There is an opinion that moles are afraid of sharp unusual odors, loud noise and even the presence of certain plants on the site. As a result, they try everything to scare away the animals from the garden - carbide, rotten fish, kerosene, smoke bombs, and sometimes urine poured directly into mole holes.
We will talk about all this in more detail later on which means can really help and which of them are practically useless, as well as what moles are afraid of most.
But first, it’s worth keeping in mind that in practice, with deterrents, things are often not as rosy and simple as we would like. For example, if it were possible to easily and with 100% efficiency remove moles from an area using ordinary rotten fish, then there would be no need to come up with more complex and expensive methods of getting rid of moles - all kinds of traps, electronic repellers, barrier means.
In addition, just theoretically knowing what a mole is afraid of is not enough, since you also need to be able to correctly apply such a repellent in practice, taking into account the specifics of the animals’ underground communications, their habits and biological characteristics, as well as the potential harm of the agent used for the area itself land.
So, let's see what is useful to know about the most popular methods of repelling moles, and let's start, perhaps, with the “classics of the genre” - calcium carbide...
Why the problem should not be ignored
The mole does not eat the roots of plants, but rarely their fruits. Therefore, the harvest itself in the garden or fruit trees and bushes will be partially affected. However, by digging up everything and everyone, moles disrupt the natural structure of the soil, which leads to the death of most crops.
Undermined roots contribute to the drying out of young trees. In addition, root crops or bushes fall into mole holes.
By the way, the animals are able to make preparations from potatoes or carrots so as not to remain hungry. In this case, summer residents begin to think about how to get rid of moles on the site themselves, without extra expenses for specialized services.
Prevention
After the fight against moles is crowned with victory, it is worth thinking about protecting your possessions from repeated invasion.
Alternatively, you can plant one of the above plants around the perimeter of the site, the smell of which repels moles;
Summer residents, whose struggle has been difficult and exhausting, do not want to rely on chance and are taking radical measures - installing a protective barrier around the perimeter of their site. To do this, a trench is dug into which a fine-mesh metal mesh is installed in a vertical position and backfilled with earth. The mole will run into an obstacle and automatically change direction. True, you will have to dig quite deep. At least below the soil freezing level - 1.2-1.5 m, depending on the region. The general belief that moles sleep in winter is a misconception. It’s just that their activity decreases somewhat, and the depth of their passages becomes greater. Just imagine how labor-intensive this method is. And the metal, under the influence of moisture and minerals in the soil, will begin to corrode and collapse over time.
Therefore, if you notice molehills on your neighbors’ plots, immediately purchase and install commercial repellers at your dacha.
What is this mammal?
Moles are constantly hungry; they eat at least 50 g of food daily. If the animal stops eating, it will die within 24 hours. These mammals rarely live in families.
Mostly moles are hermits. Over the course of a few days, they build kilometers of tunnels within the garden, placing them at different depths.
The female breeds her babies once a year in a separate den, which is located at a depth of at least 2 meters. After a month and a half, the young animals become completely independent individuals. There are several varieties of moles found in our country:
- European.
- Blind.
- Baby.
- Mogera is big.
- Mogera is small.
The most favorable habitat for moles is soil rich in larvae, worms, caterpillars, and underground insects. Moles are thrifty. They often bite worms and store the spoils in their burrow. Preparations are also made from vegetables available in the garden.
The size of an ordinary mole reaches 20 cm, and its weight is only 150 g. The lifespan of the average mole is 5-6 years.
Despite the fact that these animals are completely blind, they orient themselves perfectly in space and, especially underground. This is due to the excellent sense of smell and hearing.
Therefore, one of the simple ways to get rid of moles is to influence their hearing organs and receptors.
Moles can pose a danger to humans because they are carriers of serious diseases: piroplasmosis, tularemia. Individuals carry ticks on themselves, which poses a threat of spreading encephalitis and Lyme disease. It is strictly forbidden to pick up animals.
Dungeon Dweller Lifestyle
The mole digs tunnels. If not for this circumstance, then there would be no harm from them as such. During their work, moles form cavities underground, which are destructive for garden crops. These voids attract other pests: mice, ground insects, shrews. Sometimes even crows and owls “turn out” these tunnels in search of the mole itself, destroying the crop in the process.
Moles love “dacha” soil - it is moist and loose, well fertilized. Many worms live in it, which they eagerly eat. Thus, almost all garden crops, including small trees, suffer.
Let's fight and destroy the moles
What is the most effective way to get rid of moles? In fact, there are a lot of them. The use of certain techniques depends on the specifics of the site and the ability to use certain means. By the way, not all types of destruction of these animals are humane.
Effectively getting rid of moles is a series of measures using chemicals. Traps and repellers are slightly less effective. There are also folk techniques that are quite helpful in getting rid of these pests.
5 Basic rules for using carbamide (urea) in the garden
INFORMATION ABOUT THE DRUG
Urea, or urea, is a chemical compound that is the amide of carbonic acid CO(NO2)2. This is an organic compound, but it is usually classified as a mineral nitrogen fertilizer.
Appearance of carbamide (urea). They are colorless, odorless crystals. The finished product looks like round granules of white, grayish or slightly yellow color.
Composition of carbamide (urea). This is the most concentrated of nitrogen fertilizers: pure urea contains about 46.2% nitrogen!
Properties of carbamide (urea). It is highly soluble in water; solubility increases with increasing temperature. In an aqueous solution, urea hydrolyzes to form ammonia and carbon dioxide, which determines its use as a mineral fertilizer.
Use of carbamide or urea. Used for root and foliar feeding, as well as to combat pests and diseases.
Source
Use of poisons
Speaking of how to permanently get rid of moles in the garden, you can use some types of pesticides. Preparations produced specifically for the extermination of moles should be used with caution, strictly following the recommended dosage. For example, you should choose from the following:
- Stop-a-mole.
- Alphos-krot tablets.
- Green house anti-crote.
All of these drugs must be used with great care to avoid harm to pets and people.
You can try using calcium carbide. The product is poured into new passages and clogged. Combining with moisture, the carbide begins to release poison that is dangerous for the mole, causing the animal to die.
Chemical properties of calcium carbide
In the fight against moles, summer residents and gardeners often use the so-called “folk remedy” calcium carbide. Destruction is carried out due to the formation of harmful gas.
Calcium carbide can react chemically with water. Acetylene, a volatile gas, is released. In addition, when carbide dust settles on the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, an attack of suffocation may occur, and the skin may also become irritated.
Industrial carbide contains substances that, when dissolved with moisture, emit unpleasant smells of arsine and phosphine; in addition, they are poisons.
Advice! When working with carbide, it is necessary to use personal protective equipment: glasses, gloves and a respirator.
The mole, sensing these stinking odors, begins to intensively dig new tunnels to create new air holes. Therefore, there may be more exits and earthen piles on your site. That is, the effect is the opposite. It depends on the behavior of the mole; it can escape from unpleasant odors or stay, providing itself with new holes.
Important! You should not overdo it with the “poison”, since carbide, when interacting with water, turns into calcium hydroxide, thereby increasing the alkaline balance of the soil, and this is not favorable for some plants.
Plants that can drive moles out of the area
These options refer to folk methods of getting rid of mammalian pests, but they work no worse than poisons. A pungent and unpleasant odor for the mole is emitted by:
- Garlic.
- Onion.
- Daffodils.
- Marigold.
They should be planted closer to the mole holes. However, scientists have noticed that some individuals manage to push the hated “stinkers” out of their landing sites, thereby destroying them.
In such cases, it is worth trying to use products with essential oils that have a very strong smell. This is pine, lavender. Pieces of fabric are soaked in oil, which are then placed in the passages.
Often, site owners simply pour kerosene, ammonia or turpentine into holes. By the way, if there is a mousecat living in the house, you should “ask” him to retrain. You need to show him the hole in which the mole will move. The cat's instinct will do its job.
Mechanical means
When all else fails, you have to resort to brutal methods of struggle.
Using mole cleavers
There are many models of such devices. Most often they are homemade, but you can also buy electric ones. The death of an animal is inevitable when it passes a short section of the path.
Destruction by traps
The latching devices should be slightly hidden at the top of the stroke. Sprinkle with earth so as not to injure a bystander. They give an excellent effect in combination with other anti-mole agents.
Crossbow
Homemade weapons destroy the enemy extremely brutally. The most famous modifications shoot nails.
Current
It takes composure to take advantage of such measures. It takes a long time for the shrew to come out of the hole to give him an electric shock.
Traps
There are several types of traps, but will a person dare to treat animals so cruelly? They get their paws into the wire, get stuck, and then are destroyed. Or the person caught dies on the spot.
Traps
Several cheap designs have been invented, but they give almost no results. Mole families are smart and skillfully avoid suspicious objects. But here are newer developments, made specifically for the physiological characteristics of animals.
Windmill
Different types of wind turbines are created differently, but operate in the same way. They scare with sound. In one case, we collect several plastic bottles one into another and bury them in a column quite deep in the ground. Resonance gives sound to the ground.
In the second case, we make a disk, which is attached with blades to a vertically dug post. The action is similar.
Net
A simple idea that will take some work. We dig any fence mesh underground. , you can thus continue the fence downwards. The barrier will stop the rodent, he will build a tunnel in the other direction.
Wind turbines and scarers
It is worth building several structures on the site that are driven by gusts of wind and at the same time produce sharp sounds.
The downside is that if there is no wind, the moles will happily continue their life activities on the site. Otherwise, with their noise, the devices can scare away not only moles, but also irritate household members and neighbors.
Industrial grade electronic repellers are much more effective. These include the following inventions:
- Top need to. The sound emitter of this compact device does not cause any inconvenience to people and operates over a wide area only from a battery charge.
- Electronic anti-creep. In addition, it will get rid of shrews and mole crickets. Moles will also not put up with the presence of vibrations of different frequencies in the area.
- Ultrasonic devices. These can even scare away snakes. Infrasound changes the vibration frequency and spreads over an area of at least 10 acres. True, such a device is relatively expensive.
Reviews
Fighting moles just so that you can leave them alive is only permissible if it is possible to send them far into the forest. Let it feed on insects that are found in the ground under the pine needles. And in the garden there is only a merciless struggle.
Maxim, 33 years old, Serpukhov
We need to trust cats more. We now have two young mousecatchers who have started catching moles. Now neither we nor our neighbors have molehills. True, the neighbors are still afraid to remove their sonic rattle repellers from the garden. This does not stop the cats from hunting, but the fear that the moles will return is still present.
Tamara, 26 years old, Ufa
Nothing helped us get rid of molehills in greenhouses until we laid a fine plastic mesh under each of them. We did not fence off the entire area, but protected only the plants that were most important to us.
Zakhar, 57 years old, Chita
Ask a Question
People have different attitudes towards the living creatures with which the earth is full. It all depends on whether they bring benefit or harm, interfere with life, or exist on their own, without coming into contact with a person. Moles, too, just want to eat. Is it their fault that in pursuit of the harvest, man makes his land as fertile as possible, thereby giving animals a reason to take advantage of human labor, while causing him harm.
Health to you and your loved ones!
Mole traps, flooding and smoke bombs
These are not entirely humane methods, although they are quite environmentally friendly. Mousetraps need to be constantly monitored and the bait in them updated.
It is advisable to flood holes if the moles in the area have not yet had time to dig a huge number of tunnels. Smoke bombs smoke out the pests, but they may soon return again.
Gardening tips
Experienced gardeners who have dealt with moles more than once give some advice that can help beginners:
- Before starting any mole extermination activities, it is recommended to try simply filling the underground burrows with water from hoses. to pour until the liquid begins to flow out. Often, pests manage to escape by digging new tunnels, but there is a possibility that the entire family of underground inhabitants will simply drown.
- If measures to flood the holes do not help, then it will be necessary to first determine who is harming the area - moles or rodents, since the methods of dealing with them are fundamentally different.
- The site may contain both used and abandoned underground passages. In order to determine their current condition, it is necessary to crush the earth above them, and after a day check the place for changes. If the ground is raised again, the mole actively moves along it, regarding these tunnels as being in use.
