard to the west has moles were they never were in the past. Yard far to the south side of garden in the trees has mole where they never were before. Grandson dug holes everywhere looking for fishing worms there are no worms. We laid boards on the soil to attract fishing worms but no worms came.

I am seeing no damage to garden plants or anything else around the house caused by moles. Riding lawn mower blade does not like those tall piles of soil. Lawn mower tire makes volcanoes flat.

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Gary350
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Our Mole population seems to come & go. I cut down 21 trees in the back yard soil much be too warm with no shade not seen moles out back where trees use to be for several months. Garden is full of fishing worms this year 1 shovel of soil will have a dozen worms. Moles have tunneled the fence rows where there is shade they followed the north/south fence then turned east to follow the east/west fence row. Several places along the south fence there is tall brush that shades the yard soil. There are mole tunnels in all the shady places in the yard. No moles in the garden but there will be when plants get tall and make good shade.

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Gary350
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JC's Garden wrote:
Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:37 pm
Over the last few days I've had a mole in my yard. How in the world do I get him into my garden? I keep waiting for him to make the move but nada. How do you do it?
I have noticed soon as vegetable plants get large enough to shade garden soil moles are every where in my garden. Moles don't like hot sunny soil & they especially like my onion & garlic bed.



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