Julia, Maya measure distances and typing measurement into the typewriter
  1. Hello!
    Our beautiful lawn is suffering from a mole. We never had this before, but when I was back in the garden after a few weeks of absence, I noticed that the mole has made a few hills. I would like now to have him out of here, but I don’t think it is allowed to fight moles at all. The mole in the garden is not terribly bad, so not necessarily a nuisance, but maybe there is a way to chase him away in a natural and friendly way to the neighbor?
    I would appreciate any tips.
    2. Magali looks at the phone and faces Daniela
  2. Hello
    The best way to chase away moles is to let some children play and jump on the lawn for a few days in a row. They do not like this noise at all.
    3. Magali puts phone away and goes measuring
  3. Hello everyone.
    Sure.... moles are useful animals. And I am a person who prefers to relocate animals by hand then to chase them away with aggressive chemicals. But my compassion for these cute little animals didn't do me much good in the past. I only had a few hills in my yard at first too. But after waiting it out from my side, I noticed while getting grimmer and grimmer, that the mole that lived in my yard was a real reshaper. There was hardly any more lawn to be seen. And – with all love for the animals – that was just too much.
    Then I read somewhere about the advice of whey and milk. And I must say that was the best tip I have received so far! Whey and milk mixed 1 to 3 and poured into the mole tunnels, chases away mole and friends in a gentle way. In the past I also used these ultrasonic devices. Unfortunately, they didn’t work for long. All three of them got at some point penetrated by water and stopped working.
    4. Daniela puts phone away and goes measuring
    Julia and Maya stop measuring and start a dialogue
  4. Guys - the mole is a beneficial animal!
    It protects your lawn from wireworms, grubs and other pests that really threaten the grass! You should really think twice before chasing out this little helper – just because of his mounds … after all, they can be leveled with a little work. Does that little bit of earth bother you that much? For me this means nature.
  5. Yes... but when your whole garden is full of hills and freshly planted flowers and vegetables are dug out again it is no longer funny.
  6. I understand, but unfortunately it almost never remains with the gentle way. I would recommend – if at all – to use odorants that moles don’t like.
  7. When a 16 square meter lawn is plowed by a mole, it is no longer funny. Beneficial animal or not. I will try everything to eliminate or chase this annoying fellow away. The idea with the milk and whey is what I will try next. If that does not help, it’s time to pump up the jam.
    8. Magali talks while measuring
  8. Hello dear mole troubled!!! If someone can tell you about a mole plague – then it’s me. We have a plot of land with almost 2000 square meters. Within a very short time a mole has occupied one half of it – in a way that walking on this area became very risky. The hills which sometimes collapse became nasty invisible traps - it is really life threatening.
  9. I think that's a bit over the top...
    10. Julia is walking away and makes mole hills
    Daniela goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience, then goes measure
    Text 1 / „The mole (Talpa) is an insectivore(…)“
    Maya, Magali and Julia stop whatever they do and come together
  10. Help!!!
    Do I have a mole or a vole? How can you tell? The hills are sometimes large, sometimes small. My buried life traps are always full of soil. Where does an animal like that run off to? How far does it run? Does it dig itself in again maybe 10 meters further? Who can help?
  11. Mole and vole both make hills! If they make a tunnel the earth must go somewhere! So upwards.
  12. I would not be so certain if this is a mole, they are actually not that common. Mostly voles are the cause for the hills. You don't need to chase away a mole anyway, it is not a pest, on the contrary, it eats pests. The heaps of earth on the lawn do not look very nice, but wait and see, the mole will move on when it has eaten its territory. Then you simply trample the heaps, the grass will grow over them again. Worse are voles, they eat the roots of especially freshly planted bushes, in a way that they die...
  13. Hello all.
    I've been reading through this.... Do I see it right? If I remove the heaps of earth and the tunnel goes straight down it is a mole if the tunnel goes down at an angle it is a vole? Because then I have one more problem, some go down diagonally and are also only about golf ball size, some go straight down and are big as a tennis ball.
    Last winter I had on the field next door a pile of earth which was about 80 cm high and with a diameter of one meter. I was actually scared when I removed it, I was afraid that a mole with the size of a badger will jump out there. In another dashboard is also noted that moles are not herbivores. I was always a bit annoyed by the hills and tunnels, but I really got angry after the freshly planted roses on my dog's grave were eaten twice by them (only the roots).
    Question: What should I do? Wait until the mole has eaten the voles (In the past my dog has caught them) or constantly stomp the hills flat and work with odorants? Could I then have the misfortune that I get here a vole metropolis? .
    P.S I live in a rural area, is there at all any chance to try something? Thanks in advance.
    14. Julia goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience, then comes back to the others
    Text 2 „How to…“
    Daniela talks while measuring
  14. Hey, here comes the success story: Since moles are very sensitive to noise, I had the idea to bury a running radio. So I took an old tape radio, packed it watertight in two freezer bags and buried it at the beginning of the tunnel system. And it works. With good batteries or accumulators the radio runs about 5 days. I'm testing this thing for about 3 months now and by changing the music, the mole doesn't get used to it either. I will continue testing and maybe you will write me about your successes.
  15. Sounds good and logical, but what should you do if an area of about 10000 square meters is infested with moles, you probably have to bury about 10 radios or so?
  16. How deep can/should you bury the radio? My husband raised the objection that above a certain depth, the transmit signal will probably not work. I read that the mole's tunnels are between 50 and 80 cm below the earth's surface. Has the radio to be buried that deep? Or is it enough to bury them just as deep so that you can drive over it with the lawnmower without any problems?
  17. Try this: bury beer bottles up to the neck at intervals of about 20 meters, the wind plays eerie tunes to the moles, they will soon move ...
    18. Daniela goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience, then goes measure
    Text 3 „Should moles be removed?“
    after Daniela is finished
    Magali takes a bottle and blows it.
    Julia joins after some seconds.
    After some bottle blowing Julia stops and starts dialogue
  18. Hi, there used to be a field next to my garden! This field was converted to a parking lot and all the moles and voles came to my garden! I tried everything from radios to vibrating ground spades! NOTHING has helped! I don't see any solution! What canI still do? I have about 1000 square meters of land and not only are the hills visually disturbing, I've also often have been fallen or have hurt my ankle because of them. The reason is that the tunnels are only a few centimeters below the surface. This just can’t go one like this, there must be so many of them down here!
  19. Good morning, we have the mole problem again. The first time we got one of those things that vibrates the ground. That works, as long as the soil is dry. But in the meantime he digs his tunnels right next to it. But I still try to chase the moles away with vibrations. In my family someone even managed it to do it with sticking a few pinwheels ito the ground. (The simple small pinwheels out of paper which one takes into the hand and blows at). Why not just try it..
    20. Daniela starts making mole hills
  20. For some time, someone tries almost all kind of nonsense… The most ridiculous advice is still the one that notes that the mole leaves, when he has eaten his whole territory empty: When I was digging I counted - while working with 2 spade depth - a population of approximately 90 worms per square meter. Extrapolated to the whole lawn, this would mean – if such an animal eats 20 of them a day (should be enough) – that it will take about 8 years until the garden is eaten empty by the mole. Of course provided the worms know this and do not multiply further out of defiant fatalism. And if you add to that the grubs and larvae, and so on, I would say in 10 until 12 years you'll be rid of the cute little critters in a completely biological way – always assuming everything goes as the absolute enthusiasts want to suggest. It would be nice if a real expert would give some effective advice. Thanks in advance.
    21. Magali starts removing mole hills
  21. Isn't that a little unfair of you? Nice people give well-meant tips and you label them as amateurs? How do you know that there was no expert here? If you search through the dashboard, you will see some good tips that have already been given and maybe there is simply nothing more to know or to say.
    22. Maya goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience then she comes to Daniela
    Text 4 „Two and a half years“
    Daniela stops making mole hills and comes to Maya
  22. To bring this thread back to the original topic:
    In our old garden (420 square meters) was after a spade depth of 30cm the end with topsoil/humus/earth and then came only the clay soil. That's why we had no burden with moles there because they like more earth under the flukes with the possibility to dig deeper (up to 80cm!). On the other side the lawn was always wet and the moss was hard to get rid of, logically.
    Then we moved for distance reasons last year. The new garden (500 square meter land at the border of a forest) has now a spade length of 120cm real soil. Here a mole family feels really comfortable. We had so far so approximately 20 really big hills in the garden, surely moles not voles. In addition came the tunnels which are dug so closely under the surface, so that anyone could break in easily and fall over, whenever one carelessly dares to go over the "occupied" garden area.
    Who likes that and can leave it this way. I have our moles since last fall and I chased them away with two about 40 cm long commercial vibrating ground spades for about 29.- Euro the piece. 4 mono cells from Aldi for 5 Euro have lasted until March. It has already been mentioned here that they allegedly „don’t do anything“. But I can say that they have brought me clearly success, the moles have fled into the forest. No new hills, they left their home and tunnels.
  23. Mine feels very comfortable with me and is a permanent guest. Slowly the hills are getting on my nerves too, but my kitties like to dig around in them...so I leave it as is.
    24. Magali stops removing hills and goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience
    Text 5 „Lucky moles“
  24. We have replanted our garden, we got 3 acres of fresh humus, we have sown grass and let everything spread… and after a day HE was there!!!! But I got him after 2 days in the bucket and went out with it into the forest! Of course the joy was enormous, but it has not lasted for very long. When our grass had grown and the garden looked great, the next mole was there! I have fought him now over 3 months with all odorants and electronic distributors, nothing has helped! So in the end I caught him after about 2 weeks of intensive hunting – with spade and bucket again! Now I have dug a 50 cm deep trench around our garden and buried a fine-mesh fence in it (recommendation from a friend). Believe me people, the only thing that helps is catching! Have fun and strong nerves wishes you a very annoyed one by the moles....
    25. Magali comes to Daniela and Maya
  25. I'm beginning to think this thread title should be: „Help, there's a mole suffering under my lawn“.
  26. Get some discarded powder extinguishers from the fire extinguisher service. If the mole has thrown up the hill, then take the powder extinguisher, expose the hole, put in the hose from the extinguisher, unlock it and put in a good load of powder. The moles won't break, but they won't want to stay in your corner any longer. By the way, the extinguishing powder is quite good for the lawn.
  27. You're not serious now, are you?! I mean, of course I would be happy as a lark in springtime if here in the neighborhood soon the people with fire extinguishers move through their garden... I've been living with a mole in my backyard for years. Sometimes it's annoying what he does, but since he's been here, there are no more voles. And there's something to it. We have come to terms with it.
  28. If I catch one again, you are very welcome to have it....
  29. I have a raised pond surrounded by a wall. So if I don't get rid of this little furry rug rat as soon as possible, it will soon be a dam break and then bring on the water! I caught the first one in no time and released him about 500 meters away in the field. Either he is faster than I thought or they were two, because no 6 hours later, the next hills were there. I will now go to the hardware store and buy one of those ultrasonic things…I will report on any success....
    30. Maya goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience
    Text 6 „mole as a pet“
  30. Hello all,
    I have long read through your contributions to the mole. I feel the same as some others of you. We have a relatively large plot of land and I am in the process of landscaping it, with a garden shed, lights all around, etc. Since we bought the property together with house two years ago, we learned that it has been neglected for a very long time. And the consequences can be seen now, it drives us crazy. The whole week I am busy to go after these underworld hooligans. Chasing not eliminating I want to make clear. Our grass looks more and more like a roller coaster. All tools available on the market were useless, from electrical devices to odorants. And there are more and more hills, and what kind of hills. Even our dog and cat do not succeed in chasing him away. But I will try the "whey and milk" tip now before the winter and maybe next spring I will finally have peace. Should anyone have recommodations in stock I would be grateful.
  31. Hello! Butyric acid also works, but it stinks so badly that you will stay away from the garden too.
  32. The only proven solution against moles is a vibrating tool which is also called soil compactor. I recently purchased such a device and it runs daily for about 3 hours – to the annoyance of my neighbors (never mind!). The strong vibrations let every mole run away. Furthermore, this is an excellent way to level the annoying molehills. Additionally, for the double effect, I direct diesel exhaust fumes into the mole tunnels. The only disadvantage is the relatively high price (approx. 2000.- Euro) of a soil compactor. However, the financial effort is very quickly rewarded with a mole- and vole-free garden. If your neighbors are too sensitive to noise, I recommend to signing a legal protection insurance.
  33. Hello you mole-disliker
    Do not think that moles are totally stupid. I once made the mistake to use gas (it is advertised so great against voles, because against moles you are not allowed to use it). The small moles came out of their holes and tried to dig a bit further new tunnels. Instead of the expected one mole, there were three moles. Thanks to a relocation action they found a new digging home about 3 kilometers away. In the meantime, I have two solar beepers, which the moles but also the voles really don’t like, now I am free of piles. But beware: The beeping could also get on the neighbor's nerves and he will not disappear so quickly.
    34. Daniela goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience, comes back to the others
    Text 7 / „in dreams(…)“
  34. Wow! Why not limit myself of any quality of life and waste several hours of my valuable time every day - not to mention the money - by thundering around with the soil compactor forever, making trouble with all the neighbors - and the lawn certainly looks "totally great" after the vibrator treatment - and all that just to have a lawn without hills. Great stories that some people come up with here - although: I’m not surprised that humans take such totally disproportionate actions.
  35. Does anyone have experience in mole control with shotcrete? Shotcrete is a concrete that is conveyed in a closed pipe to the installation site (in this case mole hill hole), pneumatically placed there with a spray nozzle and compacted by the impact energy. The mole would thus be literally concreted in and fixed for ever and ever. I will have a concrete mixing vehicle come for testing purposes and report to you on my further experiences.
  36. The tip with the building foam is less pricey though, I think it was mentioned here or in another mole thread.
    37. Magali goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience, comes back to the others
    Text 8 / „mice(…)“
  37. Yeah! 100kg of dynamite, detonated right in the middle of the garden, is just as effective against the mole in my opinion - and also leaves a garden as usable as the concrete method.... I am delighted with your humorous creativity!
  38. You speak from my heart
  39. I think even 1000 liters of heating oil sprayed in the garden would drive the fellow away....
  40. All beginners nonsense!
    This is the correct procedure: Remove topsoil and especially nutrient-rich hummus layer about 1.50m and put it on the dump, then concrete everything at the same height. I am ready to give a 100% guarantee on this method. If there are any new molehills within the concrete area, I will pay for the concrete! One more tip for the special "nature lovers" among the mole haters: After the concrete dries, paint everything green. This creates wonderful green areas that require virtually no maintenance and look almost like lawn from more than 500 m away to the short-sighted.
    Otherwise, it might also be helpful to just get along with it!
    41. Julia goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience he then leaves the garden (END)
    Text 9 / „the Terraformer(…)“
    Magali measure for the last time and then leaves the garden when Maya finishes her text
    Maya goes to the clipboard and reads to the audience she makes some more hills and then leaves the garden (END)
    Text 10 / „the size of a mole hill(…)“
    Daniela reads Haraway text 11 and leaves as last one (END)
13.6. - 21:33